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Pearl Harbor Today
Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the anniversary of the Japanese attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. Those of us who don’t live in Hawaii may not think much about the harbor, but I started to...
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California Courts Foil Westlands Water District’s Grinch-Like Water Grab
(Credit: Bet Hannon Business) While there’s a great deal that’s dysfunctional and downright wrong about water law and policy in California, occasionally there are positive developments to report. So...
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Saving the Planet, One Case at a Time
Law school clinics are where the proverbial rubber meets the road. They introduce students to the realities of lawyering. Often, they are a law school’s most important form of public service....
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Evaluating Voluntary Agreements in the Bay-Delta Watershed
Updates to flow and other regulatory requirements for California’s Bay-Delta watershed are long overdue. For much of the last 12 years, state political leadership has prioritized efforts to develop...
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Emmett Institute Symposium: Powering the Future
If you ever find yourself passing through southwest Montana, go visit the Berkeley Pit and contemplate resource extraction. You pay a couple bucks to a guy in a trailer; walk under some razor wire...
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The Long Life and Sudden Demise of Federal Wetlands Protection
It’s no wonder that one EPA staffer’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling was a single word: “Heartbroken.” In 2023, the Supreme Court ended fifty years of broad federal protection to wetlands in...
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California Water Law Symposium is this Saturday in San Francisco
If you’re interested in California water, the 20th Annual California Water Law Symposium is a great way to spend this Saturday! The symposium is a collaborative student-run event that consistently...
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America’s Leading Environmental Court
The state court on the cutting edge of environmental law is a long way from the major population and media centers, which may be one reason it doesn’t get much attention. It deserves more. The...
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Deciphering NEPA 2.0
NEPA was long an island of legal stability, standing almost unamended for over a half century. Then in the summer of 2023, everything changed. As a rider on the agreement to raise the debt ceiling,...
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Temporary Takings and the Adaptation Dilemma
Is it unconstitutional for the government to build a levee that reduces the risk of urban flooding but diverts the water to nearby farmlands? The answer could be yes, unless the government pays for...
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A Brazen California Water Heist Revealed, Prosecuted & Punished
Former Panoche Drainage District Manager & Convicted Water Thief Dennis Falaschi (credit: Fresno Bee) Recently, former Panoche Drainage District general manager Dennis Falaschi pled guilty in...
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Reforming California’s Financial Penalties for Water Theft Will Create an...
Shasta River Water Association president & illegal water diverter Jim Scala (credit: Sacramento Bee) In a Legal Planet Post earlier this week, I recounted the saga of how federal prosecutors...
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The “Silver Bullet” Required to Improve California’s Water Rights System:...
Streamgaging Network (credit: USGS.gov) Recently I’ve posted stories about efforts to enforce California’s water laws in the face of efforts by some diverters to evade and ignore limits on their...
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The Ten Most Important U.S. Environmental Laws
In choosing the top environmental laws, I wanted to focus on those with the largest impacts on the environment, not just those that are most important to environmental lawyers or best known. My own...
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California can help meet its climate goals by removing SERP’s sunset date
Many regulatory clearances like permits aim to guard against projects that pose harm to the environment. However, permitting can also undercut environmental restoration efforts. While restoration is...
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Assessing the First Decade of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management...
A decade ago, California stood out–and not in a good way–as the only Western state without comprehensive state laws monitoring and regulating groundwater pumping and use. But in 2014, following years...
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“Salt Lakes in Crisis: Legal Responses to Ecological Catastrophes”
The Great Shrinking Salt Lake (credit: NASA Earth Observatory) On Friday, September 20th, the student-run U.C. Davis Law Review will host a most timely conference examining an environmental crisis...
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The Battle for Congress: Key U.S. House Races in California
The battle for control of the U.S. House is going to be very tight. Democrats need to pick up only four seats to flip control – something that will be especially important for them if Trump wins and...
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