Law Commons^™

The Future Of Crypto-Asset Mining: The Inflation Reduction Act And The Need For Uniform Federal Regulation, Liz Guinan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Crypto-asset mining is energy-intensive and environmentally harmful, presenting challenges and opportunities for federal, state and local governments, regulators, and society as a whole. As of December 2021, the United States has thirty-eight percent of the global crypto network hash rate, which is the total amount of computational power used to mine and process crypto transactions, making the United States the world’s largest crypto-asset mining industry. The total electricity consumption of crypto-asset mining in the United States is estimated to be around 121.36 terawatt-hours (“TWh”) per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 10.9 million households in the …

Wading Through Troubled Waters: Inequities & Improprieties Of Stream Access Laws In The American West, Alexander Johnson

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A Utah Intentionally Created Surplus Program, Devin Stelter

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

The Colorado River Basin continues to face a now two decade-long drought sparked by the drastic effects of climate change on the region. Climate forecasting predicts that the adverse effects of climate change will only increase in severity in years to come. These effects have led federal, state, tribal, and private actors operating in the basin to search for innovative and effective solutions to the significant water scarcity problems that will persist into the future. A closely linked threat stemming from Colorado River water scarcity is the prospect of a “Compact call” on Upper Basin water by the Lower Basin …

Ute Indian Tribe Of The Uintah & Ouray Reservation V. U.S. Dep't Of Interior, Valan Anthos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation brought 16 claims against federal agencies and the State of Utah for alleged mismanagement of water resources held in trust and for alleged discrimination in water allocation. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed several of the claims as time-barred and others as lacking a proper statutory basis to create an enforceable trust duty. The remaining claims were transferred to the United States District Court of the District of Utah because the events occurred in Utah and most of the parties reside there.

Park County Environmental Council V. Montana Department Of Environmental Quality, 477 P.3d 288 (Mont. 2020), Holly Seymour

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Montana Supreme Court held in 2020 that loopholes in the Montana Environmental Procedure Act ("MEPA") review process violate Montana's constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The holding sets a strong precedent requiring statutory protections to prevent harm to the environment before it occurs.

Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely

Washington Law Review

Water banks—a tool for exchanging senior water rights and offsetting new ones—can address multiple problems in contemporary water law. In the era of climate change, water banks enable needed flexibility and resilience in water allocation. As growing cities require new water rights, water banks can repurpose old water for new uses. These advantages should lead the Washington State Legislature to incentivize water banks, but in the 2018 “Hirst fix” it embraced habitat restoration as a false equivalent for water. The Legislature is rightfully concerned about the speculation that some private water banks allow. But overall, water banks enable new and …

Montana Environmental Information Center V. Department Of Environmental Quality, Anthony P. Reed

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The DEQ renewed a 1999 MPDES Permit on September 14, 2012 that allowed Western Energy Company to discharge pollutants from the Rosebud Mine into streams. Environmental groups MEIC and the Sierra Club sued, arguing this violated both the Montana Water Quality Act and federal Clean Water Act because the DEQ’s interpretation of its own regulations that exempted waters with ephemeral characteristics from water quality standards was arbitrary and capricious. The district court agreed, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed. It held the DEQ’s interpretation was lawful and remanded for further fact finding to assess how the DEQ applied the interpretation …

Calming Troubled Waters: Local Solutions, Part I, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In 1861, the Ohio Supreme Court adopted the Absolute Use Rule to govern groundwater, essentially allowing landowners its unencumbered use. The opinion noted that the behavior of subterranean water was “occult and mysterious” and that it was beyond the competence of judges to determine its appropriate use. The Ohio court reversed course in 1984 and adopted the Reasonable Use Rule. By then, scientific knowledge had advanced to the point that the interconnected movement of water was more readily discoverable. The court noted that a primary goal of water law should be to conform to hydrologic fact. This Article explores the …

Wyoming V. Zinke, Jaclyn Van Natta

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Wyoming v. Zinke, the Bureau of Land Management attempted to update a regulation governing hydraulic fracturing from the 1980s, but oil and gas industry companies opposed, and brought suit. The district court held in favor of the industry petitioners, and the Bureau of Land Management and citizen group intervenors appealed. In the wake of appeal, Donald J. Trump became President of the United States. The administration change caused the Bureau of Land Management to alter its position and align with the new administration. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, via executive order, began rescinding the new fracking regulation, …

The Semicommons And Wisconsin Water Quality, David A. Strifling

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

From the Great Lakes to pristine northern streams, Wisconsin boasts a plentiful and valuable array of water resources. Yet water stress analyses show that this natural capital is deeply threatened in a variety of ways. The pressure results primarily from human activity, ranging from general overuse to colonization by anthropogenically introduced non-native species. Some of the greatest water quality problems, however, are caused by land use practices that lead to polluted runoff from farm fields and urban settings. The onset of climate change has the potential to further exacerbate all of this. These issues, coupled with the failure of existing …

United States V. Barthelmess Ranch Corp., Jonah P. Brown

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Application of water to a beneficial use is the decisive element of a perfected water right in Montana. The BLM claimed rights to five reservoirs and one natural pothole under Montana law. The agency did not own livestock, but instead made the water available to grazing permittees. In United States v. Barthelmess Ranch Corp., the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the Montana Water Court’s holding that the BLM’s practice of making water available to others constituted a beneficial use and a perfected water right.

Blood Biofuels, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Agenda: A Celebration Of The Work Of Charles Wilkinson: Served With Tasty Stories And Some Slices Of Roast, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

A Celebration of the Work of Charles Wilkinson (Martz Winter Symposium, March 10-11)

Conference held at the University of Colorado, Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom, Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th, 2016.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, William Boyd, Kristen Carpenter, Britt Banks, Harold Bruff, Richard Collins, Carla Fredericks, Mark Squillace, and Charles Wilkinson

"We celebrate the work of Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson, a prolific and passionate writer, teacher, and advocate for the people and places of the West. Charles's influence extends beyond place, yet his work has always originated in a deep love of and commitment to particular places. We …

Wasted Water: Reasonable Use Law In 21st Century California, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Environmental Law Symposia

Proceedings of 2015 California Water Law Symposium (WLS), Prepared by Center on Urban Environmental Law (CUEL) at Golden Gate University (GGU) School of Law.

Navigating A Pathway Toward Colorado's Water Future: A Review And Recommendations On Colorado's Draft Water Plan, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Colorado Water Working Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

40 pages (includes color illustrations).

Supreme Guidance For Wet Growth: Lessons From The High Court On The Powers And Responsibilities Of Local Governments, Michael Allan Wolf

Michael A Wolf

Before the merger of water law and land use planning can occur, local and state regulators need strong guidance from experts in the field, not only in extra-legal fields such as planning, hydrology, geology, engineering, biology, and transportation, but also in mainstream legal areas including legislation (local, state, and federal), administrative law, and enforcement. The purpose of this article is to identify a somewhat unorthodox source of guidance - the United States Supreme Court, specifically the Rehnquist Court from October, 1984, through June, 2005, a period of remarkable stability for the nation’s highest tribunal.

Cambria's Water War: Legal Analysis Of The Building Moratorium And Its Implications For Land Owners, Jayson Parsons

Political Science

With each passing year, Cambria, California's building moratorium becomes increasingly controversial. The moratorium, enacted by the local community services district in 1986 due to a series of water shortages, has resulted in nearly 43% of all property owners under the district's purview to be denied the ability to develop their parcels. This paper seeks to examine the constitutionality of this moratorium using relevant regulatory takings jurisprudence.

Reviewing United States Supreme Court precedent, including Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon (1922), Penn Central Transport v. New York City (1978), Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (1992), and Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council …

Agenda: Water, Oil And Gas: Nuts And Bolts Of Oil And Gas Leases, Surface Use Agreements, And Water Rights For Non-Oil And Gas Attorneys, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (Denver, Colo.), Colorado Bar Association. Natural Resources & Energy Section

Water, Oil and Gas: Nuts and Bolts of Oil and Gas Leases, Surface Use Agreements, and Water Rights for Non-Oil and Gas Attorneys (September 26)

This third program in the Water, Oil, and Gas 101 series was designed to provide those who don’t practice in the area with essential information regarding leases, surface use agreements, siting considerations for oil and gas facilities, the resolution of disputes before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), the ins and outs of nontributary and produced nontributary ground water, and water rights as an asset.

Program topics include:

• Oil and Gas Leases
• Surface Use Agreements (SUAs)
• Government’s Role in Authorizing Locations for Oil and Gas Development
• Technical Aspects of Nontributary and Produced Nontributary Ground Water
• Produced Nontributary Ground …

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 …

Selected Bibliography On Adjudications And New Mexico Water Management, Carol Romero-Wirth, Susan Kelly, Ernesto Longa

Publications

No abstract provided.

Proceedings Of The 2011 California Water Law Symposium (Wls). The End Of Paper Water: Natural Limits, Unlimited Demands And Reliable Supply, Paul S. Kibel, Anthony Austin, Melosa Granda, Luthien L. Niland

CUEL - Center for Urban Environmental Law

Proceedings of the 2011 California Water Law Symposium held at Golden Gate University School of Law on January 22, 2011.

Slides: Water Management On Public Lands: Chapter 8 Of The Pllrc Report, Michael Gheleta

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Michael Gheleta, U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor (Lakewood, CO)

12 slides

Water Law In The Western United States, Susan Kelly

Publications

No abstract provided.

Slides: Modifying Prior Appropriation: The Spectrum Of Experiences, Adam Schempp

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

Presenter: Adam Schempp, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC

12 slides

Slides: Next Evolutionary Steps In State Instream Flow Programs, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

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

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, attorney and consultant, Boulder, CO

27 slides

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Restoring The Public Interest In Western Water Law, Mark Squillace

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

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

20 slides

Slides: Opportunities: Softer Paths?, Sarah Bates

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

Presenter: Sarah Bates, Public Policy Research Institute, University of Montana

2 slides

Slides: Regional Energy-Water Resilience Under Climate Change, Bonnie G. Colby

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

Presenter: Dr. Bonnie G. Colby, Professor of Resource Economics & Hydrology, University of Arizona

24 slides

Slides: Economic Incentives For Demand Reduction, Christopher Goemans

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

Presenter: Christopher Goemans, Department of Agriculture & Resource Economics, Colorado State University

17 slides

Slides: Market-Based Stream Flow Restoration And Mitigation, Amanda Cronin

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

Presenter: Amanda Cronin, Washington Water Trust, Seattle, WA

23 slides