Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Water Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

4,119 Full-Text Articles 3,324 Authors 1,146,364 Downloads 118 Institutions

All Articles in Water Law

Faceted Search

4,119 full-text articles. Page 1 of 95.

The Flow Of Power: Addressing Asymmetric Flood Risk In The Upper Valley, Eric VR Hryniewicz 2023 Dartmouth College

The Flow Of Power: Addressing Asymmetric Flood Risk In The Upper Valley, Eric Vr Hryniewicz

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

Floods are the most damaging natural disasters in America. Land use change in upland watersheds can increase the probability and severity of floods (Bronstert, Niehoff, & Burger, 2002). When watersheds are divided by political and private property boundaries it leads to a misalignment of incentives in which downstream users lack recourse for upstream land use decisions contributing to flood risk. In this thesis, researchers interrogate the attributes of town officials and towns that determine what motivates town governments to act on flooding and what motivates and enables town officials to collaborate on planning and how do they collaborate in practice. …


A Fraying Patchwork Quilt: International Law And Plastic Pollution, Dr. Gerry Nagtzaam 2023 Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

A Fraying Patchwork Quilt: International Law And Plastic Pollution, Dr. Gerry Nagtzaam

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.


On Your Mark, Get Set, Sue: The Fourth Circuit Considers When Citizen Suits Under The Clean Water Act Properly Commence In Naturaland Trust V. Dakota Finance Llc, Sarah A. Moynihan 2023 Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

On Your Mark, Get Set, Sue: The Fourth Circuit Considers When Citizen Suits Under The Clean Water Act Properly Commence In Naturaland Trust V. Dakota Finance Llc, Sarah A. Moynihan

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Water Justice: The Ninth Circuit Examines The Fair Housing Act In The Context Of Water Services In Southwest Fair Housing Council Inc. V. Maricopa Domestic Water Improvement District, Zachary J. ThummBorst 2023 Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

Water Justice: The Ninth Circuit Examines The Fair Housing Act In The Context Of Water Services In Southwest Fair Housing Council Inc. V. Maricopa Domestic Water Improvement District, Zachary J. Thummborst

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Idaho Department Of Water Resources’ Amended Snake River Basin Moratorium Order: Survey Of Potential Implications, Jillian Greene 2023 University of Idaho College of Law

Idaho Department Of Water Resources’ Amended Snake River Basin Moratorium Order: Survey Of Potential Implications, Jillian Greene

Idaho Law Review Spotlight

No abstract provided.


Oil, Trees, And Water: Evaluating The Transition From Natural Property Rights To Property Conventions, John A. Lovett 2023 Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Oil, Trees, And Water: Evaluating The Transition From Natural Property Rights To Property Conventions, John A. Lovett

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

In his new book, Natural Property Rights, Eric Claeys offers a property theory grounded in a person’s ability to make productive or purposive use of a resource and the requirement of clear communication about the extent of a person’s claim to that resource. This Article illustrates some of the normative and practical advantages of Claeys’s theory by using it to explicate three property disputes that have arisen in Louisiana concerning highly contested natural resources—oil, trees, and water. The Article argues that Claeys’s theory illuminates a major focal case in the development of Louisiana’s law of the obligations of neighborhood, …


Too Simple Rules For A Complex World? Prior Appropriation Water Rights As Natural Rights, Vanessa Casado-Pérez 2023 Texas A&M University School of Law

Too Simple Rules For A Complex World? Prior Appropriation Water Rights As Natural Rights, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article assesses the fit of Professor Claeys’s theory of Natural Property Rights to traditional prior appropriation, the regime that allocates water in the West, and its capacity to fit the future of the regime. Natural Property Rights does not offer clear answers to the conflicts under the prior appropriation doctrine of water when there is scarcity. This Article explores the lack of determinacy of Claeys’s theory and the maladjustment between the theory and some of the foundational prior appropriation principles, which cannot be ignored even in the most stylized form of the regime. In particular, the Article analyzes the …


Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo V. Texas, Sawyer J. Connelly 2023 University of Montana

Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo V. Texas, Sawyer J. Connelly

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes. The Court’s decision settles a conflict around bingo stemming from a long series of conflicts between Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Texas gaming officials dating back to the 1980s. The court held the Texas Restoration Act bans only gaming on tribal lands that is also banned in Texas. This decision upholds previous caselaw that states cannot bar tribes from gaming that is not categorically banned in the state.


Environmental Defense Center V. Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management, Eliot M. Thompson 2023 University of Montana

Environmental Defense Center V. Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management, Eliot M. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s grants of summary judgment and injunctive relief against BOEM for violating the ESA and CZMA. The Ninth Circuit found BOEM violated NEPA, CZMA, and the APA by failing to adequately consider the environmental impacts of well stimulation treatments. The Ninth Circuit also reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment against the Environmental Defense Center for their NEPA claims.


Metlakatla Indian Community V. Dunleavy, Elizabeth L. Orvis 2023 University of Montana

Metlakatla Indian Community V. Dunleavy, Elizabeth L. Orvis

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court of Alaska’s judgment that dismissed the Metlakatla Indian Community’s suit against Alaska’s limited entry program. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit addressed whether and to what extent the 1891 Act preserved an implied off-reservation fishing right for members of the Metlakatla Indian Community. The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the Metlakatla Indian Community but remanded to the district court to determine the boundaries of the traditional off-reservation fishing grounds. Motions for rehearing and rehearing en banc were denied.


Minnesota Dep’T Of Nat. Res. V. Manoomin, Anna Belinski 2023 University of Montana

Minnesota Dep’T Of Nat. Res. V. Manoomin, Anna Belinski

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In 2021 manoomin (wild rice), a legally recognized person in White Earth Band tribal law, brought a case in White Earth Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Wild rice brought this case against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ over its issuance of a water permit to Enbridge Inc. for the construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. Though ultimately ruling that the Tribal Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction because the activity at issue occurred by non-Indians outside of the reservation boundaries, this case still brings a novel consideration in the tribal …


Wading Through Troubled Waters: Inequities & Improprieties Of Stream Access Laws In The American West, Alexander Johnson 2023 University of Cincinnati College of Law

Wading Through Troubled Waters: Inequities & Improprieties Of Stream Access Laws In The American West, Alexander Johnson

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.


Vertical Farming: A Bottom-Up Approach, Michael Martinez 2023 Seattle University School of Law

Vertical Farming: A Bottom-Up Approach, Michael Martinez

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The twenty-first century will require innovative solutions to address the effects of climate change. Vertical farming is one solution that could help conserve a significant amount of freshwater and reduce the agricultural industry’ s overuse of pesticides and intensive tilling practices, which contributes to soil erosion and pesticide runoff. There has been significant investment in vertical farming in every region of the United States; however, the cost to produce foods with vertical farming remains more costly than traditional farming, which is in large part due to the substantial amount of electricity needed to power all the technology required to grow …


Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School of Law Marine Affairs Institute, The Nature Conservancy 2023 Roger Williams University

Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law Marine Affairs Institute, The Nature Conservancy

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.


Ctr. For Biological Diversity V. United States Fish & Wildlife Serv., Ali Stapleton 2023 University of Montana

Ctr. For Biological Diversity V. United States Fish & Wildlife Serv., Ali Stapleton

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court of Arizona’s decision to deny a proposed mining plan becuase the operations exceeded the boundaries of a valid mining claim. The issue the court addressed is whether a permanent occupancy of waste rock and tailings on land, absent the discovery of valuable minerals, is a reasonable use related to mining activities. The Ninth Circuit decision effectively prevented mining companies from amending the 1872 Mining Law on the administrative record. Motions for a rehearing and a rehearing en banc were denied.


Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser 2023 Seattle University School of Law

Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

An update on American Indian case law from September 2021-October 2022.


Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations, April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School of Law 2023 Roger Williams University

Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations, April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.


Toward A Tribal Role In Groundwater Management, Alexandra Fay 2023 Seattle University School of Law

Toward A Tribal Role In Groundwater Management, Alexandra Fay

American Indian Law Journal

This Article considers the Agua Caliente groundwater litigation a decade since its inception. It recounts the most recent developments in the case, notably the move to mediation and the strategic work that brought the water districts to the table. The Article places this monumental case in context: in the history of colonization and tribal-state relations, the present climate crisis, and the State of California’s groundwater management regime. The Article ultimately outlines the present opportunity to reimagine the role of tribes in groundwater management.


Oil, Indifference, And Displacement: An Indigenous Community Submerged And Tribal Relocation In The 21st Century, Jared Munster 2023 Seattle University School of Law

Oil, Indifference, And Displacement: An Indigenous Community Submerged And Tribal Relocation In The 21st Century, Jared Munster

American Indian Law Journal

Coastal land loss driven by erosion and subsidence, and amplified by climate change, has forced the abandonment and resettlement of the remote Louisiana Indigenous community of Isle de Jean Charles. This relocation, to a relatively ‘safer’ site inland has led to division among the residents and will inevitably cause irreparable damage to the culture and traditions of the Houma and Biloxi Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees peoples who called this small, isolated island home. Driven to the water’s edge by European colonization of south Louisiana, this community developed a dynamic subsistence lifestyle based on agriculture, hunting, and fishing which survived undisturbed …


Water We Cannot See: Codifying A Progressive Public Trust To Protect Groundwater Resources From Depletion, Susan E. Ness 2023 Vanderbilt Law School

Water We Cannot See: Codifying A Progressive Public Trust To Protect Groundwater Resources From Depletion, Susan E. Ness

Vanderbilt Law Review

Groundwater provides a vital water supply and plays an integral role in hydrological systems by supporting biodiversity and the overall health and functioning of surface waters. Yet, the current legal landscape in the United States premises groundwater management on outdated scientific understandings of hydrology and fails to adequately protect critical groundwater resources. Moreover, states differ significantly in their groundwater management practices despite the interstate nature of many aquifers. As climate change exacerbates stress to groundwater resources, many of the United States’ largest aquifers rapidly approach depletion.

The public trust doctrine may provide a mechanism to regulate groundwater resources in the …


Digital Commons powered by bepress