Read a free excerpt here! American engineers have done astounding things to bend the Mississippi River to their will: forcing one of its tributaries to flow uphill, transforming over a thousand miles of roiling currents into a placid staircase of water, and wresting the lower half of the river apart from its floodplain. American law has aided and abetted these feats. But despite our best efforts, so-called "natural disasters" continue to strike the Mississippi basin, as raging floodwaters decimate waterfront communities and abandoned towns literally crumble into the Gulf of Mexico. In some places, only the tombstones remain, leaning at odd angles as the underlying soil erodes away. Mississippi River Tragedies reveals that it is seductively deceptive-but horribly misleading-to call such catastrophes "natural." Authors Christine A. Klein and Sandra B. Zellmer present a sympathetic account of the human dreams, pride, and foibles that got us to this point, weaving together engaging historical narratives and accessible law stories drawn from actual courtroom dramas. The authors deftly uncover the larger story of how the law reflects and even amplifies our ambivalent attitude toward nature-simultaneously revering wild rivers and places for what they are, while working feverishly to change them into something else. Despite their sobering revelations, the authors' final message is one of hope. Although the acknowledgement of human responsibility for unnatural disasters can lead to blame, guilt, and liability, it can also prod us to confront the consequences of our actions, leading to a liberating sense of possibility and to the knowledge necessary to avoid future disasters.

The new edition adds dozens of recent decisions and key statutory changes. Virtually every principal case in the leading casebooks is cited or discussed, making this book an excellent aid for students in any water law course. The revised edition deals with changes in evolving areas like groundwater-surface water conflicts, public recreational uses, instream flow protection, federal water development, takings claims, and water access and equity.

This Concise Hornbook is a comprehensive yet concise user-friendly treatise on important natural resources law issues. It surveys cases, statutes, regulations, legal developments, and policies that have shaped, and will continue to influence, natural resources law throughout the 20th century and the early 21st century. Topics include resource economics, jurisdictional constraints, the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA), wildlife, public lands, preservation, recreation, rangeland, timber, mining, and energy. The 2nd edition provides expanded treatment of climate-related issues and a new chapter on renewable energy law, and it updates the changes in natural resources policy instigated by the Trump Administration since 2017.

This comprehensive casebook, now in a fully updated sixth edition, spans eastern and western water law and policy issues, focusing on the allocation, use and conservation of groundwater and surface water. The new edition retains its in-depth consideration of water institutions, expands its discussion of federal-state and interstate water relations, and sharpens its coverage of property rights claims and the public trust doctrine. It includes new U.S. Supreme Court cases, along with important recent decisions from other federal and state courts. The role of water law in climate change adaptation is considered throughout.