Law Commons^™

Can A State’S Water Rights Be Dammed? Environmental Flows And Federal Dams In The Supreme Court, Reed D. Benson

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Interstate rivers are subject to the doctrine of equitable apportionment, whereby the Supreme Court seeks to ensure that all states that share such rivers get a fair portion of their benefits. The Court has rarely issued an equitable apportionment decree, however, and there is little law on whether the doctrine protects river flows for environmental purposes. The ongoing Florida v. Georgia litigation in the Supreme Court raises this issue, as Florida seeks to limit consumptive uses by upstream Georgia to preserve flows in the Apalachicola River, which provide both economic and environmental benefits. This Article summarizes both the equitable apportionment …

National Association Of Manufacturers V. Department Of Defense, Summer L. Carmack

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to provide consistency to the interpretation and application of the statutory phrase “waters of the United States,” as used in the Clean Water Act, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers together passed the WOTUS Rule. Unfortunately, the Rule has created more confusion than clarity, resulting in a number of lawsuits challenging substantive portions of the Rule’s language. National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense did not address those substantive challenges, but instead determined whether those claims challenging the Rule must be filed in federal district courts or federal courts of appeals. In its decision, the …

Hawkes Co. V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

A peat mining company will not be required to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act to discharge dredged and fill material into wetlands. The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that the United States Army Corps of Engineers fell short in its attempts to establish jurisdiction over the wetlands by twice failing to show a significant nexus existed between the wetlands and navigable waters. Further, the district court enjoined the Corps from asserting jurisdiction a third time because it would force the mining company through a “never ending loop” of administrative law.

The Failure And Future Of Lake Okeechobee Water Releases: A Quasi-Governmental Solution, Jacquelyn A. Thomas

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Slides: Session 2, Water Supply And Quality: The Regulatory Framework, Richard E. Schwartz

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: Richard E. Schwartz, Crowell & Moring LLP

38 slides

Permits For Puddles? The Constitutionality And Necessity Of Proposed Agency Guidance Clarifying Clean Water Act Jurisdiction, Jennifer L. Baader

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Clean Water Act, enacted and amended in the mid-20th century, was a significant development in the protection and restoration of the Nation’s waters. The Act authorized the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to regulate the discharge of pollutants into many types of bodies of water. However, this wide-spread jurisdictional authority was challenged by the Supreme Court in two turn of the century cases which limited the application of the Act to certain waters. In 2011, a draft guidance document was released by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, which would increase …

Slides: Rapanos And The Courts: Navigating Through The Fog, Jim Murphy

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

Presenter: Jim Murphy, Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel, National Wildlife Federation, VT

25 slides

Water Federalism And The Army Corps Of Engineers' Role In Eastern States Water Allocation, Robert Haskell Abrams

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Water Federalism And The Army Corps Of Engineers' Role In Eastern States Water Allocation, Robert Haskell Abrams

Journal Publications

It is black letter constitutional theory that the several states are the masters of their property law, and hence their water law. For that reason, states have been free to adopt regimes as widely different as reasonable use riparianism and prior appropriation, depending on local conditions and perceived needs. Superimposed on the same physical water resource network, is the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The presence of Corps' facilities in basins now experiencing short supply opens the door to state and federal water allocation conflict that calls for mediation under the principles of water federalism, a doctrine that …

Historical Evolution And Future Of Natural Resources Law And Policy: The Beginning Of An Argument And Some Modest Predictions, Sally K. Fairfax, Helen Ingram, Leigh Raymond

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

8 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Sally Fairfax, UC-Berkeley, Helen Ingram, UC-Irvine, and Leigh Raymond, Purdue University" -- Agenda

Initiatives And Conflicts In Changing Federal Facility Operation, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

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

18 pages.

Contains references.

Missouri River Basin: Balancing Upstream And Downstream Uses, John E. Thorson

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

20 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains 1 page of references.

A Comparison: Lessons From The Columbia Basin And The Upper Colorado Basin Fish Recovery Efforts, Mary Christina Wood

Biodiversity Protection: Implementation and Reform of the Endangered Species Act (Summer Conference, June 9-12)

47 pages.

Contains 5 pages of references.

Changing The River’S Course: Western Water Policy Reform, David H. Getches

Publications

Throughout the history of the West, water law and policy have had a profound influence on the environment of the region. Power production, agricultural irrigation, and economic expansion of the Columbia River Basin have depended upon the institutions of water policy, including the prior appropriation doctrine and major water development in the form of large dams and diversions. This has rendered the river incapable of sustaining the rich salmon populations that once were the mainstay of Northwest Indian culture and supported a major fishing industry. Professor Getches concludes that traditional instruments of water policy in the West--the beneficial use requirement …

Agenda: Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

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

Protecting water quality is essential to preserve the many beneficial uses of western water resources. This conference addresses the dominant federal requirements in the Clean Water Act, including the important major revisions enacted by Congress in 1987, with special attention to western problems regarding nonpoint source pollution. Developments in groundwater quality regulation are considered, as are selected issues concerning the implications of state and federal water quality regulation for the traditional exercise of water rights.

Section 404: The Nasty Business Of The Clean Water Act, Oliver A. Houck

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

9 pages.

Contains references.

Financing Water Projects: Where Do We Go From Here?, Henry P. Caulfield, Jr.

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

16 pages.

Panel: Section 404 Of The Clean Water Act And Section 7 Of The Endangered Species Act: Potential Impacts On Water Supplies [Supplemental Materials], Wendy C. Weiss

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

57 pages.

Supplemental materials. Includes text of Riverside Irrigation District v. Andrews, 568 F.Supp 563 and Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellants in Riverside Irrigation District v. Andrews, Cases No. 83-2114, 83-2115, 83-2119, 83-2230, April 3, 1984.

Developments In Federal Water Policies And Programs, Harold W. Furman Ii

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

14 pages.

Negotiation As A Means Of Quantifying Indian Water Rights, Joseph R. Membrino

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

88 pages.

Contains attachments.

South Dakota And The Etsi Experience, William J. Janklow

New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: Interbasin Transfers: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 7-10)

23 pages.

Federal Regulation Of Appropriations Of Water In The Name Of Protecting Water Quality, David L. Harrison

Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

9 pages.

Pure Water, Pure Law, And Pure Nonsense: Outline, Charles E. Corker

Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

24 pages.