Cite as: 504 U. S. 353 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
seeks to prevent the uncontrolled transfer of water out of
the State." Id., at 955-956.
We further explained that a confluence of factors could justify a State's efforts to conserve and preserve ground water for its own citizens in times of severe shortage.6 Only the first of those reasons—our reference to the well-recognized
6 "Moreover, in the absence of a contrary view expressed by Congress, we are reluctant to condemn as unreasonable, measures taken by a State to conserve and preserve for its own citizens this vital resource in times of severe shortage. Our reluctance stems from the 'confluence of [several] realities.' Hicklin v. Orbeck, 437 U. S. 518, 534 (1978). First, a State's power to regulate the use of water in times and places of shortage for the purpose of protecting the health of its citizens—and not simply the health of its economy—is at the core of its police power. For Commerce Clause purposes, we have long recognized a difference between economic protectionism, on the one hand, and health and safety regulation, on the other. See H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond, 336 U. S. 525, 533 (1949). Second, the legal expectation that under certain circumstances each State may restrict water within its borders has been fostered over the years not only by our equitable apportionment decrees, see, e. g., Wyoming v. Colorado, 353 U. S. 953 (1957), but also by the negotiation and enforcement of interstate compacts. Our law therefore has recognized the relevance of state boundaries in the allocation of scarce water resources. Third, although appellee's claim to public ownership of Nebraska ground water cannot justify a total denial of federal regulatory power, it may support a limited preference for its own citizens in the utilization of the resource. See Hicklin v. Orbeck, supra, at 533-534. In this regard, it is relevant that appellee's claim is logically more substantial than claims to public ownership of other natural resources. See supra, at 950-951. Finally, given appellee's conservation efforts, the continuing availability of ground water in Nebraska is not simply happenstance; the natural resource has some indicia of a good publicly produced and owned in which a State may favor its own citizens in times of shortage. See Reeves, Inc. v. Stake, 447 U. S. 429 (1980); cf. Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U. S., at 627-628, and n. 6; Baldwin v. Fish and Game Comm'n of Montana, 436 U. S. 371 (1978). A facial examination of the first three conditions set forth in § 46-613.01 does not, therefore, indicate that they impermissibly burden interstate commerce. Appellants, indeed, seem to concede their reasonableness." Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, 458 U. S., at 956-957.
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