Law Commons^™

14th Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference: Property Rights In Water, Renee Moulin, Holly Doremus, Robert Abrams, Eric Alston, Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

Allocating Consumptive Water Rights In A Riparian Jurisdiction: Defining The Relationship Between Public And Private Interests, Lynda L. Butler

Lynda L. Butler

Historically, water consumption in the eastern United States has been governed by the common-law riparian doctrine. Fashioned to protect the domestic uses of private individuals in a largely agrarian society, the doctrine is not well suited to today's environment in which the demands of public users have grown enormously. Even in the East, where water has long been abundant, the effects of increased consumption, pollution, and periodic drought have brought the continued viability of the doctrine into question. Professor Butler examines the legal standards which have developed under the riparian doctrine and identifies three principal areas in which the doctrine …

Scientific, Legal, And Ethical Foundations For Texas Water Law., Gabriel Eckstein, Amy Hardberger

Gabriel Eckstein

Water law is the field of law concerned with the ownership, control, and use of water resources, both surface and subsurface. Although most closely related to property law, recent developments in other legal fields, especially in environmental law, have heavily influenced the interpretation, application, and development of water law. As a result, water law today encompasses a broad perspective and often takes into account individual and community rights, environmental issues, commerce and economics, and other societal and legal concerns. Significantly, modern water law is also an interdisciplinary practice. In light of the continuously expanding body of knowledge of the hydrologic …

Designing Effective Groundwater Sustainability Agencies: Criteria For Evaluation Of Local Governance Options, Michael Kiparsky, Dave Owen, Nell Green Nylen, Holly Doremus, Juliet Christian-Smith, Barbara Cosens, Andrew Fisher, Anita Milman

Nell Green Nylen

No abstract provided.

Accelerating Cost-Effective Green Stormwater Infrastructure: Learning From Local Implementation, Nell Green Nylen, Michael Kiparsky

Nell Green Nylen

No abstract provided.

Citizen Enforcement And Sanitary Sewer Overflows In California, Nell Green Nylen, Luke Sherman, Michael Kiparsky, Holly Doremus

Nell Green Nylen

No abstract provided.

Weed And Water Law: Regulating Legal Marijuana, Ryan Stoa

Ryan B. Stoa

Marijuana is nearing the end of its prohibition in the United States. Arguably the country’s largest cash crop, marijuana is already legal for recreational use in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington DC. Between now and election day 2016, an additional 14 states may place marijuana legalization initiatives on their ballots. In addition, 23 states and Washington DC have legalized medical marijuana, with up to seven states pending legislation. The era of marijuana prohibition is rapidly coming to a close. At the same time, traditional doctrines of water law are struggling to cope with the modern realities of water scarcity. …

Legal Analysis Of Barriers To Adaption For California’S Water Sector, Michael Hanemann, Deborah Lambe, Daniel Farber

Daniel A Farber

No abstract provided.

Designing Effective Groundwater Sustainability Agencies: Criteria For Evaluation Of Local Governance Options, Michael Kiparsky, Dave Owen, Nell Green Nylen, Holly Doremus, Juliet Christian-Smith, Barbara Cosens, Andrew Fisher, Anita Milman

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Citizen Enforcement And Sanitary Sewer Overflows In California, Nell Green Nylen, Luke Sherman, Michael Kiparsky, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

No abstract provided.

Cultural Norms As A Source Of Law: The Example Of Bottled Water, Christine A. Klein, Ling-Yee Huang

Christine A. Klein

As a metaphor for the interaction of law and culture, bottled water is striking in its simplicity and clarity. Bottled water consumers form a surprisingly loyal subculture of beverage drinkers, united by the water truths and water myths that they embrace. More recently, an equally fervent subculture of bottled water protestors has begun to coalesce. Notably, the cultural norms associated with both supporters and detractors extend beyond mere hydration and encompass such fundamental and varied notions as health, taste, convenience, status, morality, anti-privatization, sustainability, and truth-telling. In contrast to the cultural story, the legal narrative is surprisingly sparse, overlooking an …

Drugs On Tap: Managing Pharmaceuticals In Our Nation’S Waters, Gabriel Eckstein

Gabriel Eckstein

Pharmaceuticals in the environment and public water supplies are believed to have serious impacts on human and environmental health. Current research suggests that exposure to certain drugs and their residues may result in a variety of adverse human health effects. Other studies more conclusively show that even minute concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the environment can have detrimental effects on aquatic and terrestrial species. Unfortunately, the cost of removing these pernicious substances is out of the financial reach of most municipalities and wastewater and drinking water treatment operators.Despite the concerns, little effort has been made to develop broad management, mitigatory, or …

Contemporary Issues In Water Resources: U.S. Mexico Water, Food And Energy Nexus, Gina Warren

Gina Warren

No abstract provided.

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Gabriel Eckstein

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …

Preventing Perpetuity: Ensuring Clean Mine Closure Without Water Treatment Into Infinity, Nicholas Clabbers

Nicholas Clabbers

Mine closure is a pressing environmental problem. Done improperly, mine closure can leave behind an ugly legacy of water and soil pollution from heavy metals and mining byproducts. Many scientific studies that attempt to quantify and explain the impacts of mine closure, both the formal legal and policy analysis, are sparse, especially with regards to proposed solutions. This article fills that gap – it provides an overview of the legal barriers to clean mine closure, a survey of existing law, and a thorough analysis of a possible framework for improved mine remediation. It advances practical solutions and works through the …

Book Review Of Oil On Water: Tankers, Pirates And The Rise Of China, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

Oil on Water sheds light on the vital economic and strategic issue of the international oil trade. Oil remains the most important of all fuels, and the viability of the oil trade is highly dependent upon the safety and security of shipping. However, while the idea of ‘energy security’ is a term widely employed and appreciated in the abstract, the actual details of how the world’s economies are supplied are not well understood. The issue has gained much greater salience in recent years due to structural upward changes in oil prices, mostly as a result of rapidly growing demand in …

A Fishery, A Sanctuary, A Sink, And A Disaster: The Often Hapless Management Of California's Salton Sea, William M. Mclaren

Will McLaren

Over a century ago, a series of questionable management decisions and water-diversion engineering mistakes in Southern California produced an “unnatural” waterbody called the Salton Sea. Since then, the Sea has served as a recreational destination with fluctuating popularity, a sanctuary for migratory birds, a sink for agricultural runoff and urban wastewater, and one of the most productive tilapia and corvina fisheries in the United States. However, the Sea’s resources and associated uses have steadily deteriorated since its formation.

The contrast between the ethics that drove resource management decisions at the time of the Salton Sea’s formation to those employed in …

Facts Can Be Stubborn: The Importance Of The Fact Section In Environmental Law, L.A. County Flood Control Dist. V. Natural Res. Def. Council, 133 S. Ct. 710 (2013), Aaron Schaer

Aaron Schaer

L.A. County is a perfect example of a difficulty that underlies many environmental cases. The facts are often incredibly complex, and based on science that even the PhDs among us struggle to comprehend. And if this were not enough, the environmental laws that these facts are siphoned through are no walk in the park themselves. Quite the opposite, as should be expected from political compromises over intricate, ever-evolving science. Environmental laws are rife with jargon and compound terms that are best left to acronyms like NAAQS and NPDES. This itself has become food for fodder, as these laws have been …

International Cooperation Over Water Use In Central Asia, Jaume Saura Estapà

Jaume Saura Estapà

The aim of this paper is to analyse one of the key factors for understanding the region ofCentral Asia: its distinctive relationship to water resources. The first section examines the management of water resources in the region from the viewpoint of the obligation of cooperation established in general international law. Then, we explore the implications of water management in terms of the rights of citizens, regional cooperation in the management, conservation and sustainable development of the inland fisheries of Central Asia, and cooperation in the generation and distribution of hydroelectric power in the region.

The Philippine Treaty Limits And Territorial Water Claim In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The fundamental position of the Philippines regarding the extent of its territorial and maritime boundaries is based on two contentious premises: first, that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the UnitedStates; and second, that all the waters embraced within these imaginary lines are its territorial waters. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the SeaConvention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. This situation poses two fundamental unresolved issues of …

The Historical Background, Geographical Extent And Legal Bases Of The Philippine Territorial Water Claim, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The Philippine territorial water claim is unique in international law. On the basis of historic right of title, the Philippines claims a rectangular territorial sea fully enclosing the entirety of the archipelago, which at some points exceed 12 nautical miles in breadth. The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, which the Philippines signed and ratified, prescribes the maximum breadth of the territorial sea at 12 nautical miles. For this reason, the Philippine territorial sea claim has been criticized for being excessive. This paper will discuss and clarify the historical background, geographical extent, and legal bases of the Philippine territorial water …

Towards A Legal Framework For A Single National Ballast Water Management Scheme In Australia, Ben M. Tsamenyi, Stuart B. Kaye, Alison Castle

Professor Ben M Tsamenyi

Introduced Marine Pests (IMPs) pose a serious threat to marine biodiversity in Australia. There are many ways pests are introduced into the marine environment. The major vectors for IMPs are ballast water, ship fouling, accidental introductions due to mariculture and deliberate introduction. The focus of this paper is on the administrative and legislative response to the introduction of IMPs through ballast water. Historically, ballast water accounts for only 15-20 per cent of the invasive marine species found in Australia. Ballast water is, however, becoming the major threatening vector in the last two decades. The current ballast water legislative and administrative …

We Want Our Lives Back Too: Expanding Absolute Liability To Include A Recovery For The Victims Of Ecological Catastrophies, Prentice L. White

Prentice L White

WE WANT OUR LIVES BACK TOO: EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF ABSOLUTE LIABILITY TO INCLUDE A RECOVERY FOR THE VICTIMS OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHES BY PRENTICE L. WHITE No one could have anticipated that the worst ecological disaster in history would take place near Louisiana’s coastline. The morning of April 20, 2010, started like any other spring day, but less than ten hours after the sun rose that morning there would be an explosion that would kill 11 oil workers. The first from the explosion would be seen from outer space and millions of gallons of crude oil would spew into the …

The Use Of The Public Trust Doctrine As A Management Tool Over Public And Private Lands, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Using The Public Natural Resource Management Laws To Improve Water Pollution Anti-Degradation Policies, Sandi Zellmer, Robert Glicksman

Sandi Zellmer

The Clean Water Act’s principal goal is to “restore and maintain” the integrity of the nation’s surface water bodies. The Act’s adoption was spurred largely by the perception that unchecked pollution had caused the degradation of those waters, making them unsuitable for uses such as fishing and swimming. At the time Congress passed the statute, however, some lakes, rivers, and streams had water quality that was better than what was needed to support these uses. An important question was whether the statute would limit discharges with the potential to impair these high quality waters. EPA’s anti-degradation policy sought to ensure …

Gender And Inclusive Growth, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

In spite of claim of ‘gender inclusive growth’ by the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the mass of Indian women have not only been bypassed but also marginalised in the growth process. Real wages of mass of women have declined. Due to withdrawal of the state from social sector, women’s work burden in unpaid care economy (cooking, cleaning, nursing, collecting fuel-fodder-water, etc.) has increased manyfold. Subordinate status of women manifests in declining child sex ratio i.e., ‘missing girls phenomenon’, deteriorating reproductive and child health, feminisation of poverty, increased violence against women, enhanced mortality and morbidity among girls and women and …

Winters And Water Conservation: A Proposal To Halt “Water Laundering” In Tribal Negotiated Settlements In Favor Of Monetary Compensation, Jesse H. Alderman

Jesse H Alderman

In the century since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Winters v. United States, granted Indian tribes reserved water rights, few tribes have received the promised delivery of water, while at the same time, the Department of Interior—the same agency tasked with a fiduciary duty to hold all tribal assets in trust—constructed massive, multibillion-dollar water projects without cognizance of senior Indian rights. The water transformed much of the West, from arid desert to a green expanse of farmland and steel-and-mirrored urban centers with populations rivaling cities in the water-rich East. However, the rapacious pace of development has placed unsustainable strain on …

The Long Road To Reform——New Trend Of Foreign Investment In China’S Water Supply And Wastewater Treatment Market, Tao Liang

Tao LIANG

Tribes As Essential Partners In Achieving Sustainable Governance, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Indigenous peoples have modeled sustainable development around the world. Incentivizing the innovation and instillation of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources can come in the form of public funding, including renewable portfolio standards, feed in tariffs and green tag programs. This article analyzes ways in which tribal communities are helping to expand cooperative good governance.

Fourth-Generation Environmental Law: Integrationist And Multimodal, Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold

Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold