All The Water The Law Allows

As the population of the greater Las Vegas area grows and the climate warms, the threat of a water shortage looms over southern Nevada. But as Christian S. Harrison demonstrates in All the Water the Law Allows, the threat of shortage arises not from the local environment but from the American legal system, specifically the Law of the River that governs water allocation from the Colorado River. In this political and legal history of the Las Vegas water supply, Harrison focuses on the creation and actions of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) to tell a story with profound implications and important lessons for water politics and natural resource policy in the twenty-first century. In the state with the smallest allocation of the Colorado’s water supply, Las Vegas faces the twin challenges of aridity and federal law to obtain water for its ever-expanding population. All the Water the Law Allows describes how the impending threat of shortage in the 1980s compelled the five metropolitan water agencies of greater Las Vegas to unify into a single entity. Harrison relates the circumstances of the SNWA’s evolution and reveals how the unification of local, county, and state interests allowed the compact to address regional water policy with greater force and focus than any of its peers in the Colorado River Basin. Most notably, the SNWA has mapped conservation plans that have drastically reduced local water consumption; and, in the interstate realm, it has been at the center of groundbreaking, water-sharing agreements. Yet these achievements do not challenge the fundamental primacy of the Law of the River. If current trends continue and the Basin States are compelled to reassess the river’s distribution, the SNWA will be a force and a model for the Basin as a whole.

As the population of the greater Las Vegas area grows and the climate warms, the threat of a water shortage looms over southern Nevada. But as Christian S. Harrison demonstrates in All the Water the Law Allows, the threat of shortage arises not from the local environment but from the American legal system, specifically the Law of the River that governs water allocation from the Colorado River. In this political and legal history of the Las Vegas water supply, Harrison focuses on the creation and actions of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) to tell a story with profound implications and important lessons for water politics and natural resource policy in the twenty-first century. In the state with the smallest allocation of the Colorado’s water supply, Las Vegas faces the twin challenges of aridity and federal law to obtain water for its ever-expanding population. All the Water the Law Allows describes how the impending threat of shortage in the 1980s compelled the five metropolitan water agencies of greater Las Vegas to unify into a single entity. Harrison relates the circumstances of the SNWA’s evolution and reveals how the unification of local, county, and state interests allowed the compact to address regional water policy with greater force and focus than any of its peers in the Colorado River Basin. Most notably, the SNWA has mapped conservation plans that have drastically reduced local water consumption; and, in the interstate realm, it has been at the center of groundbreaking, water-sharing agreements. Yet these achievements do not challenge the fundamental primacy of the Law of the River. If current trends continue and the Basin States are compelled to reassess the river’s distribution, the SNWA will be a force and a model for the Basin as a whole.

This book, which was first published in 1992 and then updated in 2007, provides a tool for dealing with the legal and institutional aspects of water resources management within national contexts and at the level of transboundary water resources. Like its two previous editions, it seeks to cover all aspects that need to be known in order to attain good water governance, but it provides updates concerning developments since 2007. These relate, inter alia, to the following: - the “greening” of water law, which calls for the progressive integration of environmental law principles into domestic and international water law; - the adoption, by the International Law Commission in 2008, of the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, and subsequent developments; - the emergence of the right to water as a self-standing human right; - the adoption of domestic water laws supporting integrated water resources management (IWRM) and enhanced public participation in planning and decision making; - the integration into these laws of tools facilitating adaptive water management as a response to climate variability and change; - progress in the implementation of EU law; - recent international agreements and judicial decisions; - efforts of regional organizations other than the EU to steer cooperation in the management of transboundary water resources and the harmonization of national laws; - institutional mechanisms for the management of transboundary water resources (surface and underground). Unique in its scope and nature, the book identifies the legal and institutional issues arising in connection with water resources management and provides guidelines for possible solutions in a manner accessible to a wide range of readers. Thus, it is a useful reference for lawyers and non-lawyers — engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, economists, sociologists — dealing with water resources within government institutions, river basin commissions, international organizations, financing institutions and academic institutions, among other things, and also for students of disciplines related to water resources.

Water for the Environment: From Policy and Science to Implementation and Management provides a holistic view of environmental water management, offering clear links across disciplines that allow water managers to face mounting challenges. The book highlights current challenges and potential solutions, helping define the future direction for environmental water management. In addition, it includes a significant review of current literature and state of knowledge, providing a one-stop resource for environmental water managers. Presents a multidisciplinary approach that allows water managers to make connections across related disciplines, such as hydrology, ecology, law, and economics Links science to practice for environmental flow researchers and those that implement and manage environmental water on a daily basis Includes case studies to demonstrate key points and address implementation issues

Water plays a key role in addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time, including climate change adaptation, food and energy security, environmental sustainability and the promotion of peace and stability. This comprehensive handbook explores the pivotal place of law and policy in efforts to ensure that water enables positive responses to these challenges and provides a basis for sound governance. The book reveals that significant progress has been made in recent decades to strengthen the governance of water resource management at different scales, including helping to address international and sub-national conflicts over transboundary water resources. It demonstrates that ‘effective’ laws and policies are fundamental drivers for the safe, equitable and sustainable utilization of water. However, it is also shown that what might constitute an effective law or policy related to water resources management is still hotly debated. As such, the handbook provides an important and definitive reference text for all studying water governance and management.

This book discusses the international right to water and the liberalization of water services. It is concerned with the harmonization of the right to water with the legal systems under which liberalization of water services has taken or may take place. It assesses paths of harmonization between international human rights law and international economic law in this specific field. The issue of the compatibility between the fulfilment of the right to water and the liberalization of water services has been at the heart of a passionate public debate between opponents and advocates of the privatization of the utility. The book provides an unbiased analysis of different international legal regimes under which the liberalization of water services has occurred or is likely to occur, notably international investment law, international trade law and European Union law, in order to assess whether the main features of the right to water can be guaranteed under each of these systems of law and whether there is space for prospective harmonization. The work will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of International Human Rights Law, International Economic Law, International Water Law, International Trade Law and EU Law.

Water and the Law in Hawaii provides an intellectual and legal framework for understanding both the past and future of Hawai‘i’s freshwater resources. It covers not only the känäwai (laws) governing the balancing act between preservation and use, but also the science of aquifers and streams and the customs and traditions practiced by ancient and present-day Hawaiians on the äina (land) and in the wai (water). In placing Hawaii water law in the context of its historical development, the author condenses an enormous amount of information on traditional Hawaiian social structure and mythology. His analysis and explanation of the Hawaii Supreme Court decisions on water rights pose difficult questions and reveal the Court's at times defective reasoning by referring readers to original source material. He is the first author to explain fully how water use permits will play out in a variety of circumstances that may arise in the future, and he discusses the interrelationship between the State Water Code and the common law on water rights, which few people understand or are aware of. Water and the Law in Hawaii is a vital contribution to understanding water law in Hawaii. It will prove invaluable to students of the subject and will appeal to those with an interest in cultural anthropology, planning, Hawaiian history, and political science.