This article examines legal means of conserving water resources. The relevance of the topic is due to increased water consumption, environmental degradation and climate change. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legal experience of a number of European and Asian countries in the field of preventing problems of water resource shortages. The study of legal means of conserving water resources in individual legal orders is accompanied by a brief description of the sources and principles of national water law of states with different geopolitical and climatic conditions. The importance of international legal acts and constitutional provisions in the formation of foreign water legislation is emphasized.

In the course of the research, the application of certain legal means for the conservation of water resources in foreign legal systems is analyzed. The content of universal legal means of preserving the amount of water resources in the water laws of individual states is considered. The peculiarities of the legal regulation of water use rationing, as well as the use of innovative technologies and economic incentives are noted. The importance of public administration and planning in solving the problems of preserving the proper quantity and quality of water resources is emphasized. Using the example of the legal regulation of water consumption rationing, the modes of water consumption quotas and limited water use are analyzed. Technological/innovative means are noted, the use of which is prescribed to water users to preserve the water balance. Legal ways of financial incentives for legal entities and individuals to reduce water consumption and the use of technologies are being investigated. The approaches to regulating the extraction and use of drinking water in the water legislation of foreign countries, the possibility of abandoning bottled water for environmental purposes are considered. The role of water management and basin authorities in the implementation of legal methods of water conservation is emphasized. Measures of adaptation to climate change established by water laws are noted, issues of contractual regulation of water use conditions are raised.

Based on the conducted comparative legal research, common features of water policy and legal regulation of similar problems of water resource conservation were identified. Features of the implementation of legislative requirements for rationing water consumption and the use of new technologies are noted, as well as the role and methods of economic incentives for the implementation of these requirements by water users.