Water Law Commons^™

Building Upon Common-Pool Resource Theory To Explore Success In Transitioning Water Management Institutions, Christina M. Hoffman

Dissertations & Theses in Natural Resources

Nebraska, like many regions around the world, is faced with the challenge of adapting to a new era in water management. Increasing demands for water resources, mounting concerns over threatened and endangered species, and obligations to abide by interstate water allocation agreements have motivated Nebraska to revisit traditional water management approaches. However, although Nebraska’s water management institutions have undergone much change, little research exists on the influence these changes have had on the ability of water institutions to successfully manage water allocations. This research (1) qualitatively explores the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders in the overappropriated region of the ...

A Muddy Decision - The High Court Fails To Define The Corps' Wetland Jurisdiction In Rapanos V. United States, Jill Lambird

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Lawrence V. Clark County And Nevada's Public Trust Doctrine: Reconsidering Water Rights In The Desert, Jason L. Deforest

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2013 Edition, Garrett Power

Book Gallery

This electronic book is published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in courses in Constitutional Law, Land Use Control, and Environmental Law and. It consists of 130 odd judicial opinions (most rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court) carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text considers both the personal right to liberty and the personal right in ...

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 ...

Hard, Soft & Uncertain: The Guarani Aquifer And The Challenges Of Transboundary Groundwater, David N. Cassuto

Pace Law Faculty Publications

This Article begins with an overview of the ecology of the Guarani Aquifer region before turning to the legal and ecological problems it faces. Because the majority of the Guarani Aquifer underlies Brazil (with the rest residing below Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay), the laws and policies of Brazil have a significant managerial impact. Consequently, the Brazilian legal regime forms the focus of the first Part of the Article. The Article then analyzes the international transboundary framework before turning to the recently enacted Agreement on the Guarani Aquifer. This Agreement, signed but not yet ratified by four countries, represents a major ...

From Lapdog To Watchdog: Giving Citizens A Voice In Monitoring The Oil Industry Through Rcacs, Christina Marshall Santarpio

Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review

Regional Citizens’ Advisory Councils in Alaska, created in the wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989, have provided citizens in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet with a meaningful role in oil spill prevention and cleanup plans. Although the history of these RCACs show that their formation left room for improvement, in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill of 2010, it is clear that innovative and creative solutions involving those most affected by oil spills are desperately needed throughout the country to prevent such disasters in the future. Moving forward, future RCACs should be created that build ...

Trusting The Public: Reshaping Colorado Water Law In The Face Of Changing Public Values, Lisa Greenberg

Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review

Water is a precious resource. Throughout Colorado, water has historically been allocated according to the rule of prior appropriation, where the principal method of allocation is “first in time, first in right.” As Colorado changes over time, the rule’s inflexible application has resulted in economically inefficient and environmentally detrimental consequences. This is exemplified in the unreliable water distribution of the Windy Gap Project, and the projected detrimental environmental consequences of the Windy Gap Firming Project. Thus, Colorado water law must change to protect the overuse and misuse of such a scarce resource. Despite explicit renunciation of both the public ...

Is A Logging Road’S Collected Runoff Exempt From Npdes Permitting?—Rethinking The Epa’S “Silvicultural Rule”, Lawrence Lee Budner

Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review

The EPA’s various iterations of the Silvicultural Rule have succeeded in circumventing the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting requirements for decades. Although the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown significantly narrows the applicability of the Rule, the decision has left the status of the Silvicultural Rule unclear. Moreover, EPA’s latest regulations regarding stormwater discharges—which purportedly aim to provide clarity—only muddy the water. In the Supreme Court’s coming consideration of the validity of the Silvicultural Rule, it should take the opportunity to explicitly invalidate the ...

The Development Of Outer Continental Shelf Energy Resources, G. Kevin Jones

Pepperdine Law Review

An important source of oil and gas that has sparked much recent debate is the outer continental shelf (OCS). This article traces the history of the development of OCS energy resources as well as the official policies underlying federal governmental actions affecting the OCS. It also spotlights the basic conflict in terms of environmental concerns between coastal states and the federal government regarding their desired roles in the process of controlling OCS development.

Protecting The Ballona Wetlands In West Los Angeles: A Look Back At Three Decades Of Urban Habitat Advocacy, Carlyle W. Hall, Jr.

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Surrounded by densely populated West Los Angeles, the Ballona Wetlands are a remnant of a larger, flourishing coastal ecosystem that has been subjected to over a hundred years of urban assault. Ninety-eight percent of Los Angeles County’s historic wetlands have been filled and developed, and more than a century of abuse and neglect have severely degraded the Ballona Wetlands. Nonetheless, the Ballona Wetlands remain “one of the most important pieces of wildlife habitat” in the region, and they constitute the County’s largest remaining coastal wetland.

As might be expected when an important, severely endangered coastal natural resource located ...

From Post To Pond: How The Public Created The Presidio's Crissy Field Marsh, Deborah Bardwick

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Brian O’Neill, the late Superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, said that the unifying theme of the Presidio is that of “humans in the natural environment, understood in its broadest context.” This Article explores the critical role that the public played in creating Crissy Field Marsh, a unique feature of the Presidio in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Public involvement is always critical to the operation of the National Park Service. In nearly every new project, members of the public are involved in every step, including but not limited to lobbying politicians, commenting on environmental documents ...

The Real Challenge To The Polish Revolution: Cleaning The Polish Environment Through Privatization And Preventive Market-Based Incentives, G. Nelson Smith Iii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cooperative Agreements: Government-To-Government Relations To Foster Reservation Business Development, Joel H. Mack, Gwyn Goodson Timms

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Escaping The Sporhase Maze: Protecting State Waters Within The Commerce Clause, Mark S. Davis, Michael Pappas

Faculty Scholarship

Eastern states, though they have enjoyed a history of relatively abundant water, increasingly face the need to conserve water, particularly to protect water-dependent ecosystems. At the same time, growing water demands, climate change, and an emerging water-oriented economy have intensified pressure for interstate water transfers. Thus, even traditionally wet states are seeking to protect or secure their water supplies. However, restrictions on water sales and exports risk running afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. This Article offers guidance for states, partciularly eastern states concerned with maintaining and improving water-dependent ecosystems, in seeking to restrict water exports while staying within the ...

Water Ethics For First Nations And Biodiversity In Western Canada, Kenichi Matsui

The International Indigenous Policy Journal

The increasing division of academic disciplines and bureaucracy has led to the compartmentalization of knowledge on water security, biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and traditional ecological knowledge policy. The attempt to re-establish links among these issues in academic studies can shed light on integrated water governance and the establishment of water ethics. In order to facilitate this effort, this paper discusses three propositions: (1) the establishment of strong legal and ethical frameworks is needed; (2) policymakers and scientists alike need to recognize links between biodiversity and water security; and (3) they need to improve cross-cultural understanding and communication in using the traditional ...

Maryland Surface Waters - A Critical Analysis - Kennedy-Chamberlin Development Co. V. Snure, Leroy Handwerger, Richard E. Lovell

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Water Districts: The Future Of Agriculture In California's San Joaquin Valley Lies In Compromise Over Drainage, Kathleen Nitta

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This Comment will demonstrate why enforcement of the lower San Joaquin River total maximum daily load (TMDL) for selenium under the Clean Water Act should be postponed by amending the Basin Plan for the lower San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers to extend the selenium compliance schedule for the Grassland Area Farmers (GAF) until it finishes implementing its drainage management plan. This Comment will also discuss why the GAF’s drainage plan should be used as a model for Westlands and should prompt Congress to amend the San Luis Act to require Westlands’ farmers to provide their own drainage.

Part II ...

Montana V. Wyoming: An Opportunity To Right The Course For Coalbed Methane Development And Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan Mudd

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Part I of this Article provides a brief background on the Yellowstone River Compact and the Montana v. Wyoming litigation. This part further explains the Special Master’s analysis of the CBM issue, as well as the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on improved irrigation efficiency. When viewed together, these decisions provide an important framework for determining how the parties’ regulation of CBM development should proceed. Part II then describes the magnitude of the CBM groundwater pumping issue and asserts that the posture of the Montana v. Wyoming case provides a unique opportunity not only to set Powder River Basin ...

A Water Story With Original Jurisdiction And A Doctrine For Changing Uses, Melosa Granda

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This is a story of how two rivers in the remote reaches of Wyoming and Montana, and the underlying water, became a federal case before the United States Supreme Court. It is an account of a local water dispute whose resolution will likely impact the course of water law, and more importantly, water throughout the entire country.