PUBLICATIONS

Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, A Convergence of Opportunity
By Paul S. Simmons
March 2008

Some of the West's most contentious water resources disputes have occurred in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon and northern California. Early in 2008, a proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, intended to address and resolve disputes, was released publicly.

South Delta Standards Prompt Financial Contributions for the Development of Central Valley Salinity Management Plan, California Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 17, No. 9, June 2007
By Tess Dunham
June 2007

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board recently adopted new permit limitations in two National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for wastewater treatment facilities requiring dischargers to help financially support the development of the Central Valley Salinity Management Plan.

California: Groundwater Management, Conjunctive Use and Water Banking, Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 10, No. 5
By Nicholas A. Jacobs
March 2006

With water supplies throughout California struggling to keep up with increasing demand, groundwater remains an important source of supply. Unlike the complicated permitting system for California surface waters, groundwater has historically been unregulated throughout California. Recently, the increasing importance of groundwater as a source of water supply is leading to various forms of regulation, including county ordinance, basin adjudications and efforts by the California State Water Resources Control Board to exercise jurisdiction over certain groundwater by defining it as a "subterranean stream." To be sure, there is a lot going on in California groundwater law.

California: Endangered Species Act Issues Impacting Water Supply, Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 8, No. 5
By Nicholas A. Jacobs
March 2004

There is, perhaps, no more important issue in California water than the impact of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) on California water supply. Enforcement, or threat of enforcement, of the ESA and CESA have become the foremost controlling factors in California's development of its water resources. Compliance with the ESA and CESA creates significant impacts on water supply through-out the state. This article provides background on the ESA and CESA, and describes examples of the ESA issues impacting California's water supply.

California: Meeting Water Needs in the Face of Diminished Supply—The Role of Water Conservation and Reuse, Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 7, No. 5
By Nicholas A. Jacobs
March 2003

It is no secret that California's rapidly expanding population is outpacing the state's water supply. There is increasing reliance on a relatively static supply of surface and groundwater resources, and, for many reasons, the pace of developing new water supply projects has not kept up with an increasing demand. In recent years, California's state and local governments have begun looking to conservation and reuse as a means towards satisfying this unmet water supply demand. The need to support conservation and reuse is widely recognized, yet regulatory and public perception obstacles have hindered a faster implementation of these crucial projects.

Meeting California's Water Supply Needs: Whatever Happened to Storage? Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 7, No. 6
By Nicholas A. Jacobs
April 2003

In 2003, California is home to over 30 million people and boasts the world's fifth largest economy. California's population is expected to grow to nearly 50 million people by 2020. Like many regions of the West, California is already facing water supply shortages in many areas, and without significant new sources of supply the state will soon have annual shortfalls in the millions of acre-feet.

Department of Interior v. Klamath Water Users Association: An End to Secret Advocacy by Tribes During Water Allocation Proceedings? Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 5, No. 8
By Andrew M. Hitchings
June 2001

In Department of Interior v. Klamath Water Users Protective Association, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision this term limiting the scope of the federal government's ability to withhold documents under exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Simmons, Whither Wallop? Water Supply and Other State Law Implications of Clean Water Act TMDL Regulations, California Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 10, No. 7
By Paul S. Simmons
April 2000

Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act has come fully awake, and everyone is paying attention. Regulations recently proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to govern the listing of "impaired" waters and the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads for impaired waters, 64 Fed. Reg. 46312 (Aug, 23, 1999), drew voluminous comments from throughout the country.

Antitrust Considerations in Water Marketing
By Stuart L. Somach and Andrew M. Hitchings
Fall 1996

Water supply problems in the eastern United States are very different from water supply problems in the western United States. Problems in the East revolve around water quality. In the West, the focus is upon the availability of water, regardless of quality. Indeed, in the West, arguing about the relative quality of water is a luxury that comes only after the supply has been secured. As Wallace Stegner so accurately stated: "[T]he primary unity of the West is its shortage of water."