The public trust doctrine requires the state to hold in trust
designated resources for the benefit of the people.
Traditionally, the public trust applied to commerce and fishing
in navigable waters, but its uses were expanded in California in
1971 to include fish, wildlife, habitat and recreation.
In California, public trust was most notably invoked in a
landmark 1983 case involving water use at Mono Lake.
Conservation and community groups have filed a lawsuit against
Utah for what they claim is the state’s failure to ensure
enough water gets to the Great Salt Lake, to avoid what they
call an “ecological collapse.” The lawsuit seeks a court order
requiring Utah to let more water reach the largest natural lake
in the Western Hemisphere. John Leshy, professor emeritus of
law at the University of California-San Francisco, said the
lake is a “public trust” resource per the state’s constitution.
He added the court will examine what the designation means when
it comes to managing and protecting it. Back in the 1970s, the
California Supreme Court stepped in to protect Mono Lake from
its water being diverted to Los Angeles utilizing the Public
Trust Doctrine. Leshy argued it could set a strong precedent in
Utah.
Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to save the Great
Salt Lake as its water continues receding and its lakebed blows
dust. The case uses a legal concept that recently stifled plans
to turn Utah Lake into a private island development and, years
ago, stopped a salty lake from getting sucked dry in
California. A complaint filed in 3rd District Court on
Wednesday invokes the public trust doctrine, claiming the Utah
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has failed in its duty to
protect the largest saline ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere
for the benefit of its residents. While lawmakers and resource
managers have taken steps in recent years to bolster the
imperiled Great Salt Lake and the unique ecology it supports,
they must take more drastic steps to reduce Utahns’
overconsumption of water, the suit argues.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.
Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.
Does California need to revamp the way in which water is dedicated to the environment to better protect fish and the ecosystem at large? In the hypersensitive world of California water, where differences over who gets what can result in epic legislative and legal battles, the idea sparks a combination of fear, uncertainty and promise.
Saying that the way California manages water for the environment “isn’t working for anyone,” the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shook things up late last year by proposing a redesigned regulatory system featuring what they described as water ecosystem plans and water budgets with allocations set aside for the environment.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as
the most thorough explanation of California water rights law
available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing
in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation
ditch through the complex web of California water rights.
The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides
background information on water rights, types of transfers and
critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in
1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on
groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River
transfers and the role of private companies in California’s
developing water market.
Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced
fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
Rooted in Roman law, the public
trust doctrine recognizes the public right to many natural
resources including “the air, running water, the sea and its
shore.”
The doctrine requires the sovereign, or state, to hold in trust
designated resources for the benefit of the people.
Traditionally, the public trust applied to commerce and fishing
in navigable waters, but its uses were expanded in California in
1971 to include fish, wildlife, habitat and recreation.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the area
of origin laws, what they mean to those who claim their
protections and the possible implications of the Tehama Colusa
Canal Authority’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation.
