Water Law Commons^™

On The Line: Reforming Ocsla As A Mechanism For Fisheries Compensation In The Offshore Wind Era, Madeleine Fenderson

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lawlessness Of Sackett V. Epa, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When the Supreme Court speaks on a disputed statutory interpretation question, its words and edicts undoubtedly are the final judicial word, binding lower courts and the executive branch. Its majority opinions are the law. But the Court’s opinions can nonetheless be assessed for how well they hew to fundamental elements of respect for the rule of law. In particular, law-respecting versus law-neglecting or lawless judicial work by the Court can be assessed in the statutory interpretation, regulatory, and separation of power realms against the following key criteria, which in turn are based on some basic rule of law tenets: analysis …

Fears, Faith, And Facts In Environmental Law, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Environmental law has long been shaped by both the particular nature of environmental harms and by the actors and institutions that cause such harms or can address them. This nation’s environmental statutes remain far from perfect, and a comprehensive law tailored to the challenges of climate change is still elusive. Nonetheless, America’s environmental laws provide lofty, express protective purposes and findings about reasons for their enactment. They also clearly state health and environmental goals, provide tailored criteria for action, and utilize procedures and diverse regulatory tools that reflect nuanced choices.

But the news is far from good. Despite the ambitious …

Surviving The Megadrought, Warigia Bowman

Faculty Scholarship

According to NASA, the Earth experienced its hottest day in recorded history on July 22, 2024, surpassing the previous hottest day, which was set in 2023. The year 2024 will enter the record books as the hottest year since pre-industrial times. The temperatures in 2024 exceeded the year 2023, during which the average global surface temperature was the warmest ever recorded in the past 174 years. These meteorological facts—although alarming on their own—are the backdrop for the legal analysis contained in this Article. The driest states in the Southwest, including Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, have long relied …

Force Majeure And The Law Of The Colorado River: The Confluence Of Climate Change, Contracts, And The Constitution, Mary Slosson

University of Colorado Law Review

Climate change is causing significant, permanent changes to the natural world. In the Colorado River Basin, experts forecast that rising temperatures will cause the spread of a drier, more arid climate across the region. The effects of this desertification are already being felt: less rainfall, the loss of deciduous forests, wildfires that engulf urban areas, and a projected 20 to 30 percent reduction in flows on the Colorado River by mid-century. The net effect is an existential crisis for the forty million people that reside in the Colorado River’s watershed. Mitigating the effects of climate change requires swift action. However, …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Reclaiming Sacred Homelands: Asserting Treaty Rights And The Path Towards Restoration Of The Badger-Two Medicine, Sarah Greenberg

American Indian Law Journal

“In order for law to have an influence in the lives of ordinary people, it must have something to do with the emotional feelings of justice, it must speak to our basic humanity, and it must give us common sense directions as to what behavior and beliefs are right and wrong"

Case Law On American Indians: October 2022 - August 2023, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Putting The Public Back In The Public Trust Doctrine: A Reinterpretation To Advance Native Hawaiian Water Rights, Steven Hindman

Washington Law Review

The public trust doctrine guarantees that the government will hold natural resources in trust and protect them for the common good. The doctrine has played a key role in the allocation of water rights, particularly for Native American and Native Hawaiian interests in the United States. State and federal courts often consider the doctrine when deciding if certain use rights should be granted. In Hawai‘i, the doctrine has taken on a particularly robust form because the State Constitution expressly provides that all public natural resources are to be held in trust for the benefit of all Hawaiians. Unfortunately, the doctrine’s …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Law School News: Rake To Plate: Rwu Law Students Dive Into The Clamming Industry 10-4-2023, Grace Boland

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Environmental (In)Justice: Evaluating The Factors That Led To The Jackson Water Crisis & Proposing A Solution For Environmental Justice In Mississippi, Emily Brennan

MC Law Review

40,000. That is the number of residents that were left without potable water for nearly five weeks during Jackson, Mississippi’s February 2021 water crisis. An unusual cold front rolled through, freezing plant equipment, bursting water pipes, and causing many in Jackson to lose access to running water. This was not, however, the first time that Jackson residents had endured hardships with regard to their drinking water—it was just the first time that national attention turned to, and has seemed to remain on, Mississippi’s capital city. Those in Jackson are all too familiar with water pipes bursting, low water pressure, boil …

A Reflection Of Change: Evolutions In International Water Law Principles Through The Lens Of Euphrates-Tigris Dispute, Maeve Sullivan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As climate change intensifies, water scarcity will increase. Coupled with a growing global population, water security is a major modern challenge. To bring stability to international watercourses, states must establish effective sharing agreements. On this matter, international water law can help. International water law captures some of the major principles and considerations that states must account for while considering issues related to water security. This paper uses primary interviews and secondary sources to identify some of the major characteristics, features, and developments in international law to develop a conceptual framework for the topic. It then moves into a case study …

Water Quality: Successes, Shortcomings, And The Future, Jaley F. Adkins

The Cardinal Edge

No abstract provided.

Got Lead In Your Water? The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law May Be Poised To Help, Andrian Lee, Melissa Scanlan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Humans have no known safe level of exposure to lead. Blood lead levels have devastating consequences, especially for children, affecting their brain development and almost every organ in their bodies. Various government organizations have enacted measures to combat lead contamination in drinking water and its dangerous human health consequences by replacing lead service lines. At the federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, which requires states to replace lead service lines. At the state level, governments have programs to fund the replacement of lead service lines in their communities, but these funds often fall …

Points Of Diversion From Nevada’S Established Groundwater Law, Colin Meenk

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Falling Stars And Sinking Ships: How Article Vii Of The Outer Space Treaty Needs Maritime Law, Mckenzie Franck

Pace International Law Review

The urge to go where no man has gone before has led to great leaps in space technology that only seemed real in cinema. As more private companies, such as private asteroid mining companies in China, attempt to take this leap, it has become clear that there are significant gaps in international space law regarding liability with private parties. Within Article VII of the Outer Space Treaty, there is a laid-out structure on how states can be held liable for damages caused by celestial bodies. However, the Outer Space Treaty ignores what happens if a private company causes injuries in …

Direito, Saneamento E Sustentabilidade: Uma Análise Comparativa Entre Municípios Do Estado De Santa Catarina, Brasil, E Da Província De Ontário, Canadá À Luz Dos Objetivos Do Desenvolvimento Sustentável 6 E 11, Claudio Antonio Klaus Junior

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Dissertations

The relevance of sanitation and sustainability is manifested in the promotion of public health, improvement of quality of life, and ensuring access to basic services as essential human rights. The comparative analysis between the cities of Caçador, Videira, and Concórdia, in Santa Catarina, in Brasil, and Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Chatham-Kent, Woodstock, and Kenora, in Ontário, in Canadá, allows for the identification of differences and similarities in sanitation systems, understanding of challenges and opportunities, and consequently, the foundation for effective public policies aimed at improving access to sanitation. The present study aims to analyze the situation of …

Prioritizing Regional Wildlife Conservation By Rejuvenating The Western Hemisphere Convention On Nature Protection, Shade Streeter, David Hunter, William Snape Iii

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Last year, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“CBD”), representing nearly every nation, signed a milestone agreement committing, among other things, to conserve thirty percent of Earth’s lands and oceans to stave off the rapid diminution of the planet’s biodiversity. Implementing these global commitments will require not only strong domestic measures, but also enhanced regional cooperation targeting the conservation of the region’s migratory wildlife and shared resources. Although the United States is the sole major holdout from the CBD, it can still reassert its leadership in regional wildlife conservation by rejuvenating the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation …

Unclos, Undrip & Tartupaluk: The Grim Tale Of Hans Isle And Graense, Christopher Mark Macneill

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

“Inuit have lived in the Arctic from time immemorial.” The Arctic, in the face of climate change, has become a hot spot for exploration, resource extraction, and increased shipping and scientific activity. “[The] Inuit . . . have had a common and shared use of the sea area and the adjacent coasts” among their own communities, and contemporaneously with the world. This vast circumpolar Inuit Arctic region includes land, sea, and ice stretching from eastern Russia (Chukotka region) across the Berring Strait, to Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland, representing an Inuit homeland known as Nunaat. Hans Isle, a small …