Water Law Commons^™

Rethinking Water Governance: Moving Beyond Water-Centric Perspectives In A Connected And Changing World, Rob C. De Loë, James J. Patterson

Natural Resources Journal

From the “water-centric” perspective that is common within the world’s large and diverse water community, water is of central importance, and improving water governance is self-evidently essential. Some water problems can be addressed using watercentric approaches such as watershed management. Unfortunately, evidence is mounting that suggests that many other water problems cannot because their causes and drivers, at scales from local to global, are partly or wholly external to those traditionally considered within the water sector. Water governance in these cases needs to better account for a range of external connections that strongly influence water-related outcomes of concern and contribute …

The Political Cultures Of Irrigation And The Proxy Battles Of Interstate Water Litigation, Burke W. Griggs

Natural Resources Journal

Groundwater depletion ignores the political boundaries of western states, the legal boundaries of western water codes, and the jurisdictional boundaries of western water federalism. In the wake of the groundwater revolution, it is becoming apparent that certain interstate lawsuits derive essentially from deeper conflicts rooted in the clash between surface-water and groundwater irrigation communities—and their respective political cultures. The interstate divide may be yielding to the hydrological divide. This article attends to that deeper relationship between irrigation agriculture and political culture across the Great Plains. Part I provides a brief history of its surface-water irrigation communities, to compose a recognizable …

Valuing Sacred Tribal Waters Within Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan

Natural Resources Journal

Throughout the world water plays a central role in the spirituality of indigenous peoples. Focusing on the American West, this article first describes how tribal water needs touch upon the sacred and then explains how both federal law and state prior appropriation doctrine fail to adequately protect these important sacred views of water. Pivoting away from the classic federal law arguments, the article then advocates for an evolution in state water law regimes to provide yet unrecognized protections for tribal sacred waters. Because international law plays an increasing role in this issue, the article also explores case studies from Ireland, …

California Water Reallocation: Where'd You Get That?, Damian Park

Natural Resources Journal

When thirsty, Californians often avoid going to the market for more water. Instead, they might borrow some from their rich neighbors, they might sue them or more commonly, they simply take more from users without much of a voice (e.g. the fish or future generations). These alternatives are often superior to using markets. Within markets, a surprising detail emerges – it is uncommon for farmers to fallow fields in order to sell water to another user. Rather, many water transfers are structured so sellers can have their cake and eat it too. While some of these transfers rightly bring about …

Trial And Error: How Courts Have Shaped Prior Appropriation In New Mexico, Matthew G. Reynolds

Natural Resources Journal

This systematic review of New Mexico prior appropriation case law from 1883 to the present employs a thematic chronology in four parts spanning approximately three decades each, including the following topics. Part One covers the initial conflict between prior appropriation and riparian common law and early interpretations of the 1907 Water Act. In Part Two, courts contrast the 1907 Act with the old arid region doctrine and justify the integration of groundwater into prior appropriation. Diminishing supplies and increasing usage drive Part Three’s concentration on proceedings to change places of use and points of diversion, at times deferring issues of …

Mythical River: Chasing The Mirage Of New Water In The American Southwest, By Melissa Sevigny, Logan Glasenapp

Natural Resources Journal

Book Review

Plastic Water: The Social And Material Life Of Bottled Water, By Gay Hawkins, Emily Potter, And Kane Race, James Johnson

Natural Resources Journal

Book Review

Water Is For Fighting Over: And Other Myths About Water In The West, By John Fleck, Selena Sauer

Natural Resources Journal

Book Review

The Polycentric Turn: A Case Study Of Kenya's Evolving Legal Regime For Irrigation Waters, Stefan Carpenter, Elizabeth Baldwin, Daniel H. Cole

Natural Resources Journal

Formal legal systems comprise a major part, but not the only part, of the “rules of the game” that structure social and socialecological interactions. Throughout the twentieth century, centralization and consolidation of legal authority were dominant themes among many, if not all, legal systems. That process may have been successful in some cases, but in others the presumed economies of scale from consolidation and centralization either did not materialize or were offset by other social costs, including the failure to accommodate local knowledge, expertise, and preferences. In what could become a theme of the twenty-first century, many countries, including developing …

Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Charting The Unknown, Richard W. Hughes

Natural Resources Journal

This article examines the so-far-unsuccessful efforts to judicially define and quantify the water rights appurtenant to the core land holdings of the 19 New Mexico Pueblos, many of whose lands straddle the Rio Grande. It explains that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has squarely held that Pueblo water rights are governed by federal, not state law, and are prior to those of any non-Indian appropriator, but also that the Tenth Circuit acknowledged that it could not say how those rights should be characterized. Part I of the article examines the course of the cases that have sought to achieve …

The Clark Fork Coalition V. Tubbs, Jonah P. Brown

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Before landowners may appropriate groundwater in Montana, they must first apply for a DNRC permit pursuant to the Montana Water Use Act. Landowners may qualify for an exemption from the arduous permitting process if their appropriation meets certain criteria. However, the Act provides an exception to the exemption when a “combined appropriation” from the same source is in excess of ten acre-feet per year. The Clark Fork Coalition v. Tubbs affirmed the district court’s invalidation of the DNRC rule defining “combined appropriation” to only include physically connected groundwater wells.

Implementation Strategy Report, G Jager, M Musariri

Policy

In essence the Implementation Strategy provides a plan for implementing and maintaining an optimal South African Water Resources Monitoring Network. As such the Strategy includes a number of key aspects considered for each of the surface water, groundwater and water quality monitoring programs, as summarized below:

Finalizing the optimal monitoring network design, including the location, the variables/constituents being monitored, the frequency of observations, as well as the implementation priority for each monitoring site.

Identifying opportunities for the integration of processes involved in the implementation process, such as the coordinated development or upgrading of monitoring sites based on physical location and …

The Changing Law Of The Sea: Western Hemisphere Perspectives, Daniel C. Turack

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Proportional Fault In Maritime Collisions-Charting The New Course, Gustave R. Dubus Iii

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Oecd Guiding Principles On Transfrontier Pollution, Robert E. Stein

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Conference Of Soviet And American Jurists On The Law Of The Sea And The Protection Of The Marine Environment, Milton Katz, Richard R. Baxter, O. V. Bogdanov, William E. Butler, Thomas M. Franck, Richard Frank, P. P. Gureev, John L. Hargrove, L. A. Ivanaschenko, Y. Kasmin, V. A. Kiselev, B. M. Klimenko, H. G. Knight, O. S. Kolbasov, A. L. Kolodkin, V. M. Koretsky, F. N. Kovalev, V. N. Kudrjavtsev, B. A. Kuvshinnikov, M. I. Lazarev, A. L. Makovsky, Charles W. Maynes, P. A. Moiseev, John N. Moore, A. P. Movchan, T. M. Starzhina, Robert E. Stein, Grigory I. Tunkin, E. T. Usenko, A. F. Vysotsky, A. K. Zhudro

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

Included in the papers for the Conference of Soviet and American Jurists on the Law of the Sea and the Protection of the Marine Environment:

Introduction by Milton Katz and Richard R. Baxter, p. 1

Freedom of Scientific Research in the World Ocean by A.F. Vysotsky, p. 7

The International Law of Scientific Research in the Oceans by Richard R. Baxter, p. 27

Responsibility and Liability for Harm to the Marine Environment by Robert E. Stein, p. 41

Liability for Marine Environment Pollution Damage in Contemporary International Sea Law by A. L. Makovsky, p. 59

Protection of the Marine Environment …

Chile, The Biobio, And The Future Of The Columbia River Basin, Jerrold A. Long

Articles

No abstract provided.

Don't Go Near The Water: Following The Fate Of The Clean Water Rule, Elizabeth R. Mylin

Duquesne Law Review

On August 28, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers released their hotly debated Clean Water Rule (the Rule) redefining what are federally protected jurisdictional "waters of the United States." The Rule clarifies, and attempts to resolve, years of different interpretation and confusing rulings by the Supreme Court on which waterways are under the jurisdiction of the federal government and therefore subject to regulations under the Clean Water Act. This article addresses which waters are explicitly covered under the Rule and how opponents of this definition are distorting the plain language of the Rule. …

Reviewing Reservoir Operations: Can Federal Water Projects Adapt To Change?, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

This Article begins by reviewing the purposes for federal water projects, and identifies some of the trade-offs involved in operating projects for certain purposes. It then addresses the legal factors that determine or influence project operations, beginning with project authorizing statutes and ending with federal environmental laws. The Article examines Corps and Bureau policies regarding project operating plans, the reasons for agency reluctance to review and revise their plans, and some of the factors that prompt the agencies to proceed with reviews. It then summarizes periodic review requirements in two analogous contexts—federal land management plans, and hydropower project licenses—and considers …

Law In The Time Of Cholera, Rhett B. Larson

Notre Dame Law Review

Thousands die each day from infections related to water, as evidenced in the ongoing crises of cholera in Haiti, Zika in the Western Hemisphere, and Legionnaires’ Disease in Flint, Michigan. Yet water law focuses primarily on two agendas. First, the “Blue Agenda” aims to provide an equitable allocation of water to individuals and communities while encouraging sustainable water management. Second, the “Green Agenda” aims to efficiently protect water in the natural environment from pollution. These two agendas often ignore, and can be inconsistent with, the “Red Agenda.” The Red Agenda addresses prevention of waterborne infections, like cholera, and the habitat …