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Full-Text Articles in Law
Recommendations For An Environmentally Sound Federal Policy On Western Water, Reed D. Benson
Recommendations For An Environmentally Sound Federal Policy On Western Water, Reed D. Benson
Faculty Scholarship
The organizations and individuals who have produced this report have worked for years to promote environmentally sound federal policy and action with respect to water in the American West. The Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission's (the "Commission") evaluation of these issues presents an excellent opportunity to address long-standing concerns. We believe the Commission can help advance federal policy to promote sustainable use, management and protection of western waters. We begin with a brief look at current water problems in the West from our perspective. We then identify four general priorities for the federal government: taking steps toward restoring more …
The Environmental Justice Misfit: Public Participation And The Paradigm Paradox, Eileen Gauna
The Environmental Justice Misfit: Public Participation And The Paradigm Paradox, Eileen Gauna
Faculty Scholarship
This Article argues that current administrative processes fail to effectively incorporate an important form of public participation in decision-making -- the participation by communities bearing the greatest environmental risks. This Article advocates an "environmental justice style" public participation model as a more promising approach because it calls for a recasting of the role of community participation in environmental decision-making -- a recasting which transcends traditional, modern, and proposed decision-making paradigms.Part II of this Article provides a brief history of the environmental justice movement. Part III addresses the role of the public under three models of administrative policy and decision-making: the …
Maintaining The Status Quo: Protecting Established Water Uses In The Pacific Northwest, Despite The Rules Of Prior Appropriation, Reed D. Benson
Maintaining The Status Quo: Protecting Established Water Uses In The Pacific Northwest, Despite The Rules Of Prior Appropriation, Reed D. Benson
Faculty Scholarship
Water law in the Northwest states has long been based on the well-established rules of the Prior Appropriation Doctrine. In recent years, however, the four Northwest states often have not applied these rules against existing water users. State legislatures, courts, and water resource agencies have routinely changed the rules, or refused to implement them, if doing so might curtail current uses. This Article examines the ways in which the Northwest states have maintained the water use status quo despite the traditional rules. The Article then evaluates the economic and environmental implications of state efforts to protect existing water uses, and …