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Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources Law

Scientific, Legal, And Ethical Foundations For Texas Water Law, Gabriel Eckstein, Amy Hardberger Oct 2018

Scientific, Legal, And Ethical Foundations For Texas Water Law, Gabriel Eckstein, Amy Hardberger

Gabriel Eckstein

Water law is the field of law concerned with the ownership, control, and use of water resources, both surface and subsurface. Although most closely related to property law, recent developments in other legal fields, especially in environmental law, have heavily influenced the interpretation, application, and development of water law. As a result, water law today encompasses a broad perspective and often takes into account individual and community rights, environmental issues, commerce and economics, and other societal and legal concerns.

Significantly, modern water law is also an interdisciplinary practice. In light of the continuously expanding body of knowledge of the hydrologic …


Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein Jul 2015

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Gabriel Eckstein

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …


Precious, Worthless, Or Immeasurable: The Value And Ethic Of Water, Gabriel Eckstein Jul 2015

Precious, Worthless, Or Immeasurable: The Value And Ethic Of Water, Gabriel Eckstein

Gabriel Eckstein

This Article introduces and briefly explores some of the topics related to the value and ethics of water that were considered at the symposium, Precious, Worthless, or Immeasurable: The Value and Ethic of Water, which took place November 2-4, 2006, at the Texas Tech University School of Law. The purpose of the Symposium was to consider how this precious liquid is valued, assessed, and perceived with regard to law and regulations, economics and commerce, people and communities, culture and religion, and others aspects of society that are impacted by water. While far from a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter, …


Anti-Waste, Michael Pappas Mar 2014

Anti-Waste, Michael Pappas

Michael Pappas

It may be a bad idea to waste resources, but is it illegal? Legally speaking, what does “waste” even mean? Though the concept may appear completely subjective, this Article builds a framework for understanding how the law identifies and addresses waste. Drawing upon property and natural resource doctrines, the Article finds that the law selects from a menu of five specific, and sometimes competing, societal values to define waste. The values are: 1) economic efficiency, 2) human flourishing, 3) concern for future generations, 4) stability and consistency, and 5) ecological concerns. The law recognizes waste in terms of one or …


Antimonopoly And The Radical Lochean Origins Of Western Water Law, Michael Blumm Jul 2013

Antimonopoly And The Radical Lochean Origins Of Western Water Law, Michael Blumm

Michael Blumm

This review of David Schorr's book, The Colorado Doctrine: Water Rights, Corporations, and Distributive Justice on the American Frontier, maintains that the book is a therapeutic corrective to the standard history of the origins of western water law as celebration of economic efficiency and wealth maximization. Schorr's account convincingly contends that the roots of prior appropriation water law--the "Colorado Doctrine"--lie in distributional justice concerns, not in the supposed efficiency advantages of private property over common property. The goals of the founders of the Colorado doctrine, according to Schorr, were to advance Radical Lochean principles such as widespread distibution of water …


Liquid Assets: A Coasian Economic Analysis Of Oregon's Allocation Of Conserved Water Program, Richard A. Grisel Apr 2013

Liquid Assets: A Coasian Economic Analysis Of Oregon's Allocation Of Conserved Water Program, Richard A. Grisel

Richard A Grisel

Diversions for residential, agricultural, recreational, commercial, industrial, and other beneficial uses have had the effect of removing water from rivers and tributaries throughout the western U.S. Another, more recent, competing use is ecological, demonstrated by the legal recognition of instream beneficial uses in some jurisdictions. As awareness of the progressively acute need for reallocation has increased in the arid West, so has interest in water markets and other mechanisms to facilitate transfers across beneficial uses. However, governments and water users face a legacy prior appropriation system that prohibits instream beneficial uses, encourages maximal diversion, stifles water right fungibility, and generally …


Climate Change And Water Transfers, Christine A. Klein Feb 2013

Climate Change And Water Transfers, Christine A. Klein

Christine A. Klein

Climate change adaption is all about water. Although some governments have begun to plan for severe water disruptions, many have not. The consequences of inaction, however, may be dire. As a report of the U.N. Environment Programme warns, “countries that adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach potentially risk the lives of their people, their ecosystems and their economies.” In the United States, according to one study, nearly 60% of the states are unprepared to deal with the impending crisis. Responding to this void, we offer what we believe is the first comprehensive, state-by-state survey of water allocation law and its …


In The Heat Of The Law, It's Not Just Steam: Geothermal Resources And The Impact On Thermophile Biodiversity, Donald J. Kochan, Tiffany Grant Dec 2006

In The Heat Of The Law, It's Not Just Steam: Geothermal Resources And The Impact On Thermophile Biodiversity, Donald J. Kochan, Tiffany Grant

Donald J. Kochan

Significant research has been conducted into the utilization of geothermal resources as a ‘green’ energy source. However, minimal research has been conducted into geothermal resource utilization and depletion impacts on thermophile biodiversity. Thermophiles are organisms which have adapted over millions of year to extreme temperature and chemical compositions and exist in hot springs and other geothermal resources. Their ability to withstand high temperatures makes them invaluable to scientific and medical research. Current federal and California case law classify geothermal resources as a mineral, not a water resource. Acquisition of rights to develop a geothermal resource owned or reserved by the …