Water Law Commons^™

The Right To Flourish, Regenerate, And Evolve: Towards Juridical Personhood For An Ecosystem, Nicholas Bilof

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This article will examine two at-risk American rivers through a comparison of the different legal approaches brought by the citizens and conservation groups fighting to protect them. Through analysis of the two lawsuits, this article will highlight the flaws of the traditional approach, and introduce a novel proposal for a shift in the lens under which nature is considered in American jurisprudence.

Part I will survey the Suwannee River and a citizen suit against a poultry-packing plant accused of illegally fouling its waters through repeated violations of an EPA-issued permit governing wastewater discharges. This suit represents the congressionally-created traditional avenue …

New Ideas For Old Dams: Developing Solutions For A Shrinking Colorado River, David L. Wegner

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The objective of this article is to discuss the need for a comprehensive and public review of alternative management options for the Colorado River system in the future. Due to the institutional and physical complexity of the basin, this analysis should be accomplished through the use of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (“NEPA”) and incorporating the requirements of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (“ESA”). We believe this review is necessary due to requirements of the ESA, impacts to the Colorado River delta, and increasing concerns related to the changing climate.

Colorado River Basin Study. Report To The Western Water Policy Review Advisory Committee, Dale Pontius

Federal Documents

This report cannot possibly cover all the issues of concern in the Colorado River basin. The basin is vast and diverse geographically, ethnically, and politically. Conflicts over water are part of its history, as water has been the defining resource in the settlement and development of the Colorado River basin. A complex set of laws, a treaty, court decrees, contracts, agreements, regulations and traditions of use have evolved over this past century which have governed water policy and management decisions. Over the last few decades, new social values have emerged in the basin and across the country which reflect an …