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Pour Decisions: Legal Reform for America’s Lead in Drinking Water Crisis

Dana Dabbousi

April 18th 2024

“America, America has a problem.” That problem is lead: a highly toxic metal that contaminates our drinking water. Health disparities emerge, disproportionately impacting Black communities. This Article delves into America’s history of lead in drinking water, recent regulatory efforts, and proposed rulemaking that will lead to a lasting solution.

Salmon Lessons For The Delta Smelt: Unjustified Reliance On Hatcheries In The USFWS October 2019 Biological Opinion

June 26th 2020

Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, in October 2019 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) of the Trump Administration issued a new Biological Opinion (BiOp) for coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project (2019 USFWS BiOp). The 2019 USFWS BiOp issued by the ...

A Polymer Problem: How Plastic Production and Consumption is Polluting our Oceans

Computer Courage

April 19th 2019

Typically, when a new product comes on the scene, it takes several generations to evaluate its use and environmental impact. However, synthetic plastics really only began to take over around 50 years ago, and we’re already seeing a movement to ban, or at least drastically reduce, the material.

Conduit to Tribal and Environmental Justice? Unpacking Washington v. United States

Computer Courage

January 14th 2019

Popularly referred to by the general public in Washington State as “the culvert case,” Washington v. United States (“Washington V”) has ramifications beyond the removal of barrier culverts precluding safe fish passage. This case brought together several lingering and hotly contested legal issues

A Blooming Problem: How Florida Could Address the Causes and Effects of Red Tide

Computer Courage

November 27th 2018

Florida’s southwest coast, once a haven to wildlife and tourists alike, is experiencing one of the worst red tides in recent memory. Red tides, harmful algae blooms (“HABs”) which often have a red hue which affect both inland and coastal waterways, are common occurrences in Florida

CONDUIT FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RED SEA–DEAD SEA WATER CONVEYANCE PROJECT

ELQ Journal

March 22nd 2018

By Sarah L. Fine This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS). As the old saying goes, whiskey is for drinking—water is for fighting over. I. Introduction The mythic Dead Sea—the highly salinated, low-altitude lake of international interest and importance—is drying up.[1] Although the Jordan Rift Valley, where ...

FERC Relicensing and Its Continued Role in Improving Fish Passage at Pacific Northwest Dams

ELQ Journal

October 15th 2017

 Skylar Sumner* This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).  I. Introduction The history of the American west is inextricably intertwined with damming rivers.[1] Whether for navigation, irrigation, or hydroelectric power, nearly every American river has been dammed.[2] In fact, stretching back to the day the Founding Fathers ...

MS4 Regulation and Water Quality Standards

Computer Courage

May 14th 2017

Matt Carlisle This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).   I. Introduction: Storm water is a major polluter. As one judge put it, “Storm water runoff is one of the most significant sources of water pollution in the nation, at times ‘comparable to, if not greater than, ...

Repurposing Ecolabels: Consumer Pressure as a Tool to Abate Human Rights Violations in International Fisheries

ELQ Journal

April 24th 2017

Andrew Miller Andrew Miller is the 2017-2018 Senior Articles Editor for Ecology Law Quarterly. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).  [ Click Here to Comment ] [ download PDF ] Introduction In March of 2015, the Associated Press (AP) published AP Investigation: Slaves May Have ...

Navigating with an Ocean Liner: The Clean Water Rule, Trump’s Executive Order, and the Future of “Waters of the United States”

Computer Courage

April 18th 2017

Kacy Manahan* Kacy Manahan is the a clinical student at Earthrise Law Center at Lewis & Clark Law School and the 2017-2018 Symposium Editor for Environmental Law. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).    I. Introduction The scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction has ...

Funding Adaptation: Financing Resiliency Through Sea Level Derivatives

ELQ Journal

April 18th 2017

  Sevren Gourley*            Sevren Gourley is the Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Environmental Law Journal. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).  Coastal municipalities are struggling to address the uncertain future risks created by sea level rise. Conventional models of ex ante protection and ex post relief are ...

Bridging the Divide: Incorporating Interflow into Legal Discourse on Surface Water-Groundwater Interactions

ELQ Journal

March 3rd 2017

Reshmina William* and A. Bryan Endres**  [ download PDF ] Introduction Despite the traditional separation of groundwater and surface water in academic and legal literature, both systems are in fact tightly interconnected. This artificial distinction persists due to the idea that groundwater movement takes place on a much larger timescale ...

It is Time for Oregon to Define its Public Trust Duties

ELQ Journal

April 10th 2016

Olivier Jamin Olivier Jamin is a 2L at Louis & Clark Law School and is the Online Journal Editor of Environmental Law. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. I. Introduction The public trust doctrine (PTD) is a concept under which states have the duty to preserve ...

When a Disaster Is Not a “Disaster” and Why that Title Matters for Flint

ELQ Journal

March 31st 2016

Helen Marie Berg  Helen Marie Berg is a student at The University of Michigan Law School and is a general member of the Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. In January 2016, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appealed to the ...

A Leading Cause of Everything: One Industry That Is Destroying Our Planet and Our Ability to Thrive on It

ELQ Journal

October 30th 2015

Christopher Hyner Christopher Hyner is a 3L at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is a Managing Editor for the Georgetown Environmental Law Review. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. Click here to see the original post and leave a comment. Climate change. Ocean dead zones. Fisheries depletion. Species extinction. Deforestation. World hunger. ...

Preservation Is a Flawed Mitigation Strategy

ELQ Journal

January 16th 2015

Jessica Owley* [ Click Here to Comment ][   Download PDF ]   Introduction The objective of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. To help achieve that objective, the Act limits the ability to dredge or fill a ...

Will the Wilderness Act Be Diluted in Drakes Estero?

ELQ Journal

August 27th 2012

Nell Green Nylen, Elisabeth Long, Mary Loum, Heather Welles, Dan Carlin, Brynn Cook, and Sage Adams* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] <<< See Update 1, November 29, 2012, Below >>> <<< See Update 2, December 10, 2012, Below >>> Introduction and Background Drakes Bay Oyster Company ...

Hydraulic Fracturing and Groundwater Contamination: Can Disclosure Rules Clarify What’s In Our Groundwater?

ELQ Journal

July 31st 2012

Rachel Degenhardt* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Hydraulic fracturing is a process whereby chemical additives, sand, and water are pumped into underground source rocks at high pressures in order to release natural gas and oil for fuel production.[1] There are a number of potential environmental impacts ...

Student Review of Selected Panels at the 2012 Water Law Symposium “Water and Growth: The Imperative for Sustainable Approaches to Uncertainty”

ELQ Journal

March 22nd 2012

[ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ]   Click here for videos of all sessions or on each session for its video. All review authors attended the 2012 Water Law Symposium hosted at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law on January 21, 2012. The panel reviews ...

Seawater Desalination: Climate Change Adaptation Strategy or Contributor?

ELQ Journal

December 4th 2011

Angela Haren Kelley* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] While droughts and water supply challenges have plagued California for decades, climate change will increase the strain on California’s water management system.[1] Seawater desalination—the process of removing salt and other minerals from seawater—is often hailed as the solution ...

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