Two water lawyers, Nathan Bracken of Smith Hartvigsen and Jan Neuman of Tonkon Torp, join The Water Values Podcast to discuss the state of our federal water policy. Both Nathan and Jan are well-versed in water law and policy issues, and they have a number of recommendations for updating federal water policy. They also have interesting and provocative thoughts on what needs to happen in order to get the federal government, the states and the tribes in a position where updates to federal water policy might have a chance at success.

In this session, you’ll learn about:

The current state of federal water policy
A high-level overview of federal water regulatory oversight
Why talk about overhauling federal water policy constitute fighting words
Why Jan thinks we have the Rent-A-Wreck version of federal water policy
Nathan’s thoughts on how cooperative federalism, and the federal governments and states differing views on how it works, affects water policy
How the inconsistent and at times contradictory water policies found throughout the federal government came to be
How the fragmented nature of the water sector contributes to the inconsistent and at times contradictory federal water policies
What Jan and Nathan propose for fixing up federal water policy, or at least getting the sovereign parties (federal government, state government, tribes) to the point where trust can be built to the point that federal water policy can be better coordinated

Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include:

Jan’s law firm website
Nathan’s law firm website
Western States Water Council's website
Materials from the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission
Article in Oil & Gas Journal about withdrawn U.S. Forest Service groundwater rule
Environment News Service article on Oregon-California-Klamath Tribe water rights settlement
StudentReader.com website describing cooperative federalism
U.S. Water Policy: Trends and Future Directions by Adam Reimer (National Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Center)
35 Years of Water Policy: The 1973 National Water Commission and Present Challenges by Betsy A. Cody and Nicole T. Carter
With Epic Drought, Is It Time for a National Water Policy? Article in March 21, 2015, USA Today by Thomas Kostigen

Transcript

Click here to download the Transcript for Session 67 of The Water Values Podcast.

Thank You!

Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!