Human Rights Law Commons^™

Acequias, Brigette Buynak, Jerold Widdison, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

Acequias are community irrigation systems in the villages and pueblos of New Mexico. They have deep roots in two ancient traditions—Pueblo Indian and Spanish. The Pueblos collected and shared water for centuries before the arrival of Spanish colonists in 1598. The Spanish settlers brought technical knowledge and institutional frameworks for governing irrigation systems, which originated in the Moors’ seven-century occupation of Spain. Both traditions remain important to an understanding of New Mexico’s acequia heritage and the continuing relevance of these “water democracies.”Today, these traditions must meld with state law as the legislature has provided that acequias are “political subdivisions” or …

American Indian Water Rights, Michael Osborn, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

Pueblos and tribal reservations are located within most of the larger stream systems in New Mexico. Each has claims to rights to use the water in its stream. In New Mexico, Indian rights are significant because of their early priority dates, because of the large amounts of water rights claimed, or both. In some instances, such claims have the potential to displace a significant number of junior water rights.

Common law theories or doctrines pertaining to Indians continue to be judicially refined and to evolve so that discussing the nature and extent of “Indian water rights” is a complex topic.

State And Regional Water Planning, Brigette Buynak, Susan Kelly, Sarah Armstrong

Water Matters!

A statewide water planning effort was initiated by the New Mexico legislature in the 2003 session. The Interstate Stream Commission (ISC),in collaboration with the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) and the Water Trust Board, was tasked with preparing and implementing a comprehensive state water plan. Regional water planning had begun much earlier, prompted by a lawsuit that El Paso filed against New Mexico in 1983, El Paso v. Reynolds.

The State Water Plan Act of 2003 (Act) was intended to promote stewardship of the state’s water resources and to establish clear policies and strategies for management of the state’s …

Deep Water Regulation, Paul Bossert, Kari Olson

Water Matters!

With most of the surface water in New Mexico fully appropriated and with groundwater sources being drawn down and becoming less reliable, the search for new sources of water is reaching further and further afield of traditional sources and methods. Water wells deeper than 2,000 feet have been rare due to the expense of deep drilling and the uncertainty of finding potable water. Yet the combined circumstances of advances in hydrology and the escalating demand for new water have driven the search for water deeper than was previously considered practical.

Water Marketing, Jeremy Oat, Laura Paskus

Water Matters!

Water doesn’t just flow around New Mexico in streams and rivers: it also moves around on paper. Since all of the state’s surface-water and most of its groundwater have already been allocated, the only way for cities, developers, or conservation organizations to find new water supplies is to buy and transfer water rights from old uses and places to new uses and places. The N.M. Office of the State Engineer (OSE) approves each of these transfers, most of which are relatively small, but the numbers can add up over time. Between 1982 and 2011, for instance, 21,000 acre-feet of Middle …

Water Quality Regulation, Joanne Hilton, Susan Kelly, James Hogan, Kimberly Kirby, Jerry Schoeppner

Water Matters!

While many of the water issues in New Mexico center around having an adequate supply of water, the quality of the water is just as important as the quantity in supplying water for drinking and other uses that rely on clean water. Protecting water quality is financially more feasible than conducting expensive cleanup programs. New Mexico has a strong interest in water quality regulation to protect public health and the environment and to minimize expenditures for mitigation of contaminated supplies. Water quality is a difficult subject to navigate; there is a complex web of statutes and agency involvement. This paper …

Water Litigation In The Lower Rio Grande, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

The water allocation issues are hotly contested in south-central New Mexico and the surrounding area. Today, the river and those who depend on it face more administrative challenges in the face of shrinking water supplies and increased population. These challenges have given rise to two ongoing lawsuits: the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication,New Mexico v. EBID, et al., 96-CV-888 (1996) (N.M. v. EBID) in the New Mexico Third Judicial District Court (adjudication court) and the New Mexico v. United States,et al., D.N.M. 11-CV-691 (2011) (N.M. v.U.S.) in United States District Court of New Mexico (U.S. District Court).

Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (Ute Pipeline Project), Jerold Widdison, Paul Van Gulick, Darcy S. Bushnell

Water Matters!

The Ute Pipeline Project (Project), officially known as the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (ENMRWS),is a 151-mile-long pipeline project to provide a sustainable municipal and industrial water supply for several eastern New Mexico communities and a military base. The Congress authorized major federal funding for the Ute Pipeline in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. This important milestone for the project was reached after about 45 years of effort.Attention now shifts to myriad details involved in actually constructing, financing,and administering the project.

Discovery About Discovery: Sampling Practice And The Resolution Of Discovery Disputes In An Age Of Ever-Increasing Information, Charles Yablon, Nick Landsman-Roos

Cardozo Law Review

This Article provides the first extended academic consideration of a new practice adopted by an increasing number of courts to resolve e-discovery disputes - the sampling of a small portion of the information sought in backup or other relatively inaccessible files. We provide a comprehensive overview and statistical analysis of contemporary sampling techniques, identifying issues where sampling practice is inconsistent or where additional guidance appears to be required. Our aim is to provide a coherent theoretical approach to the use of sampling, suggesting "best practices" for many unresolved issues, and locating sampling practice within broader contemporary debates about discovery.

Mossville Environmental Action Now V. United States: Is A Solution To Environmental Injustice Unfolding?, Jeannine Cahill-Jackson

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

This article chronicles and analyzes the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) case resulting from the petition: Mossville Environmental Action Now v. United States. Part I illuminates the harms faced by the residents of Mossville and the little that has been done to remedy their situation. It provides an in-depth look at the data that has been collected by the U.S. government and analyzed by the members of Mossville Environmental Action Now, which shows levels of dioxin contamination in both the people and the environment of Mossville and their significance. Part I also discusses environmental racism and environmental justice …

Addressing Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation Through Insurance For Overseas Investments: The Example Of The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In 2008, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) estimated that investments of between US$540–570 billion in physical assets and other financial flows will be needed to adequately reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change; additionally, tens and possibly hundreds of billions of dollars may be necessary to enable countries to adapt to the phenomenon’s challenges. Through climate negotiations under the UNFCCC in Copenhagen and Cancun, developed country governments committed to provide developing countries roughly US$30 billion between 2010 and 2012 and to mobilize approximately US$100 billion per year by 2020 for climate change activities. …

Climate Change: Human Rights In The Times Of Climate Displacement, Shakeel Kazmi

Dissertations & Theses

The increasing numbers of climate migrants caution that the dilemma of climate refugees is a well-substantiated concern of today not tomorrow. In 2011 large-scale flooding and landslides affected more than one million people in the Philippines. More than twenty million people were displaced after massive floods in Pakistan in 2010. A significant number of future projections show that climate change will lead tens, and perhaps hundreds, of millions of people to leave their homes and in some cases their countries. The crisis of human displacement, which entails immediate actions, raised the questions of legal and moral obligations to protect the …

Climate Change, Intellectual Property, And The Scope Of Human Rights Obligations, Kavita Kapur

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Check-In, Attendees Of The Symposium

NJTIP Annual Symposium

Check-in for the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property's 7th Annual Symposium

Should We Adopt A Specific Regulation To Protect People That Are Displaced By Hydroelectric Projects?: Reflections Based On Brazilian Law And The "Belo Monte" Case, Bibiana Graeff

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Home State Regulation Of Environmental Human Rights Harms As Transnational Private Regulatory Governance, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Home state mechanisms designed to address harms arising from overseas resource extraction have recently been considered in Canada. This paper will examine whether such mechanisms could be viewed as an example of transnational private regulatory governance, and the implications of doing so for our understanding of both public international law and transnational private regulatory governance. After first briefly unpacking the idea of transnational private regulatory governance, the paper will compare common understandings of the scope of home state jurisdiction to regulate transnational corporations under international human rights and international environmental law. Recent developments in Canadian law and policy culminating in …

The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, And Human Rights, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Faculty Articles

The global food system is exceeding ecological limits while failing to meet the nutritional needs of a large segment of the world’s population. While law could play an important role in facilitating the transition to a more just and ecologically sustainable food system, the current legal framework fails to regulate food and agriculture in an integrated manner. The international legal framework governing food and agriculture is fragmented into three self-contained regimes that have historically operated in isolation from one another: international human rights law, international environmental law, and international trade law. International trade law has taken precedence over human rights …

The Second Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue, Randall S. Abate

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adios To Paradise: The Yacyreta Dam And The Destruction Of Environmental And Human Rights, Itzchak E. Kornfeld

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Rights In International Law: Explicitly Recognized Or Creatively Interpreted, Svitlana Kravchenko

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Earth Jurisprudence And Lockean Theory: Rethinking The American Perception Of Private Property, Traci Lynne Timmons

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Earth Jurisprudence and Lockean Theory

Abstract by Traci Lynne Timmons

Thomas Berry, father of the Earth Jurisprudence movement, called for re-examining human-Earth relations. Earth Jurisprudence aspires to promote a greater respect for nature and all living things on Earth, aiming to intertwine Earth’s natural law with the body of law that governs humanity. This paper explores Earth Jurisprudence as an alternative to the property regime in the United States. It examines the fundamental principles of property ownership, frequently attributed to the philosophy of John Locke, but digs deeper into these “Lockean” roots to reveal important caveats to Locke’s general principles …

The Wilderness Myth: How The Failure Of The American National Park Model Threatens The Survival Of The Iyaelima Tribe And The Bonobo Chimpanzee, Mark Hopson

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The Wilderness Myth

Abstract by Mark Hopson

Contrary to popular opinion, and the vast majority of legal scholarship on the subject, the traditional American model for a national park is scientifically and logically unsound. Further, this model has been adopted at a terrible social cost to the indigenous tribes who lived on the land that became national parks. Every government that has chosen to implement the American national park model has done so at the expense of indigenous people.

This article chronicles the creation of the world’s first national parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone, and the legal battles involved. The article …

Evolving From Dominion To Communion: How Legal Rights For Nature Can Exist In Balance With Individual Property Rights In A Global Commons, Dan Leftwich

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Abstract coming soon.

Population Health Through Inclusive Urban Planning: Healthier Communities And Sustainable Urban Development In Indian Cities, Shriya Malhotra

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Mobile Phones: Reshaping The Flow Of Urban-To-Rural Remittances, Bethany Brown

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Garden Of Eden: Moving Beyond The Rights-Based Agenda In The Urban Sector, Benjamin Bradlow

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

A Failure Of Conscience: How Pakistan’S Devastating Floods Compare To America’S Experience During Katrina, Oded Cedar

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Standing On Their Own: The Parallel Rights Of Young People To Participate In Planning Process Es And Defend Those Rights, Dawn Jourdan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Urban Forests Policies In Developing Countries, Janet A. Choi

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

About Sdlp

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.