Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Law

Assured Water Supply Laws In The Sustainability Context, Lincoln L. Davies Nov 2010

Assured Water Supply Laws In The Sustainability Context, Lincoln L. Davies

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

By juxtaposing five western states’ existing assured supply laws, this Article provides a preliminary assessment of whether, and how, assured supply laws can best promote sustainability—and, by extension, make at least one area of environmental law more like sustainability law. The Article reaches three principal conclusions. First, it finds that, as they appear to, assured supply laws in fact promote sustainability. Second, the extent to which assured supply laws likely promote sustainability greatly varies by state, because these laws’ policy designs also depend on the state of enactment. Finally, additional work is needed to provide a more concrete assessment of …


Optimizing Land Use And Water Supply Planning: A Path To Sustainability?, Randele Kanouse, Douglas Wallace Nov 2010

Optimizing Land Use And Water Supply Planning: A Path To Sustainability?, Randele Kanouse, Douglas Wallace

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The rise of the environmental movement and the growing public embrace of ecological values roughly coincided with the end of the dambuilding era. By the 1970s, most of the good sites for dams had already been taken, and those that remained, such as California’s North Coast rivers, were increasingly valued as natural and recreational resources that should be permanently protected. At the same time, California’s population continued to swell, from under 20 million in 1970 to nearly 38 million today. How did these trends affect water supply development in California? Among other impacts, the average time a major water supply …


Alice In Groundwater Land: Water Supply Assessments And Subsurface Water Supplies, Kevin M. O'Brien Nov 2010

Alice In Groundwater Land: Water Supply Assessments And Subsurface Water Supplies, Kevin M. O'Brien

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The purpose of this Article is to explore the preparation of Water Supply Assessments in the context of subsurface water supplies. The term “subsurface water supplies” is used here rather than “groundwater” because, as discussed below, the proponent of a development project may propose to utilize a subsurface water supply (such as water produced from beneath the surface of land via a well or a flowing spring) that is not properly classified as groundwater because it falls within the legal definition of subterranean stream flow. In such a case, the supply would be subject to the water rights permitting jurisdiction …


Friant Dam Holding Contracts: Not An Entitlement To Water Supply Under Sb 610, Barry Epstein Nov 2010

Friant Dam Holding Contracts: Not An Entitlement To Water Supply Under Sb 610, Barry Epstein

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Nearly ten years ago, California’s Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 610, a new law requiring that any proposed large development project receiving local land use approvals be supported by a Water Supply Assessment demonstrating available water supply to meet the project’s 20-year forecast water demand. While some, perhaps most, proposed large development projects are within the service territory of large, public or private municipal water purveyors whose entitlement to the water they deliver is well-established (though not necessarily adequate or secure), developments outside the service territory of such water purveyors can require more scrutiny of the underlying water rights entitlement …


Show Me The Water Plan: Urban Water Management Plans And California’S Water Supply Adequacy Laws, Ellen Hanak Nov 2010

Show Me The Water Plan: Urban Water Management Plans And California’S Water Supply Adequacy Laws, Ellen Hanak

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This Article reviews the effectiveness of California’s strategy of using enabling legislation and passive enforcement to encourage more integrated local water and land use planning. To shed light on the effectiveness of the current policy framework, the Article begins with a critical overview of the Urban Water Management Planning process, drawing on a detailed analysis of plans submitted in the early 2000s. It then evaluates how water supply assessments are proceeding, with a particular emphasis on steps used to identify adequacy, drawing on telephone surveys of land use authorities and water utilities conducted by the author in 2004 and 2009. …


The Relationship Between Water Supply And Land Use Planning: Leading Cases Under The California Environmental Quality Act, James G. Moose Nov 2010

The Relationship Between Water Supply And Land Use Planning: Leading Cases Under The California Environmental Quality Act, James G. Moose

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This Article will survey and analyze this 2007 California Supreme Court decision and the key appellate court cases leading up to and following it, all of which address the relationship between land use planning and water supply planning under CEQA. The Article will also address a subsequent California Supreme Court decision addressing the adequacy of the EIR for one of the most significant water supply programs in recent decades, the so-called CALFED Record of Decision, which reflected, as of the year 2000, a long-term strategy for addressing ecological problems occurring in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta while increasing the reliability …


Conservation Of What?: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Anthony A. Austin Nov 2010

Conservation Of What?: An Introduction To The Issue, Paul Stanton Kibel, Anthony A. Austin

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.


How California Local Governments Became Both Water Suppliers And Planners, A. Dan Tarlock Nov 2010

How California Local Governments Became Both Water Suppliers And Planners, A. Dan Tarlock

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The paradox of California is that growth is concentrated in arid southern California but most of the state’s water supply, with the exception of the Colorado and Owens Rivers, originates in the north. This has meant that the state has had to bring massive amounts of water to the south to support the state’s celebrated continued population growth in order to compensate for California’s “bad hydrology.”1 From 1940 to 2007, California’s population increased from 6,950,000 to 37,786,000, and that growth has stressed the state’s capacity to meet the demand for water. Predicting the future is impossible, but the most conservative …


Aligning Visions For The Bay-Delta: Market-Based Ecosystem Restoration Through Agricultural Efficiency Improvements, Derek Adrian Hoye Aug 2010

Aligning Visions For The Bay-Delta: Market-Based Ecosystem Restoration Through Agricultural Efficiency Improvements, Derek Adrian Hoye

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This Comment proposes a comprehensive solution that could generate enormous water savings by increasing the efficiency of agriculture. Part II outlines the basics of California water law, specifically focusing on laws pertaining to water conservation and transfer. Part III analyzes the systems used in three other states to deal with water shortages and declining ecosystems. Part IV presents a proposal for conserving agricultural water, promoting irrigation efficiency through an educational outreach program, and using the water-transfer market as an economic incentive for efficiency. This proposal supplements the recommendations of the Strategic Plan with practical implementation analysis and achievable goals.


New Ideas For Old Dams: Developing Solutions For A Shrinking Colorado River, David L. Wegner Aug 2010

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.


The Old And The New: Evaluating Existing And Proposed Dams In California, Jonas Minton Aug 2010

The Old And The New: Evaluating Existing And Proposed Dams In California, Jonas Minton

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This article suggests criteria for determining when existing dams should be removed and for evaluating proposals for new dams. Section II offers a historical overview of dam building in California. Section III discusses current issues concerning evaluation of removal, repair, and expansion proposals for existing dams in the state. Section IV outlines issues, including funding and impacts, related to recent proposals for the construction of additional dams and reservoirs.


Beyond And Beneath O'Shaughnessy Dam: Options To Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley And Replace Water And Engergy Supplies, Gerald H. Meral Aug 2010

Beyond And Beneath O'Shaughnessy Dam: Options To Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley And Replace Water And Engergy Supplies, Gerald H. Meral

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Section II of this article presents an overview of the natural, human, and political histories concerning Hetch Hetchy Valley and the construction of O’Shaughnessy Dam. Section III then considers the options available to replace water and energy supplies that would be reduced by dam removal. Section IV evaluates the benefits, costs, and financing alternatives related to the proposed removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam and the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. Section V identifies some of the legal issues and obstacles involved in the proposed dam removal, and Section VI describes the Valley as it might be after it is restored.


Tribal Advocacy For Elwha River Dams Removal On Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Russell W. Busch Aug 2010

Tribal Advocacy For Elwha River Dams Removal On Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Russell W. Busch

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

This article details the history and current status of Elwha River Dams removal from a tribal perspective. Section II recounts the Elwha Tribe’s struggle to remain in its homeland in the years after the Treaty of Point No Point. Section III highlights the Tribe’s more recent efforts to protect its treaty fisheries and cultural heritage, and Section IV presents an early example of Washington State’s appalling inability to protect its salmon streams. Section V summarizes the legal history of the Elwha Dams, and Section VI discusses the efforts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to retain licensing jurisdiction on the …