Environmental Law Commons^™

An Economic Assessment Of The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, Rosalind Bark-Hodgins, Bonnie G. Colby

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

A People's History Of Wilderness, Edited By Matt Jenkins, Laura Pritchett

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Rise And Fall Of The Ebro Water Transfer, Jose Albiac, Michael Hanemann, Javier Calatrava, Javier Uche, Javier Tapia

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Commerce Clause, Interstate Compacts, And Marketing Water Across State Boundaries, Olen Paul Matthews, Michael Pease

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Precious, Worthless, Or Immeasurable: The Value And Ethic Of Water, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

This Article introduces and briefly explores some of the topics related to the value and ethics of water that were considered at the symposium, Precious, Worthless, or Immeasurable: The Value and Ethic of Water, which took place November 2-4, 2006, at the Texas Tech University School of Law. The purpose of the Symposium was to consider how this precious liquid is valued, assessed, and perceived with regard to law and regulations, economics and commerce, people and communities, culture and religion, and others aspects of society that are impacted by water. While far from a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter, …

Finding New Constitutional Rights Through The Supreme Court’S Evolving “Government Purpose” Test Under Minimum Scrutiny, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

By now we all are familiar with the litany of cases which refused to find elevated scrutiny for so-called “affirmative” or “social” rights such as education, welfare or housing: Lindsey v. Normet, San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, Dandridge v. Williams, DeShaney v. Winnebago County. There didn’t seem to be anything in minimum scrutiny which could protect such facts as education or housing, from government action. However, unobtrusively and over the years, the Supreme Court has clarified and articulated one aspect of minimum scrutiny which holds promise for vindicating facts. You will recall that under minimum scrutiny government’s action is …

Active Water Resource Management: Tools For Better Water Management, John D'Antonio

Publications

No abstract provided.

Water For Energy In The Southwest: Finding Water For Mohave, Stanley M. Pollack

Publications

No abstract provided.

Water For Energy In The Southwest: Where Will It Come From?, Marilyn C. O'Leary

Publications

No abstract provided.

Rapanos, Carabell, And The Isolated Man, Joel B. Eisen

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review- Turning The Tide: Saving The Chesapeake Bay, Carl W. Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

Nearly a quarter century ago, the states of the Chesapeake Bay region entered a compact by which they meant to improve the declining environmental quality of this national treasure. Concerned about the Bay's accelerating degradation, these jurisdictions hoped that the agreement would enhance the situation or at least stop the deterioration. Ten years after that accord's consummation, Tom Horton evaluated whether progress had been achieved in improving the Bay's environmental health. The writer determined that the answer was inconclusive. When a second decade had passed since the compact's adoption, Horton decided that he would conduct another examination to determine what …

Checking In On The Chesapeake: Some Questions Of Design, Jonathan Cannon

University of Richmond Law Review

The Chesapeake Bay Program ("the CBP" or "Program") has been widely celebrated as a model of collaborative management for large multijurisdictional watersheds and for ecosystem management more generally.' In an article published six years ago, I joined in the celebration.2 But recent events warrant consideration of whether restructuring of the program is called for. In this essay, I consider whether greater centralization of decisionmaking for the Bay would address recent criticisms of the Program and better protect the public interest. After evaluating two alternative forms for the Program involving greater centralization, I conclude that major restructuring is not in order. …

New Paradigm: Indian Tribes In The Land Of Unintended Consequences, Sam Deloria

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Deflating The Deference Myth: National Interests Vs. State Authority Under Federal Laws Affecting Water Use, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

This Article seeks to separate the myth from the reality of federal deference to state water allocation authority. Section I briefly addresses background principles of state water law and federal constitutional law, and Section II traces the early history of deference prior to 1910. Section III analyzes three federal statutory schemes and Supreme Court cases applying them, suggests that each represents a different level of federal deference, and distills a few principles for analyzing deference under federal statutes. Section IV addresses deference issues arising in the context of the CWA and the ESA, applying the principles identified in the previous …

An Environmental Pool For The Rio Grande, Kara Gillon

Publications

The Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers operate a series of dams, reservoirs, and levees along the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico. The plight of the Rio Grande silvery minnow, an endangered species, and of the river itself demonstrates the need for a change from the emphasis on water development to sustainable river management. Conservation groups invoked the protections of the Endangered Species Act to catalyze this change. Recognizing that flexibility is necessary to meeting competing water needs, the groups also promoted the need for and several approaches to a sustainable and long-term approach to river management and …

Toward A New Horizontal Federalism: Interstate Water Management In The Great Lakes Region, Noah D. Hall

University of Colorado Law Review

This article presents a new model for environmental policy, called cooperative horizontal federalism. The cooperative horizontal federalism approach utilizes a constitutional mechanism for states to bind themselves to common substantive and procedural environmental protection standards, implemented individually with regional resources and enforcement. Here, the concept of the cooperative horizontal federalism model is illustrated through the recently proposed Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. Under this proposed compact, the eight Great Lakes states would cooperatively manage the world's largest freshwater resource under common minimum standards, which are then incorporated into state law and implemented individually. This cooperative horizontal federalism …

The Law Of The Lakes: From Protectionism To Sustainability, Christine A. Klein

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article has a practical goal: to convince state lawmakers of the need to regulate in a comprehensive and evenhanded manner, avoiding short-sighted fixes or politically appealing shortcuts. To accomplish that goal, Part I focuses upon another region of the country-the Colorado River Basin-where residents have also undertaken the task of managing a water system that includes two nations(The United States and Mexico) and numerous states. Learning from the successes and failures of the resultant Law of the River, this Article derives guiding principles for the emerging Law of the Lakes. Part II makes a crucial distinction between protectionism and …

Pakootas V. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.: Finding A Sustainable Solution To Transboundary Pollution, Kate Mcdonald

Georgia Law Review

Transboundary pollution has become an issue of increasing concern as scientists learn more about the global effects of industry pollutants and the harm they pose to human health. - Advances in our understanding of the environment opened the door to disputes over responsibility for prevention and mitigation of the harmful effects of pollutants and created a search for techniques for international conflict resolution. Recently, industrial pollution of the Columbia River resulted in a legal battle between Washington citizens and a Canadian corporation over who was financially responsible for restoring the health of a portion of the river lying within the …

Mixed Blessings: The Great Lakes Compact And Agreement, The Ijc, And International Dispute Resolution, Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For scholars of international law and international dispute resolution, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and Agreement may seem a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they promise environmental cooperation and management of the Great Lakes at an unprecedented scale. The agreements have been heralded as a tremendous advancement in state-provincial relations. On the other hand, international scholars should be nervous for what the agreements signify for international law and dispute resolution. The Compact and Agreement are remarkable for replacing an already functioning regulatory regime: the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, administered by the International Joint Commission.

This …

A Few Ironies Of Western Water Law, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

We have a truly outstanding panel of speakers this morning to discuss issues and history relating to water resources in the American West. Water, of course, has always been scarce out here. Some nineteenth century maps of the United States had the words "Great American Desert" written broadly across the West, and that characterization reflected how many people viewed the West in that era. The story goes that President Grant sent a cabinet member to the West with orders to report back on "what it is they need out there." The secretary dutifully wrote back saying, "All this place needs …

Can States Regulate Hydropower Dams As Dischargers Pursuant To Their Clean Water Certification Authority?, Robert H. Abrams

Journal Publications

Under §401 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C §13·n, to obtain a federal license for any activity that results in a "discharge into the navigable waters," the license applicant must obtain a certification from the state in which the activity takes place that the discharge complies with several aspects of state water-quality regulation under the Clean Water Act. A common setting in which this requirement has been applied is when a hydropower dam seeks to be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Listening To All The Voices, Old And New: The Evolution Of Land Ownership In The Modern West, Charles Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Aboriginal Title And Oceans Policy In Canada, Diana Ginn

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The Oceans Act of Canada sets out a broad framework for the unified management of Canada’s oceans based on an ecosystem approach. In particular, the Oceans Act calls on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to lead and facilitate the development of a national strategy to guide the management of Canada’s estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems. The Oceans Act also reflects awareness that aboriginal rights may affect the development or implementation of policy surrounding oceans management. For example, s. 2(1) of the Act states that “. . . nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to abrogate or …

Keep Your Money: Let The West Pay For Its Own Water Projects, Denise D. Fort

Faculty Scholarship

The question posed here is what role the federal government should play in responding to the western water crisis, in light of the changes in the social and political landscape that have occurred in the last decade. My thesis is that solutions to water needs that are funded locally are more likely to be sustainable than those produced through national appropriations. My thinking is affected by the work I did on a Presidential commission that recommended sustainability be the cornerstone of western water policy.

Adequate Progress, Or Rivers Left Behind? Developments In Colorado And Wyoming Instream Flow Laws Since 2000, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

Colorado and Wyoming have much in common in regard to water supply and water use, and both states have followed the western states' traditional approach in their instream flow laws. This traditional approach, however, has serious practical shortcomings in restoring and protecting instream flows. This Article asks whether Colorado and Wyoming have made “adequate progress” since 2000 in addressing these shortcomings in their instream flow laws. For one of these states, the answer is clear Wyoming has made no progress on its instream flow laws in recent years. Colorado, by contrast, has clearly made progress in strengthening its laws-especially as …

Rethinking The Great Lakes Compact, Mark Squillace

Publications

On December 13, 2005, the Governors and Premiers of the Great Lakes states and provinces signed a Compact and Agreement that commits the parties to a rigorous program to regulate individual water uses, with citizen suits to enforce the requirements. While the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and companion Agreement are commendable in many respects, this Article argues that people who care about the future of the Great Lakes should urge policymakers to reject the current proposals and rethink the entire approach. The proposed compact is fundamentally flawed and will not achieve the ultimate stated goal of …

The First Half Century Of Western Water Reform: Have We Kept Faith With The Rivers Of The West?, Charles Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Initial Steps Towards An Assessment Of The Potential For A Collaborative Approach To Colorado Delta Ecosystem Restoration, Gregory S. Weber

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

A Hydrogeological Perspective Of The Status Of Ground Water Resources Under The Un Watercourse Convention, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

When the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses in 1997, it took a decisive step in recognizing the important role that transboundary ground water resources play in human progress and development. In so doing, it also acknowledged the need to establish principles of law governing this "invisible" but valuable natural resource. Transboundary ground water historically has been neglected in treaties, ignored in projects with international implications, and cursorily misunderstood in much of legal discourse.

While the Convention provides substantial clarification on the status of ground water under international law, it also leaves considerable …