Water Law Commons^™

Deals In The Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, And How Law Can Help, Christiana Ochoa

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Informed by original empirical research conducted in the Midwestern United States, this Article provides a rich and textured understanding of the rapidly emerging opposition to renewable energy projects. Beyond the Article’s urgent practical contributions, it also examines the importance of formalism and formality in contracts and complicates current understandings.

Rural communities in every windblown and sun-drenched region of the United States are enmeshed in legal, political, and social conflicts related to the country’s rapid transition to renewable energy. Organized local opposition has foreclosed millions of acres from renewable energy development, impeding national and state-level commitments to achieving renewable energy targets …

"Water Is Life!" (And Speech!): Death, Dissent, And Democracy In The Borderlands, Jason A. Cade

Indiana Law Journal

Decades of stringent immigration enforcement along the Southwest border have pushed migrants into perilous desert corridors. Thousands have died in border regions, out of the general public view, yet migrants continue to attempt the dangerous crossings. In response to what they see as a growing humanitarian crisis, activists from organizations such as No More Deaths seek to expand migrant access to water, to honor the human remains of those who did not survive the journey, and to influence public opinion about border enforcement policies. Government officials, however, have employed a range of tactics to repress this border-policy "dissent," including blacklists, …

Water, Water, Anywhere?: Protecting Water Quantity In State Water Quality Standards, Julie F. Youngman

Indiana Law Journal

Although much of the earth’s surface is covered with water, less than one percent of water is available for human use. Water is becoming progressively scarcer worldwide, as demand increases and pollution, drought, and climate change jeopardize access to clean water. The United States is no exception to that trend. Effective regulation of water supplies can blunt the impacts of water scarcity. This Article suggests that states can—and should—regulate instream flows and lake levels in their federally-mandated water quality standards, with an eye toward conserving scarce water resources. Regulating water quantity as an element of water quality is not only …

Bounding Forward, Robert L. Fischman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In the race to save the planet from climate change, resilience has been misconstrued as sustaining historic conditions. But some of them are undesirable and others no longer feasible. Adaptive governance can promote transformation to help communities frustrated with current conditions.

Regulating Water And War In Iraq: A Dangerous Dark Side Of New Governance, Tracey Leigh Dowdeswell, Patricia Hania

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In the legal scholarship, the 'new governance' mode of governance advances an administrative arrangement where decision-making is shared amongst a range of actors, both public and private. The flexible, responsive, and collaborative governance orientation is intended to counter the ill effects of a coercive, top-down, state-centric, command-and-control approach to governance. Critics contend the new governance framework can displace the interests of local communities, disempower individuals, and dislodge basic human rights. The U.S. military has adopted such an adaptive approach in its own governance structure, which in this article is referred to as: the new governance "mentality." This mentality of governance …

Takings And The Right To Fish And Float In Colorado, Aaron Pettis

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Regulating The Corporate Tap: Applying Global Administrative Law Principles To Achieve The Human Right To Water, Kristin L. Retherford

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Plugging The Democracy Drain In The Struggle For Universal Access To Safe Drinking Water, Tara Paul

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Privatization of water delivery services has become a global trend as states seek ways to shift both political and economic costs to private actors. The advantage of privatization is that it relieves governments of the daunting expense of repairing and expanding water infrastructure in order to improve quality and reach marginalized communities. But water privatization has also been deeply criticized for corrupt practices, increasing prices to the poor, undermining human rights objectives, and dodging accountability. This note aims to find middle ground, acknowledging that privatization is an important tool to increase freshwater access, but that treating water as a human …

The Human Right To Water: Will Its Fulfillment Contribute To Environmental Degradation?, Alezah Trigueros

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Human rights and environmental protection are two often overlapping bodies of law, each of which by their nature seeks to take priority over other applicable law. For this reason, these two bodies of law often find themselves in tension with one another. This Note aims to illustrate the tension between human rights and environmental protection in the context of the recent push for a codified human right to water. My thesis is that ideally these two bodies of law should balance each other out-a human right to water would be subject to environmental safeguards, and, likewise, conservation efforts would be …

Effective And Constitutional: Goals For A Hurricane Response Plan In The Aftermath Of Hurricanes Katrina And Rita, Neal Mchenry

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Information Quality Act: The Little Statute That Could (Or Couldn't?) Applying The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments Of 1996 To The Federal Communications Commission, Kellen Ressmeyer

Federal Communications Law Journal

In December 2000, Congress passed the Information Quality Act - a two sentence rider to a 712-page Appropriations Bill. The Information Quality Act, which seeks to ensure the quality of government-disseminated information, places the White House Office of Management and Budget in a supervisory role. The Office of Management and Budget subsequently finalized a set of mandatory Guidelines applicable to all federal agencies. Among other things, the Guidelines require adherence to the scientific standard articulated in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act where such agencies engage in risk analysis to human health, safety, and the environment. As …

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 …

The Role Of Riparian Water Law In Protecting Biodiversity: An Indiana (Usa) Case Study, Robert L. Fischman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article discusses how the rules affecting the use of surface water ground water in a typical riparian state, Indiana, can promote the conservation biological diversity. The article first surveys the basic water laws that apply to surface water, diffused surface water, underground streams, and ground water. The rules governing the uses of these waters originate in common law property doctrines and substantially clarified by state legislation. Next the article considers state administration of water. The article examines regulatory tools and administrative opportunities control uses of water in a manner that protects biodiversity. Programs requiring permits for construction in floodplains, …

Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative: National Standards Governing A Binational Resource A Call For International Rulemaking, Sean P. Gallagher

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

The Flow Of International Water Law: The International Law Commission's Law Of The Non-Navigational Uses Of International Watercourses, David J. Lazerwitz

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Liability Rules For Surface Water Drainage: A Simple Economic Analysis, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Federal Power Act's Controversial Municipal Preference: The Merwin Dam Dispute And Legislative Proposals To Amend Federal Hydro-Licensing Procedures, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Water Supply In The Northeast: A Study In Regulatory Failure, Ann Judith Gellis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Great Lakes As A Water Resource: Questions Of Ownership And Control, Julia R. Wilder

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

No Water For The Woods: A Critical Analysis Of United States V. New Mexico, A. Dan Tarlock, Sally K. Fairfax

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Geothermal Development And Western Water Law, A. Dan Tarlock, Owen Olpin, Carl F. Austin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Water That Is Not Water, A. Dan Tarlock, Owen Olpin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The increased interest in the development of geothermal resources has given rise to the need for the formulation of a legal framework in which this development can be carried out. In this article, Mr. Olpin and Professor Tarlock analyze the proper relationship between western water law and geothermal resources development. They present an argument against the blanket application of western water law and propose a means of accommodating geothermal resources development with the protection of conventional water users.

Appropriation For Instream Flow Maintenance: A Progress Report On "New" Public Western Water Rights, A. Dan Tarlock

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Senegal Valley Authority: A Unique Experiment In International River Basin Planning, Theodore Parnall, Albert E. Utton

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Waste Discharge Regulations On Real Property Development, Nicholas L. White

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In The Recognition Of Instream Uses In Western Water Law, A. Dan Tarlock

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Environmental Controls: Water Pollution Control Act Of 1972, Nicholas L. White

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. A Summary-Digest Of State Water Laws (R. Dewsnup And D. Jensen, Eds.), A. Dan Tarlock

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Indiana's Receding Southern Boundary, Leon H. Wallace

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Proposed construction of Mt. Vernon Port emphasizes important legal questions currently involved. Leon H. Wallace, I. U. Law Professor, discovers and reports interesting history of location of Indiana-Kentucky border and the deep penetration into Hoosier territory as construction of dams pushes river's low water line, the accepted boundary, northward.

Thermal Electric Power And Water Pollution: A Sitting Approach, Billy Darrell Mcdaniel

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.