Environmental Law
Envt'l Law News Fall 2015, Vol. 24, No. 2
Content
- 2014-2015 Environmental Law Section Executive Committee
- A Tribute to Joseph L. Sax
- Ab 32's Pollution Markets: a Technology-Driven Solution or a Step Backward for Climate Change?
- Data Drought: Could Better Information Help Resolve Longstanding Conflicts Over Delta Water?
- Editor's Note...
- Environmental Law News Publications Committee
- In Honor of Joe Sax: Appreciating His Takings Scholarship
- Regulating Groundwater In California: Will the Landscape Change With Gsa Formation?
- Table of Contents
- The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan: An Impossible Task?
- While the Project may Change, the Standard of Review should Remain the Same
- Appellate Confirmation of State Water Board Administrative Jurisdiction to Prevent Illegal or Unreasonable Water Diversion and Use: Young, Millview, and Light
Appellate Confirmation of State Water Board Administrative Jurisdiction to Prevent Illegal or Unreasonable Water Diversion and Use: Young, Millview, and Light
by Rebecca R. Akroyd* and Andrew J. Ramos**
INTRODUCTION
California is facing an extraordinary drought, and the impacts of water shortages are significant and widespread. Communities that depend on agriculture suffer the consequences of fewer and damaged crops, lower groundwater levels, environmental side effects, and resulting economic turmoil. Urban communities also suffer, facing great challenges in drought planning, dealing with increased costs of water supply, and responding to an urgent need to increase conservation. Some communities are now preparing for the not-too-distant day when they run out of water altogether, and others have faced that day already.
The drought means that every drop of water counts. State and federal regulators are looking for ways to alleviate the impacts from water shortages, heeding directives to take actions to improve ecosystem health that were issued prior to the current drought. One tool receiving new scrutiny is state administrative action against alleged illegal and unreasonable diversion and use of water.