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University of Washington School of Law

Water Law

Water rights

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Brief Of Tribal Nations And Indian Organizations As Amici Curiae In Support Of The Navajo Nation, U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 21-1484, Monte Mills, Heather D. Whiteman Runs Him, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely, John E. Echohawk, Steven C. Moore, David L. Gover, Joe M. Tenorio, Ada Montague Stepleton, Morgan E. Saunders, Wesley James Furlong, Sydney Tarzwell Feb 2023

Brief Of Tribal Nations And Indian Organizations As Amici Curiae In Support Of The Navajo Nation, U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 21-1484, Monte Mills, Heather D. Whiteman Runs Him, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely, John E. Echohawk, Steven C. Moore, David L. Gover, Joe M. Tenorio, Ada Montague Stepleton, Morgan E. Saunders, Wesley James Furlong, Sydney Tarzwell

Court Briefs

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT: The Winters Doctrine recognizes and gives effect to the promises made by the United States in treaties, congressionally ratified agreements, and executive orders that Tribal Nations would retain permanent and viable homelands. These promises, made in exchange for the Tribal Nations’ cession of billions of acres of land, paved the way for the non-Indian settlement of the West. Although every tribal homeland is unique, invariably, each requires water to be livable. Applying the canons of construction this Court has developed as part of its federal Indian law jurisprudence, as well as the history and circumstances surrounding the …


Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely Jun 2021

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 …


From Loon Lake To Chuckanut Creek: The Rise And Fall Of Environmental Values In Washington's Water Resources Act, Rachael Paschal Osborn Jan 2021

From Loon Lake To Chuckanut Creek: The Rise And Fall Of Environmental Values In Washington's Water Resources Act, Rachael Paschal Osborn

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the Water Resources Act of 1971, Washington’s program to protect instream flows in state rivers. Implementation has been controversial and, even a half century later, incomplete. Part 1 introduces the Act. Part 2 examines its legislative history, and administrative development by the Department of Ecology. The Act innovated water allocation, putting instream flows and public uses of rivers on par with out-of-stream water rights. But river protection labors under serious limitations, chief among them the subordination of instream flows to pre-existing water rights. And, although only half of Washington’s watersheds are protected …


Water Law—Quantification Of Water Rights Claimed Under The Implied Reservation Doctrine For National Forests—United States V. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696 (1978), Michael Wrenn Oct 1979

Water Law—Quantification Of Water Rights Claimed Under The Implied Reservation Doctrine For National Forests—United States V. New Mexico, 438 U.S. 696 (1978), Michael Wrenn

Washington Law Review

United States v. New Mexico is the first Supreme Court decision to quantify reserved water rights available for the national forests. The narrow scope accorded the implied reservation doctrine as applied to the United States' claims for water for recreational and wildlife purposes reflects recognition by the Court that the implied reservation doctrine will be limited in the face of competing claims based on state law. The Court's decision limits federal interests under the reserved rights doctrine without providing adequate protection for the water needs of the national forests. The decision also deprives the implied reservation doctrine of the flexibility …