Law Commons^™

A Prophylactic Approach To Compact Constitutionality, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Scholarship

From COVID-19 to climate change, immigration to health insurance, firearms control to electoral reform: state politicians have sought to address all these hot-button issues by joining forces with other states. The U.S. Constitution, however, forbids states to “enter into any Agreement or Compact” with each other “without the Consent of Congress,” a requirement that proponents of much interstate action, especially around controversial topics, would hope to circumvent.

The Supreme Court lets them do just that. By interpreting “any Agreement or Compact” so narrowly that it is difficult to see what besides otherwise unlawful coordination qualifies, the Court has essentially read …

Enforcing Interstate Compacts In Federal Systems, Michael Osborn

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

The central goal of a federal system is for local government units to retain degrees of independence, specifically over matters of importance to that local unit. A logical corollary to that independence is the ability for local units to negotiate and contract with other local units on matters of importance. Therefore, it is not surprising that almost every federal system allows, either implicitly or explicitly, member states to form binding compacts with other states, the union government, or municipalities.1 Some federal democracies even allow member states to compact with foreign governments. Furthermore, almost every federal constitution includes a provision outlining …

Comments On Public Lands: Title Transfer Proposals, Chuck Howe

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

3 pages.

Slides: Finding Flows: Fish Still Need Water Everyday, Melinda Kassen

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Melinda Kassen, Director of the Western Water Project, Trout Unlimited

12 slides

A Decade Of Colorado Supreme Court Water Decisions, 1996-2006: Special Report, Colorado Foundation For Water Education

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Justice Greg Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court

31 pages.

Includes color illustrations and map

"Acknowledgments: This special report highlights important features of Colorado Supreme Court water decisions handed down between 1996 and 2006. It contains excerpts from opinions authored by Justices Lohr, Vollack, Mullarkey, Kourlis, Hobbs, Martinez, Bender, Rice, Coats and Eid. It is adapted from an article that first appeared in The Water Report (www.thewaterreport.com), February 15, 2007, used with permission."

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, Bob Muth, Tom Pitts, Dan Luecke

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

58 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Agenda: Groundwater In The West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Groundwater in the West (Summer Conference, June 16-18)

Conference moderators and/or speakers included University of Colorado School of Law professors James N. Corbridge, Jr., Douglas S. Kenney, Jim Martin and Kathryn M. Mutz.

The Colorado Law Natural Resources Law Center celebrated its 25th Annual Summer Conference by exploring one of the most important natural resources of the 21st century: groundwater. Titled "Groundwater in the West," the conference was held June 16-18 at the Fleming Law Building on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. Participants discussed law, policy, and management of groundwater in the West. "As demands on surface water increase and drought seems more the norm than …

Conference Summary: Water, Climate And Uncertainty: Implications For Western Water Law, Policy, And Management, Steve Bailey

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

7 pages.

"Steve Bailey, National Center for Atmospheric Research"

Growth In Colorado And The West: Trends And Issues [Outline], James N. Corbridge Jr.

Water and Growth in the West (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

4 pages.

Contains references.

Colorado Water Courts: Are They Changing?, Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr.

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

56 pages.

Divestment Of Federal Water Projects, A. Jack Garner

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

21 pages.

Contains references.

Western Water Development: Visions Of The Future, Bennett W. Raley

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

14 pages.

Coordinated Water Management Under The Prior Appropriation Doctrine In New Mexico: The Rio Grande Case – The Pecos River Case, Eluid L. Martinez

Innovation in Western Water Law and Management (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

26 pages.

Agenda: Boundaries And Water: Allocation And Use Of A Shared Resource, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource is the topic of the Center's annual summer program on water this June. Most of the major rivers in the western United States are shared between two or more states. Often tribal governments play an important role in water allocation and use decisions. International considerations also may be involved in some cases. These interjurisdictional issues extend to groundwater as well as surface water.

This conference will provide the …

Allocation Of The Nation’S Waters: The Constitutional Framework, Charles F. Wilkinson

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

19 pages.

State Water Planning To Protect Public Needs, David H. Getches

Water as a Public Resource: Emerging Rights and Obligations (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

44 pages.

Colorado Water Law, George Vranesh

Books, Reports, and Studies

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book.

Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b130018~S0

Interstate Transfers Of Water: Many A Slip ‘Twixt The Cup And The Lip, Howard Holme

Colorado Water Issues and Options: The 90's and Beyond: Toward Maximum Beneficial Use of Colorado's Water Resources (October 8)

44 pages (includes maps and tables).

Contains 6 pages of footnotes.

Federal/State Relations In Theory And Practice: A Sovereignty Mismatch, Charles T. Dumars

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

12 pages.

Contains footnotes.

Unresolved Issues In Federal Reserved Rights, Michael D. White

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

12 pages.

Financing Water Projects: Where Do We Go From Here?, Henry P. Caulfield, Jr.

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

16 pages.

Agenda: Western Water Law In Transition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors James N. Corbridge, Jr., Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Richard B. Collins, David H. Getches and Charles F. Wilkinson.

The prior appropriation doctrine has governed the allocation and use of water in the western United States since the 1850s. The shifting nature of water demand is bringing about changes in the traditional legal system. This conference will consider the fundamental principles of the prior appropriation doctrine together with the important new developments in the law now underway throughout the West.

The Prior Appropriation System In Western Water Law: The Law Viewed Through The Example Of The Rio Grande Basin, James N. Corbridge Jr., Charles F. Wilkinson

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

17 pages.

Contains references.

Administering Water Rights: The Colorado System, Raymond L. Petros

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

140 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains bibliography.

Ogallala Ground Water, Morton W. Bittinger

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

12 pages.

Agenda: Groundwater: Allocation, Development And Pollution, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

Even before the [Natural Resources Law] Center was established [in the fall of 1981], the [University of Colorado] School of Law was organizing annual natural resources law summer short courses. To date four programs have been presented:

- July 1980: "Federal Lands, Laws and Policies-and the Development of Natural Resources"

- June 1981: "Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues"

- June 1982: "New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: lnterbasin Transfers"

- June 1983: "Groundwater: Allocation; Development and Pollution"

(Reprinted from Resource Law Notes, no. 1, Jan. 1984, at 1.)

University of Colorado School of Law professors …

Observations On Groundwater Law From The Federal Perspective, Carol E. Dinkins

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

66 pages.

Contains several cases and US Congress bills as supplemental materials.

Digitized copy lacks the Memorandum Opinion for City of El Paso v. Reynolds (563 F.Supp 379 (D. New Mexico 1983)).

Water Problems & Issues Affecting United States-Mexico Relations: Policy Options & Alternatives, Albert E. Utton

New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: Interbasin Transfers: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 7-10)

42 pages.

Contains 6 pages of endnotes.

Constitutional Restraints On Protecting State Interests In Water Rights, Charles E. Corker

New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: Interbasin Transfers: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 7-10)

33 pages.

Contains references.

Federal And State Cooperation Under The Constitution, Louis W. Koenig

Michigan Law Review

Federalism, as a system of government, is peculiar in that it involves a union of several autonomous political entities for · common purposes which may be achieved through apportioning the sum total of legislative power between a "national" or "central" government, on the one hand, and constituent "states" on the other. In our own federation, a written Constitution has sought to define the functions of both these centers of government, assigning to each certain spheres of influence upon all persons and property within a given territory. At the Constitutional Convention, the committee of detail carefully listed the powers of the …