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Western Australia has not delivered on its promises to make environmental water provisions (EWPs), including to restore environmentally sustainable flows of water to waterways and wetlands. WA has prioritised water supply for consumptive use under pressure from a growing population. Urban areas draw a significant amount of water from outside urban regions to the detriment of the natural environment. This article reviews the implementation of EWPs under Western Australian law by testing the operation of the current legislation on a case study of the catchment of a Ramsar listed wetland in south-west Western Australia and suggests solutions to the legal deficiencies. We find that National and State policies on EWPs are not being complied with, including statutory recognition of legally secure EWPs and the return to environmentally sustainable levels of extraction. WA has not implemented transparent water allocation planning; instead, it has discarded early environmental impact assessment approval conditions in favour of confidential processes of water licensing to administer small summer releases. We argue that restoration aspirations are more likely to be achieved if there are clear justiciable duties on the Minister for Water to provide EWPs and propose how this may be done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Better integration of water and land use planning has become an almost universal rallying cry in areas of water scarcity. A starting point for this integration is the consideration of the availability of water to serve new development in the process of land use approval by a local government. Requirements for subdividers to demonstrate that an adequate water supply is available for a proposed development are common and are known as "assured water supply" laws. This paper reviews such laws in eleven western states, and compares them based on key characteristics in these laws that influence their scope and effectiveness in meeting the goals of consumer protection, sustainable growth, integrated land and water planning, and wise use. Those characteristics include: universal application; review by an independent state expert; minimum size of development regulated; integration into regional water supply plans; and incorporation of water conservation techniques. The discussion highlights differences among the states and recent trends, while acknowledging the tricky balance between local control of land use decisions and prudent water supply planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the social conditions and human rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. Topics mentioned include social gap for the indigenous population, impunity for the stealing of river water, lack of a water act and hydroelectric projects, and the Sepur Zarco case and access to justice for indigenous peoples. Other topics discussed include legal claims for indigenous rights, climate change and the rights of indigenous peoples, the Peace Accords, and constitutional reforms.

A number of international agreements support the legitimacy of the human right to water, and the 'fulfilment' requirement of that right compels states to provide equal water access for all citizens. Canada's policy evolution in this respect is instructive for practitioners, as it allows a study of the challenges in providing marginalized groups with clean water. Through a case study approach, this article examines Canada's implementation of the human right to water and finds that Canada appears to be complying with its international water rights commitments, as almost concurrently to its acceptance of the international norm in 2012, Canada created a domestic law to address the deficiencies of water provision within its aboriginal communities. Tracing Canada's actual practice of the human right to water reveals, however, that the government's compliance with that right has had a much more ambiguous outcome. In this particular case, Canada agreed to an international human rights norm with which its decentralized governance structure was incompatible, suggesting that while international pressure to adopt a norm is a powerful force, that pressure may be misplaced if the state has limited capacity to enforce the norm domestically. Ultimately, Canadian implementation of the human right to water suggests that while the boomerang model of norm diffusion may be successful in pressuring states to make a tactical concession and adopt norms internationally, such acceptance can then masquerade as compliance and instead serve as an evasive manoeuvre on the domestic level, thus allowing the state to continue to marginalize the human right to water within its own internal policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is arguably the most ambitious piece of European Union (EU) legislation in the field of water. The directive defines a general framework for integrated river basin management in Europe with a view to achieving "good water status" by 2015. Institutional novelties include, among others, water management at hydrological scales, the involvement of nonstate actors in water planning, and various economic principles, as well as a common strategy to support EU member states during the implementation of the directive. More than 15 years after the adoption of the WFD, and with the passing of an important milestone, 2015, we believe it is time for an interim assessment. This article provides a systematic review of existing scholarship on WFD implementation. We identify well-documented areas of research, describe largely unchartered territories, and suggest avenues for future studies. Methodologically, we relied on a meta-analysis. Based on a codebook of more than 35 items, we analyzed 89 journal articles reporting on the implementation of the directive in EU member states. Our review is organized around three major themes. The first is "who, when, and where"; we explore publication patterns, thereby looking into authors, timelines, and target journals. The second is "what"; we analyze the object of study in our source articles with a particular focus on case study countries, policy levels, the temporal stage of WFD implementation, and if the directive was not studied in its entirety, the aspect of the WFD that received scholarly attention. The third is "how," i.e., theoretical and methodological choices made when studying the WFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To determine how urban water conservation strategies in California cities can affect water and energy conservation efforts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit public health. Methods. We expanded upon our 2014 health impact assessment of California's urban water conservation strategies by comparing the status quo to 2 options with the greatest potential impact on the interrelated issues of water and energy in California: (1) banning landscape irrigation and (2) expanding alternative water sources (e.g., desalination, recycled water). Results. Among the water conservation strategies evaluated, expanded use of recycled water stood out as the water conservation strategy with potential to reduce water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions, with relatively small negative impacts for the public's health. Conclusions. Although the suitability of recycled water for urban uses depends on local climate, geography, current infrastructure, and finances, analyses similar to that presented here can help guide water policy decisions in cities across the globe facing challenges of supplying clean, sustainable water to urban populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Chilean Water Code of 1981 is a radical case of implementation of free market policies. In the Atacama Desert, the Atacameño people of the city of Calama have mobilized their indigenous identity and traditional celebrations within the context of the imposition of this code. Using a political ecology framework, in this article I examine how their claims, in opposition to the neoliberal model of water exploitation, are interwoven with the process of identity formation, traditions, and market behavior. For this purpose, I have studied transactions of water rights and conducted interviews of urban leaders. The results bring into question the neoliberal hypothesis that water rights flow towards the uses of greatest economic value within a free market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collected Papers of the Law Faculty of the University of Rijeka / Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci is the property of Pravni fakultet Sveucilista u Rijeci and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the early 2000s, the advent of hydraulic fracturing coupled with directional drilling opened up many previously uneconomical oil and natural gas fields to drilling. Many of these fields, however, were in areas directly next to small, quiet communities unaccustomed to the intensity of oil and gas development. Some towns were overwhelmed by the speed and money behind the boom. A few communities fought back with local measures banning the controversial well stimulation technique of hydraulic fracturing in order to protect their water resources. This Comment seeks to examine how these measures fared in the legal challenges filed against them and to help other communities looking to use these measures learn from these fights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the Wisconsin's public trust doctrine, as of December 2015. Topics discussed include issues regarding natural resource and separation of powers jurisprudence, provision of the state constitution requiring the waters of the state to be held in trust by the state for the public, and need of changes in the laws related to public trust obligations.

National and sub-national governments develop and enforce regulations to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water in the United States (US) and countries worldwide. However, periodic contamination events, waterborne endemic illness and outbreaks of waterborne disease still occur, illustrating that delivery of safe drinking water is not guaranteed. In this study, we examined the potential added value of a preventive risk management approach, specifically, water safety plans (WSPs), in the US in order to improve drinking water quality. We undertook a comparative analysis between US drinking water regulations and WSP steps to analyze the similarities and differences between them, and identify how WSPs might complement drinking water regulations in the US. Findings show that US drinking water regulations and WSP steps were aligned in the areas of describing the water supply system and defining monitoring and controls. However, gaps exist between US drinking water regulations and WSPs in the areas of team procedures and training, internal risk assessment and prioritization, and management procedures and plans. The study contributes to understanding both required and voluntary drinking water management practices in the US and how implementing water safety plans could benefit water systems to improve drinking water quality and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in court case 'Koontz v. St. John River Water Management District' concerning the laws between property rights and government regulation of water resources. Topics discussed include laws governing sections of land near oceans, lakes and rivers under the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA), the Supreme Court decision in the case 'Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)' on the issue, and rules of the EPA on property rights.

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been lauded as an integrative and participatory form of governance. However, critics claim that actual implementation remains problematic, because of deep path dependencies and the entrenched interests. This paper investigates this claim by looking at the formation of collective choice rules in integrated water resources management reforms in China’s Yellow River and the Ganges in India. The two rivers provide a natural experiment—similarity in physical scale, complexity, and integrated water resources management reforms, but highly different in social and policy contexts. Using the Q methodology and Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, we find that, despite differences in policy contexts, narratives amongst the stakeholders in the two rivers are surprisingly similar, including a continued role for a negotiated local approach, and the presence of normative incentives for collective action, underwritten by deep historical meanings of the rivers. These narratives in turn provide some explanation for the choice of collective rules in use. They suggest that a modified form of integrated water resources management, taking into account narratives and collective choice rules, is useful for the governance of very large rivers across different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only recently securitization research is exploring which mechanisms are used to securitize the water discourse and how securitization affects decision-making processes. In this context, legal texts convey messages and shape public actions, but have been rarely considered in the analysis of water securitization. Moreover, security is usually meant as the absence of violent conflict, while discourse securitization can exist also where there are only vaguely defined threats to the society. This may be the case of water scarcity associated with drought. This paper undertakes a policy frame analysis of nine exceptional laws passed in Spain during the 2005-2008 drought, to address the following questions: To what extent and how can the water discourse in legal texts be securitized? and What are the consequences of that securitization? The analysis shows that securitization is achieved using both linguistic and institutional mechanisms. Dry spells are presented as exceptional situations and using alarmist terms, even if drought is inherent to Spain's Mediterranean climate. The sense of urgency is used to fast-track the approval of measures that could be part of ordinary water planning. The securitization of the water discourse contributes to consolidate an existing water paradigm, which, in the case of Spain, is based on State-subsidized, technical and legal measures addressing water scarcity (real or exaggerated). It is an example of a 'creeping' securitization of the water discourse, meant as the dramatization of otherwise natural circumstances to spur projects and investments conceived for other purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses health issues concerning the fracking or hydraulic fracturing method of producing natural gas. It mentions the March 2015 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the possible public health effects of the method, comment from the Independent Petroleum Association of America on the report, and the opinion of professor Madelon Finkel of Weill Cornell Medical College on the developments.

The article explores the importance of a federal regulation to control the levels of perchlorate, a chemical found in drinking water, in the U.S. Topics discussed include the health risks of perchlorate on pregnant women and young children with low iodine intake, the Drinking Water Health Advisory (DWHA) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on perchlorate determination and the higher cost of perchlorate treatment in public water supplies.

Copyright of Canadian Water Resources Journal / Revue Canadienne des Ressources Hydriques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Non-revenue water (NRW) defined by the standard International Water Association (IWA) terminology is an important issue in the management of water supply systems (WSS). Its main component, water loss, is traditionally challenged by the managers of the WSS. The issue of NRW reduction is gaining in importance due to several impact factors: ageing WSS, increased energy costs and also new requirements set by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Beside the conventional water loss requirements and indicators, WFD sets additional requirements defined by the objective status of water bodies. The directive was addressed by the WATERLOSS EU-MED project, within which a decision support system (DSS) for the induction of NRW-reduction measures was developed. The DSS targets beyond the standard benchmarking approaches with the evaluation of indicators that serve for the identification of necessary measures. In the process of DSS development, three key components were connected in operative DSS: (1) system of indicators that is based upon the modified IWA benchmarking system; (2) comprehensive classification of all identified NRW-reduction measures; and (3) a rule-based system that connects both and induces priority measures on the basis of evaluated indicators. In the article, all three components will be presented with special emphasis on the induction process. The induction process is based upon multidimensional clustering and embedded expert knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the legal and policy framework related to Tribal water rights, with a key focus on the environmental public health impacts of dam construction in Indian Country. Three dam projects will be highlighted: the Dalles Dam, the Elwha River Dams, and the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents updates for several environmental law and legislation in Great Britain as of March 2015. Among the laws updated include one on deregulation, one for self-build and custom housebuilding, and one for dogs registration. Other laws discussed include Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014, Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (Commencement No. 9) Order 2014, and Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2014.

Every year there are numerous important water conferences, workshops and meetings around the world. In this section of New Water Policy and Practice Journal we aim to share inspiration about new water leadership and thinking from recent key water events, such as conferences and workshops. The aim of this section is to provide a mechanism for readers to inform each other about particularly important or invigorating events and we encourage all New Water Policy and Practice Journal readers to send us their ideas and help spread the word about what they found particularly inspiring. Articles should be a maximum of 500 words and written in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proper management of water resources has got significant social and economic dimension. For this reason, it is an essential element of almost every national law, European Union law, and also international law in a broad sense. Legislative authority, during legislature process, should allways balance private and public interests to adopt compromised solutions. Furthermore these solutions must be determined mostly by hydrology to be appropriate to the nature of waters and environment. Because of mentioned issues, it is very undesirable state of affairs when law simply does not fit to the object of its regulation. In Water Law Act of 2001 Polish legislator classifies lakes, depending upon the type of watercourse (natural or man-made) flowing into or out of the lake, among either flowing water or stagnant one. This regulation is against hydrological classification of lakes. Moreover this legal act introduces different treatment of dammed lakes in the context of public access to the lakeshores. Indicated problems have got significant impact on many aspects such as ownership of lakes, obligations of the owners of the lakes, lakes and environmental protection and, mentioned above, right to public acces to the lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Native American tribal authority in relation to the protection of water resources and reserved rights under Section 401 of the U.S. Clean Water Act. Tribal sovereignty is addressed, along with the U.S. government's trust responsibility to Indian tribes. The potential impact of pollution discharge on tribal waters is examined, as well as veto authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the protection of American water quality.

Since the mid-1980s, liberalization has motivated numerous water supply reforms. Among these, privatization has received the most attention. Yet, its actual scope has been limited. Beyond privatization, the territorial expansion of municipally owned water corporations into new service areas can be witnessed in countries as diverse as Italy, South Africa, Canada, Colombia and the Netherlands. Generally, the activities of public water corporations are analyzed through the lens of commercialization. This framework is central to understanding recent shifts in water supply. Yet, while it addresses the effects of commercialization on service quality and access, it rarely integrates the influence of shifts in social reproduction and collective consumption in structuring reform. Drawing on theories of urban entrepreneurialism, I attempt to advance a broader analytical framework that is more amenable to integrating the diversity of processes involved, including but not limited to commercialization. At the same time, the territorial expansion of municipally owned water corporations suggests ways to rethink urban entrepreneurialism: it is not only commercial, it is also social, and it is Schumpeterian. To make these points, this article examines the efforts of two public water corporations to go international: EPM of Medellín, Colombia and WMD of Drenthe, the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop multi-objective optimal operation models for cascade reservoirs. • Hybrids Parallel Mechanism with optimization algorithms to optimize multi-objective. • Water supply contradiction and transformation rules among three objectives are obtained. • Optimal scheme ensures power generation efficiency, irrigation requirements and ecological safety. In recent years, the water conflict between competing users in the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River has intensified, causing severe social, economic, and ecological problems. This research aims to alleviate water conflicts between multiple objectives that consider eight cascade reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin to be the regulatory bodies using the optimal operation model and fuzzy optimization evaluation model. The innovative approach combining the parallel mechanism with optimization algorithms (i.e., Flower Pollination Algorithm and Non-dominated Neighbor Immune Algorithm) is proposed to solve the optimal operation models, analyze the time distribution laws of water supply dilemma and the transformation rules among three objectives (power generation, irrigation, and ecology). Based on the evaluation indicator system and subjective and objective comprehensive weighting methods (i.e., Analytic Hierarchy Process and Entropy Weight Method), a fuzzy optimization evaluation model is applied to search for the optimal dispatching scheme for the multi-objective joint operation of cascade reservoirs. Results indicate several findings. First, the Parallel - Flower Pollination Algorithm produces high precision and stability with outstanding calculation efficiency. Second, the period of the water supply dilemma is October and next April, and the annual water supply dilemma is affected by the frequency of incoming water. Third, the competitive relationship between irrigation and ecology is the strongest, followed by the relationship between ecology and power generation, the relationship between ecology and power generation is relatively weak. Fourth, the optimal dispatching scheme in each typical year is the scheme with the ratio values of the transformation coefficients among power generation, irrigation, and ecological objectives the closest to 1:1:1, respectively. It is conducive to scientifically guiding the dispatch of water resources in the Heihe River Basin, alleviating water conflicts, and ensuring socio-economic development and ecological safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Jurídica (0103-3506) is the property of Revista Juridica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the judicial opinion of New Mexico Supreme Court on the case Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., v. D'Antonio and its role in regulating water rights in New Mexico. Topics discussed include role of the Taking Clause of Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in administration of water, appropriation doctrine for regulating water rights, and rapid increase in the settlement costs for water administration.

The article offers information on several legislations and court cases enacted in Great Britain and European Union relating to environmental concerns from April 1, 2014 to Jun 30, 2014. Topics discussed include Environmental Bill enacted for the management of natural resources, Water Act 2014 for delivering more resilient water supplies, and court case Brown v Carlisle City Council for reviewing the defendant local authority's decision to erect a freight distribution centre at an airport.

A human right to water has been a major issue in recent times, both nationally and internationally. The international community has taken different approaches to tackle the global water crisis by realising a human right to water. Unfortunately, international uncertainty remains. Bangladesh adopted different policies before finally enacting the Bangladesh Water Act to try and ensure a right to water. Sadly, the existing legal regime in Bangladesh falls short of effectively doing so. It is argued in this article that the existing international instruments are not sufficient to realise a human right to water and a codified right would better ensure its implementation. It is also suggested that increased judicial activism could play a vital role in protecting and promoting the human right to water in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines water issues that normally arise in the context of real estates transactions in Arizona. Topics covered include the method that purchasers can use for applying for and obtaining water services, a brief introduction to the water law in Arizona, and the provisions of the Groundwater Code that governs the withdrawal and use of groundwater in the state.

Copyright of Collected Papers of the Law Faculty of the University of Rijeka / Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci is the property of Pravni fakultet Sveucilista u Rijeci and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Twenty-five years ago, the late B.A. Godana stressed that despite the gap between, on the one hand, the vast number of African international drainage basins and their potential for socio-economic development of the States and, on the other hand, the dearth of international regulations governing water resources, it was noteworthy that the achievements in terms of cooperation were impressive. More than any other African river, the Senegal has been characterized and governed by the most progressive and articulated legal regime. The leitmotif since the inception of this legal regime has been to engage in an experiment that not only follows the most advanced concepts of integrated water resources management, but may also offer lessons in cooperation at the global level. Therefore, the legal architecture to foster cooperation over the management of the Senegal has influenced the development of the law of international watercourses in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)