This course will open with an introduction to the hydrological cycle, its natural stocks and flows, its fresh and saline elements, its phases, its vertical and horizontal dimensions, its mutable biogeochemistry, and its essentiality to the maintenance of life. We'll draw on water's critical roles within the biosphere, the atmosphere, and the cryosphere and the accelerating destabilization of these roles as we encounter them in our time.
We'll then trace the powerful influences of U.S. law on the use and consumption, conservation, diversion, and development of water's stocks and flows. To do so, we'll first follow the evolution of American water law and policy as they emerge into a distinct body of doctrines in the soggy Eastern states; then, as they re-emerge through a very different body of law in the arid Western and Southwestern states; and, finally, as they emerge for the third time through the troubled development and implementation of federal authority.
The resultant complex of concepts, rules, and practices has spawned a regime of rights, entitlements, and demands for entitlement that has heavily favored stasis over long periods of time.
Now, the entire regime is cracking open under the competing pressures that markets, social injustices, and strident political differences over resource exploitation in the face of accelerating climatic changes are bringing to bear. In the final portion of the course, we'll investigate some of these arenas of severe conflict, in search of the fourth evolutionary stage of water law--more coherent, more deeply splintered, or both-- that may be starting to emerge.
Our methods of approach will rely on a mix of lecture; individual- and team-led class participation; and some deep dives that will involve expert guests. Class members are encouraged to apply their diversity of disciplinary training and interests throughout the course and to adopt a special topic for the term, if they wish.
There will be a very brief written assignment and a final research paper on an instructor-approved topic that may be a group effort, in lieu of an exam. Honesty and graduate-level proficiency are the major criteria on which these projects will be judged.
Cohen, Jane M. 