Law Commons^™

International Water Law And Fresh Water Dispute Resolution: A Cosean Perspective, Tamar Meshell, Moin A. Yahya

University of Colorado Law Review

International Water Law has developed a set of rules for resolving interstate fresh water disputes that govern both the substance of these disputes and the conduct of the disputing states. "Equitable and reasonable utilization" is commonly considered as the leading substantive rule, "no significant harm" as subsidiary to it, and the "duty to cooperate" as the central procedural rule. The purpose of this Article is to analyze the merits of these substantive and procedural rules under the lens of the celebrated Coase theorem. The "normative" part of the Coase theorem observes that if transaction costs are high, then the legal …

Dustbowl Waters: Doctrinal And Legislative Solutions To Save The Ogallala Aquifer Before Both Time And Water Run Out, Warigia M. Bowman

University of Colorado Law Review

Eighty-three years after the Dust Bowl, residents of America's High Plains face a dire threat: their primary aquifer faces depletion, and entire sections of the country are set to run out of groundwater by the end of the century or sooner.

The Ogallala Aquifer provides a significant amount of America's agricultural irrigation water and is a primary source of drinking water for Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.

This Article argues that policymakers should slow the Aquifer's depletion rate by implementing changes to irrigation technology, crop choice, consumer behavior, legal doctrine, and legislation. This Article …

Reclaiming The Right Of Beneficial Use, Abby Harder

University of Colorado Law Review

Under the doctrine of prior appropriation, those that divert and apply water resources to a beneficial use gain a future right of use. Further, individuals may contract with the federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for the delivery of federal project water. Under either method, individuals are required to use their water appropriation for a beneficial purpose to acquire and maintain their rights of use. What constitutes a beneficial purpose or a beneficial use of water resources has traditionally been defined by state law. Following some states’ legalization of marijuana, the BOR announced a new policy with regard to water use, …

No Seat At The Water Table: Colorado's New Groundwater Basin Statute Leaves Senior Surface Rights In The Lurch, Ari J. Stiller-Shulman

University of Colorado Law Review

Wells that pump water from underground aquifers deplete water flowing in nearby rivers and streams. Colorado farmers in certain parts of the state use wells to pump large quantities of underground water for irrigation. However, other users who had pre-existing surface-water rights on nearby streams have complained that these wells drain the river and injure their prior vested water rights. Normally, surface water users with prior rights can require more junior users to stop appropriating until the senior user has diverted her full right. However, Colorado presumes that wells in certain districts-called designated basins-do not injure nearby surface streams. Still, …

Reimagining Western Water Law: Time-Limited Water Right Permits Based On A Comprehensive Beneficial Use Doctrine, Michael Toll

University of Colorado Law Review

The dwindling supply of western water resources and the increasing water demands of a growing population necessitate a fundamental reexamination of the prior appropriation system. As a nineteenth century system of water allocation, prior appropriation, traditionally applied, is ill-equipped to effectively and efficiently cope with these twenty-first-century realities. The system must be reformed. The reimagining of western water law has two components. First, the determination of whether water is being put to a "beneficial use" should be based upon a holistic, comparative assessment of the relative value of the use of that water-an exercise in values and priorities that is …

Like Water For Energy: The Water-Energy Nexus Through The Lens Of Tax Policy, Roberta F. Mann

University of Colorado Law Review

Water is essential for life. Inadequate potable water supplies lead to poverty, disease, starvation, and civil strife. Climate change is likely to put more pressure on the world's supply of fresh water. Rising sea levels will introduce salt into some fresh water systems. As high mountain snow cover and glaciers decline, they will store less fresh water. As regions heat up, droughts will become more persistent. Producing energy uses water. How much water is used depends on the source of the energy. Yet in the rush to transition to a renewable energy economy, policy makers have paid little heed to …