Message from the Editors-in-Chief

Misti Schmidt, Eugene Park, Jennifer Harder

Welcome to this joint issue of the Real Property Journal, Environmental Law News, and Public Law Journal. As our Section Chairs note, it is exciting to offer the members of all three Sections this publication highlighting some of the compelling cross-over topics that affect each of our Sections.

In our first article, Whitney Hodges explores force majeure and other doctrines to delay contractual performance, which are particularly relevant given the effect of the pandemic on construction, entitlements, and government contracts. In our next article, Kevin Bursey provides an overview of groundwater recharge and banking, as the state and landowners across the state continue to wrestle with dwindling groundwater supplies. Shawn Hagerty and Rebecca Andrews then discuss the increasingly relevant intersection between water quality and the state’s other pandemic, that of homelessness. Kaitlin Harr continues the discussion on water in her article regarding the impact of Plantier v. Ramona Municipal Water District on property-related water charges under Proposition 218. This is followed by a helpful primer of the Government Claims Act by John Fujii and Valerie D. Escalante Troesh. Finally, Jess Phelps rounds out the issue with an in-depth discussion of the intersection between working forest carbon projects and conservation easements under A.B. 32, a topic that touches on public law, environmental law, and real property law.

We hope you enjoy this issue and we look forward to collaborating in the future.