Fall 2023
Professor(s):
Tracy Hester (DIRECTOR/SUPERVISOR )
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Law
Time: 1:00p-2:30 TTH Location: 211
Course Outline: As water law issues become increasingly prominent in the news, public discourse, and legal practice, many ask: is water the most important natural resource? If so, why, and how does water law affect the ways that we use and develop land, energy, and other resources? This course combines a general survey of U.S. water law and policy with an examination of water law doctrines, institutions, and policy issues of particular significance to Texas. One goal of this class, therefore, is to give students a basic introduction to the laws and institutions that have shaped the use, development, and preservation of water throughout the United States. Thus, we will examine the legal principles and doctrines that have shaped the use of surface water and groundwater in different jurisdictions across the United States, as well as the evolution of public and private rights in these resources. In addition, this class is intended to examine how water law doctrines and water law institutions have evolved in Texas. The final goal of this class is to examine the evolution of water law as it influences the use, development, and preservation of other important resources.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. After student registration opens, there may be instruction mode changes to this course up through two weeks before the first day of classes for the term, but notice of such changes will be sent to then-registered students. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 12/7 1-4pm 211
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Available
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: R. Adler, Robin Kundis Craig, and Noah Hall, Modern Water Law (2d ed. 2018) ISBN: 9781634603409