Law Commons^™

The Niobrara National Scenic River: Exploring Co-Management Through A Case Study Of The Niobrara Council, Melissa M. Mosier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent decades, government staff and local citizens have increasingly employed cooperative schemes of natural resource management, in lieu of more conventional, top-down approaches of addressing user conflicts as they relate to water resources. The focus of this project was on the Niobrara Council, a partnership of local, state, and federal representatives charged with cooperatively managing the reach of the Niobrara River that was federally designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1991. The project's purpose was to explore the cooperative framework of the Council, using the methodology outlined by Carlsson and Berkes (2005). This methodology involved investigating …

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

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

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 Platte …

A Survery Of Western United States Instream Flow Programs And The Policies That Protect A River's Ecosystem, Kyle Jackson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The Western United States can best be described as a vast, varying land, with the high plains to the east and the jagged horizons of Rockies to the west. However there is one common trait shared by these states: the lack of water resources. With the continued development of this land, the fact that water is scarce is becoming more real. This issue became more difficult to handle as the public became more aware that many competing uses existed for the finite resource, and those different uses were degrading the natural environments of the surface waters. With this realization instream …

Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Sandi Zellmer, Christine Klein

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a “man-made” disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …

A Tale Of Two Imperiled Rivers: Reflections From A Post-Katrina World, Sandra Zellmer

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Hurricanes are a natural, predictable phenomenon, yet the Gulf Coast communities were devastated by the hurricanes of 2005. One year after Hurricane Katrina struck, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded to a congressional request for an accounting by admitting culpability for the destruction of New Orleans. Its structural defenses failed not because Congress had authorized only moderate Category 3 protection, which in turn let floodwaters overtop the city's levees, but because levees and floodwalls simply collapsed. The so-called network of federal and local structures was a haphazard system in name only, where floodwalls and levees of varying heights utilized …

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, The State Of Illinois, The State Of Indiana, The State Of Michigan, The State Of Minnesota, The State Of New York, The State Of Ohio, The Province Of Ontario, The Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania, The Government Of Québec, The State Of Wisconsin

Water Law Documents

1. The objectives of this Agreement are:
a. To act together to protect, conserve and restore the Waters of the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin because current lack of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to protect the Basin Ecosystem;
b. To facilitate collaborative approaches to Water management across the Basin to protect, conserve, restore, improve and efficiently and effectively manage the Waters and Water Dependent Natural Resources of the Basin;
c. To promote co-operation among the Parties by providing common and regional mechanisms to evaluate Proposals to Withdraw Water;
d. To create a …

Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

Water Law Documents

The states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby solemnly covenant and agree with each other, upon enactment of concurrent legislation by the respective state legislatures and consent by the Congress of the United States as follows:

ARTICLE 1: SHORT TITLE, DEFINITIONS, PURPOSES AND DURATION

ARTICLE 2: ORGANIZATION

ARTICLE 3: GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES

ARTICLE 4: WATER MANAGEMENT AND REGULATION

ARTICLE 5: TRIBAL CONSULTATION

ARTICLE 6: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

ARTICLE 7: DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ENFORCEMENT

ARTICLE 8: ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 9: EFFECTUATION

The Great Lakes Charter Annex: A Supplementary Agreement To The Great Lakes Charter, Council Of Great Lakes Governors, Tom Ridge, John Engler, Scott Mccallum, Frank O'Bannon, George E. Pataki, George H. Ryan, Bob Taft, Jesse Ventura, Mike Harris, Bernard Landry

Water Law Documents

In agreeing to this Annex, the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers reaffirm their commitment to the five broad principles set forth in the Great Lakes Charter, and further reaffirm that the provisions of the Charter will continue in full force and effect. The Governors and Premiers commit to further implementing the principles of the Charter by developing an enhanced water management system that is simple, durable, efficient, retains and respects authority within the Basin, and, most importantly, protects, conserves, restores, and improves the Waters and Water-Dependent Natural Resources of the Great Lakes Basin. State and Provincial authorities should be permanent, …

Exotic Policy: An Ijc White Paper On Policies For The Prevention Of The Invasion Of The Great Lakes By Exotic Organisms, Eric Reeves

Water Law Documents

About ten years ago, the Great Lakes environmental community initiated the first action to counteract the worldwide spread of exotic organisms in ballast water. In 1988, in response to the discovery of the ruffe and the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the International Joint Commission called upon the Canadian and United States Governments to act. In 1989, Canada issued the first voluntary ballast exchange guidelines. In 1990, the United States passed the first major piece of legislation on aquatic nuisance species, mandating consultations and studies on all pathways for aquatic invasions. And in …

Secretarial Order # 3206 Subject: American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, And The Endangered Species Act, Secretary Of The Interior, Secretary Of Commerce

Water Law Documents

This Order is issued by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce (Secretaries) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. 1531, as amended (the Act), the federal-tribal trust relationship, and other federal law. Specifically, this Order clarifies the responsibilities of the component agencies, bureaus and offices of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce (Departments), when actions taken under authority of the Act and associated implementing regulations affect, or may affect, Indian lands, tribal trust resources, or the exercise of American Indian tribal rights, as defined in this Order. This Order …

The Great Lakes Charter: Principles For The Management Of Great Lakes Water Resources, Council Of Great Lakes Governors, Tom Ridge, John Engler, Scott Mccallum, Frank O'Bannon, George E. Pataki, George H. Ryan, Bob Taft, Jesse Ventura, Mike Harris, Bernard Landry

Water Law Documents

The water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are precious public natural resources, shared and held in trust by the Great Lakes States and Provinces. The Great Lakes are valuable regional, national and international resources for which the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the International Joint Commission have, in partnership with the States and Provinces, and important, continuing an abiding role and responsibility. The waters of the Great Lakes Basin are interconnected and part of a single hydrologic system. The multiple uses of these resources for municipal, industrial and agricultural water supply; mining; navigation; hydroelectric power …

Boundary Waters Treaty, The United States Of America, His Majesty The King Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland And Of The British Dominions Beyond The Seas, Emperor Of India, Elihu Root, James Bryce

Water Law Documents

The treaty provides the principles and mechanisms to help resolve disputes and to prevent future ones, primarily those concerning water quantity and water quality along the boundary between Canada and the United States.