Law Commons^™

Addressing Interstate Ground Water Ownership: Mississippi V. Tennessee, Alec Sweet

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Contemporaneous with significant climate change and heightened environmental concerns, the Supreme Court has seen an increasing number of water-related lawsuits between states. These lawsuits include disputes over water storage and water compacts as well as disputes over water usage affecting aquaculture. Scientists predict that in the future, the United States could face rising temperatures, droughts, and natural disasters. If states cannot cooperate to conserve the water they share, these catastrophes could cause immense suffering and numerous conflicts between states. The Supreme Court needs a consistent doctrine to apply in water disputes.

In prior disputes over surface water, the Court has …

Slides: Untitled [Innovative Agreements], Greg Hobbs

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Justice Greg Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court

13 slides

Slides: Colorado's Water Plan, Lauren Ris

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Lauren Ris, Assistant Director for Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources

23 slides

Slides: Six Decades Of Texas Water Planning, Ronald Kaiser

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Ronald Kaiser, Professor of Water Law and Policy, Chair of Graduate Water Degree Program, Texas A&M University

32 slides

The Supreme Court And The Ppl Montana Case: Examining The Relationship Between Navigability And State Ownership Of Submerged Lands, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The United States Supreme Court held in PPL Montana v. Montana held that the State of Montana did not own the beds beneath certain rivers and, therefore, rejected the State's claim that the power company owed it millions of dollars in "back rent" for the use of the riverbeds as sites for ten of its hydroelectric power plants. The Montana Supreme Court, which had ruled in favor of the State, declared that even if portions of a river were not navigable for commercial purposes because of physical conditions, the entire river would be treated as navigable if commercial traffic could …

Slides: Development Of Shale: Water Resource Concerns And Policy Considerations, Katy Dunlap

Shale Plays in the Intermountain West: Legal and Policy Issues (November 12)

Presenter: Katy Dunlap, Eastern Water Project Director, Trout Unlimited, Inc., Burdett, NY

24 slides

Slides: Next Evolutionary Steps In State Instream Flow Programs, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, attorney and consultant, Boulder, CO

27 slides

Slides: Groundwater Declines, Climate Change And Approaches To Adaptation, Katharine Jacobs

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Katharine Jacobs, Director of the Arizona Water Institute, University of Arizona

37 slides

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 …

The Future Of Mineral Development On Federal Lands In The United States, John D. Leshy

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

11 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Outline of presentation of John D. Leshy, Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor, U.C. Hastings College of the Law, Natural Resources Law center, June 7, 2007" (pp. 3-5)

"Leshy draft 4.27.07 For Natural Resources Law Center" (pp. 6-13)

Agenda: Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

The Center sponsored its third annual field tour for staff members of the United States Congress, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Colorado state legislature.

From Schweizerhalle To Baia Mare: The Continuing Failure Of International Law To Protect Europe's Rivers, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

Beginning on January 31, 2000, at least 100,000 cubic meters of highly polluted water escaped from a tailings dam at the Aurul gold mine in Baia Mare, Romania. The water flowed into the Somes, Tisza, and Danube Rivers, causing enormous environmental damage. Most of the damage occurred in Hungary, downstream from Baia Mare. Hungarian politicians called the spill “the first, most serious environment[al] catastrophe in the 21st century,” and “the worst ecological disaster in central Europe since Chernobyl in 1986.”

More striking than the resemblance to the Chernobyl disaster, though, was the resemblance to another 1986 environmental catastrophe: the Sandoz …

Either/Or? Will Climate Change Force A Choice Between Salmon And Electricity In The Northwest?, John M. Volkman

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

12 pages and 16 slides

Includes bibliographical references

"John M. Volkman, Partner, Stoel Rives LLP, Portland, Oregon"

Agenda: Dams: Water And Power In The New West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Conference organizers and/or speakers included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Douglas S. Kenney, Kathryn M. Mutz, Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Rieke, Charles F. Wilkinson and Lawrence J. MacDonnell.

The keynote address by Charles F. Wilkinson is titled Coming to Grips with Growth in the West: Traditional Communities, Free Rivers and the New Megalopoli, and it will be held on Monday, June 2, at 12:30 p.m. in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom of the law school. Wilkinson is a noted law professor, writer and authority on Western issues.

The conference will begin by providing historical context for the …

Agenda: Boundaries And Water: Allocation And Use Of A Shared Resource, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource is the topic of the Center's annual summer program on water this June. Most of the major rivers in the western United States are shared between two or more states. Often tribal governments play an important role in water allocation and use decisions. International considerations also may be involved in some cases. These interjurisdictional issues extend to groundwater as well as surface water.

This conference will provide the …

Water Use Permits In A Riparian State: Problems And Proposals, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Although adequate supplies of water are generally available in Kentucky, the law governing its use and allocation is much less satisfactory. At present, Kentucky water law is a complex mixture of common law and statutory water rights. The purpose of this article is to evaluate these water rights and suggest a number of improvements. Part I will examine the common law rules as they relate to both surface water and ground water. Part II will focus upon Kentucky's present system of statutory water use regulation and will identify some of its more serious deficiencies. Part III will recommend some short-range …