Land Use Law Commons^™

Legal Financial Obligations: Fulfilling The Promise Of Gideon By Reducing The Burden, Travis Stearns

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Does The Right To Counsel On Appeal End As You Exit The Court Of Appeals?, Nancy P. Collins

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Improving Access To Justice: Plain Language Family Law Court Forms In Washington State, Charles R. Dyer, Joan E. Fairbanks, M. Lynn Greiner, Kirsten Barron, Janet L. Skreen, Josefina Cerrillo-Ramirez, Andrew Lee, Bill Hinsee

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Congress' Encroachment On The President's Power In Indian Law And Its Effect On Executive-Order Reservations, Mark R. Carter Jd, Phd

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Cameroon Pastoralists Fight For Their Way Of Life, Kaitlin Y. Cordes

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

After years of struggles against governments and private parties, the Mbororo-Fulani are gaining international attention. But is this too little too late?

Memo To The Obama Administration On The Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In September 2013, CCSI sent a memo to President Obama and his Administration in response to the first public reports submitted by U.S. companies in compliance with the Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements. The memo applauded the U.S. Government’s efforts to encourage responsible investment in Burma, noting that robust due diligence is essential to ensuring that international investments contribute to sustainable development. Yet the memo also urged the Obama Administration to take steps to strengthen future reporting. In particular, CCSI urged the Administration to issue clarifying guidance that any U.S. investor submitting a report should (1) provide information on due …

Statutes Of Ill Repose And Threshold Canons Of Construction: A Unified Approach To Ambiguity After San Carlos Apache Tribe V. United States, Daniel Lee

Seattle University Law Review

Historically, the San Carlos Apache Tribe depended on the Gila River to irrigate crops and sustain a population of around 14,000 tribe members. The river is also sacred to the Tribe and central to the Tribe’s culture and spirituality. Initially, the federal government had recognized the Tribe’s dependence on the Gila River by reserving, under the Winters doctrine, water rights necessary to support the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Acting as the Tribe’s trustee, the United States entered into the Globe Equity Decree (the Decree), which prevented the San Carlos Apache Tribe from claiming water rights under the Winters doctrine and …

The Global Land Rush: Markets, Rights, And The Politics Of Food, Smita Narula

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the past five years, interest in purchasing and leasing agricultural land in developing countries has skyrocketed. This trend, which was facilitated by the 2008 food crisis, is led by state and private investors, both domestic and foreign. Investors are responding to a variety of global forces: Some are securing their own food supply, while others are capitalizing on land as an increasingly promising source of financial returns. Proponents argue that these investments can support economic development in host states while boosting global food production. But critics charge that these “land grabs” disregard land users' rights and further marginalize already …

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.

Groundwater, Darcy S. Bushnell, Diego Urbina

Water Matters!

Since the late nineteenth century, New Mexicans have been developing the state’s groundwater resources. From hand-dug wells to proposed wells that could penetrate to 12,000 feet, residents have sought sources to supplement and replace surface water. The state relies upon groundwater to supply almost 50 percent of its needs.

As the population grows and drought intensifies, groundwater sources are tapped with increasing urgency. Limited steps are being taken to preserve groundwater through conservation, groundwater recharge, and regulation.

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 …

Community Water Systems, Joanne Hilton, Susan Kelly, Sarah Armstrong

Water Matters!

Apart from the major cities along the Rio Grande corridor, much of New Mexico remains relatively rural. Recent studies estimate a 2013population of around 2,085,500 statewide. In the state fiscal year 2011,about 1,836,000 people, or 88 percent of New Mexico’s population obtain their water from community water systems. Approximately 284,000 people, or about14 percent of the population, receive their drinking water from community water systems serving fewer than 5,000 people. As of 2012, there are 1,148 public water systems that provide drinking water in New Mexico. Of these systems, 593are community water systems; of these, 546 serve fewer than 5,000 …

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.

The Rio Grande As An International River, Margaret J. Vick

Water Matters!

The Rio Grande is divided into two major river reaches and has different legal regimes for each. New Mexico is primarily concerned with the Rio Grande from the headwaters in Colorado to Ft. Quitman in Texas, a distance of approximately 670 miles. This section of the river is the subject of the1906 Rio Grande Convention (Treaty) between the United States and Mexico. The lower section of the Rio Grande from Ft. Quitman to the Gulf of Mexico is the subject of the 1944 Rivers Treaty between the United States and Mexico; the 1944 Rivers Treaty also includes the Colorado and …

Huntington, New York's Sex Offender Policy And The Intrastate Right To Travel, James Tierney

Touro Law Review

Sex offenders are among the most loathed and detested members of our society. Over the past fifteen years, communities have zealously passed laws restricting the rights of sex offenders. These laws mandate that sex offenders register with authorities and severely limit where sex offenders may reside. This legislation is designed to foster an important goal: to protect the health and safety of children from possible recidivism from sex offenders. In 2007, the Town Board of Huntington, New York, passed a law barring sex offenders from renting or leasing accessory apartments within the Town. The health and safety of the town's …

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. …

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.

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.

New Mexico’S Major Reservoirs: An Overview, Susan Kelly, Diego Urbina

Water Matters!

This paper describes the salient facts about the major water storage reservoirs in New Mexico. For each reservoir, we address the purposes of water storage allowed by law, storage capacity, the responsible operating agency, and some key operational issues. This is by necessity a vast simplification of the topic.Books, articles, research reports, operation manuals, and other materials on these topics run into the hundreds. Millions of dollars have been spent on technical studies and computer models to understand,and sometimes alter, the operations of various dams and reservoirs.

Land Use And Water Supply, Susan Kelly, Joanne Hilton

Water Matters!

As New Mexico grows and develops, there is a continuing increase in water demand and the need to provide additional supplies. Recent studies estimate the current population of the State to be about two million people, and the population is expected to grow to approximately 3,400,000 by 2050. Regional water plans project water demands for 16 regions within New Mexico. The total projected new water use associated with population growth—the public water supply and associated commercial sectors, exclusive of agriculture, mining, or other industries—ranges from 280,000 to 380,000 acre-feet per year of new water supply needed in the next 40 …

Andy Nuñez: His Life, Career, & Contributions, Bridgette Burbank, Jerold Widdison

Water Matters!

For years and years, reaching back well before his time in the Legislature, Rep. Nuñez has been a strong advocate not only for the state’s people but for its land and water resources.