Law 692: Water Law

Quarter: Spring 2019 Law (Overlaps with both Winter and Spring Quarter 2019)
Instructor: James Salzmann James Salzmann

Water law presents a unique mix of federal and state regulatory regimes over a resource that is scarce yet ubiquitous and, of course, essential to life. In this course, we will consider different rights regimes for water, including prior appropriation, riparian rights and groundwater rights. We will also look at how the public trust doctrine and environmental protection can affect those water rights. Although we will consider water law at a national level, water in the western United States and particularly California will remain a focus of the class. Our objective will be to not just learn how water is regulated, but to also develop an understanding of the benefits and flaws of the various rights regimes in order to predict how water should be regulated as it becomes an increasingly scarce resource. Among the specific topics to be discussed are: common-law riparianism and its 20th century varieties; the prior appropriation doctrine, permit systems, and the loss of Water law presents a unique mix of federal and state regulatory regimes over a resource that is scarce yet ubiquitous and, of course, essential to life. In this course, we will consider different rights regimes for water, including prior appropriation, riparian rights and groundwater rights. We will also look at how the public trust doctrine and environmental protection can affect those water rights. Although we will consider water law at a national level, water in the western United States and particularly California will remain a focus of the class. Our objective will be to not just learn how water is regulated, but to also develop an understanding of the benefits and flaws of the various rights regimes in order to predict how water should be regulated as it becomes an increasingly scarce resource. Among the specific topics to be discussed are: common-law riparianism and its 20th century varieties; the prior appropriation doctrine, permit systems, and the loss of appropriative rights; pueblo rights; water markets; groundwater doctrines; water organizations both public and private; federal reclamation; federalism conflicts, and interstate conflicts, with particular attention to the Law of the Colorado River. rights; pueblo rights; water markets; groundwater doctrines; water organizations both public and private; federal reclamation; federalism conflicts, and interstate conflicts, with particular attention to the Law of the Colorado River.