Law and Policies that Address Equitable, Climate-Resilient Water and Sanitation (Part 2)

Pacific Institute | October 21st, 2024

In the United States, federal, tribal, state, and local laws and policies exist to govern the provision of water and sanitation services to communities and homes. The law

In the United States, federal, tribal, state, and local laws and policies exist to govern the provision of water and sanitation services to communities and homes. The laws are designed to ensure the protection of public health and the environment; deliver sufficient, safe water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and other household needs; and remove and treat domestic (i.e., household) waste. People without complete plumbing or safe water live within the “water access gap.” As explored in the first report in this series, climate change—from extreme temperatures to droughts, floods, extreme storms, and wildfires—is making it hard to close this gap and keep it from growing. Water and sanitation systems in frontline communities already feel the disproportionate “first and worst” impacts of climate change to these systems and to their access to water and sanitation. Laws and policies should help anticipate and plan for the incremental and catastrophic impacts of climate change and protect those most harmed by the effects. Unfortunately, in most cases, the climate is changing faster than the law can respond, thereby leaving frontline communities’ water and sanitation systems vulnerable to damage or destruction. (Click here for Part 1)

Legal Aspects of Instream Water Uses in California: Background and Issues

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | January 1st, 1978

This paper is part of a series of background and issue papers prepared by the staff of the Governor's Commission to Review California Water Rights Law. TABLE OF CONTEN

This paper is part of a series of background and issue papers prepared by the staff of the Governor's Commission to Review California Water Rights Law. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. The Nature of Property Rights III. State Water Resources Control Board Authority Related to Instream Uses IV.  Other Authority for the Protection and Enhancement of Instream Uses V. Methods of Protecting Instream Uses in Western States other than California VI.  Issues

Light v. State Water Resources Control Board

Court of Appeals of California, First Appellate District | July 11th, 2014

Local Groundwater Withdrawal Permitting Laws in the South?Western U.S.: California in Comparative Context

National Groundwater Association (NGWA) | December 13th, 2016

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) aims to control, for the first time in California's history, the state's significant use and depletion of groundwa

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) aims to control, for the first time in California's history, the state's significant use and depletion of groundwater. SGMA gives local agencies a high degree of discretion in relation to a new permitting power, but the discretion is a double-edged sword: agencies gain maximum flexibility to tailor their regime to local conditions, yet the statute provides no direction on appropriate components of a groundwater permitting regime. We introduce SGMA and the broader legislative context to its permitting power, and we explain the continuing common law context in which the legislation operates. This information is used as the foundation for a comparative legal analysis of fundamental elements of permitting regimes. We compare a selection of six other south-western permitting regimes established in legislation for areas recognized as requiring intensive management through permitting: “special permitting areas” (SPAs). We find that permitting regimes in south-western SPAs share a structure containing several almost universal elements, although the policy settings that apply to those elements vary widely. The established permitting regimes in the other south-western states' SPAs may inform Californian agencies seeking to use their new permitting power for the first time, as well as water agencies further afield, as to important components of a permitting regime, and the different policy settings that could apply to those components. Californian local agencies, and its Department of Water Resources, which is charged with providing local agencies technical advice, should have regard to these permitting possibilities.

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power response to Mono Lake Committee Request for a Drought Emergency Regulation

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | January 11th, 2023

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 2016 Annual Owens Valley Report

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) | December 1st, 2015

This report includes Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) proposed Owens Valley operations plan for the first six months of the 2016-17 runoff year, an u

This report includes Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) proposed Owens Valley operations plan for the first six months of the 2016-17 runoff year, an update on Owens Valley conditions, the current status of LADWP’s environmental mitigation projects, and the status of other studies, projects, and activities.

Los Angeles Waterkeeper v. State Water Resources Control Board

Second Appellate District, Court of Appeal of the State of California | February 27th, 2023

Los Osos Community Services District v. Golden State Water Company

Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo | October 14th, 2015

This Stipulated Judgment concerns the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, as it is more particularly described in Sections 1.4.2 and 2.1 of this Stipulated Judgment, which underl

This Stipulated Judgment concerns the Los Osos Groundwater Basin, as it is more particularly described in Sections 1.4.2 and 2.1 of this Stipulated Judgment, which underlies the unincorporated communities of Los Osos, Baywood Park and Cuesta-by-the-Sea in San Luis Obispo County, California (“Basin”). The Basin is the only source of water for residential, commercial, institutional and agricul-tural development on properties overlying the Basin. This litigation (the “Action”) relates to efforts by the parties to sustainably manage the water resources of the Basin and to protect and promote the economic, environmental and social health of the community.

Lower Basin Alternative for the Post-2026 Coordinated Operation of the Colorado River Basin

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) | March 6th, 2024

Lower Colorado River Basin Plan letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 5/22/23

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | May 22nd, 2023