Mono Lake and the Evolving Public Trust in Western Water

39 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 2005

See all articles by Michael C. Blumm

Michael C. Blumm

Lewis & Clark College - Lewis & Clark Law School; Lewis & Clark College Paul L Boley Library

Thea Schwartz

Independent

Abstract

The Mono Lake case is a lodestar in public trust jurisprudence. This article discusses that case and explains how it revolutionized California water law. The article identifies six principles established by the decision that place it in the vanguard of public trust case law. It also examines some of the progeny of the Mono Lake decision, both in California and in other western states. The article claims that in the wake of Mono Lake, a half dozen western states have recognized the application of the public trust doctrine to water rights, although no other state has embraced all six of the tenets of the Mono Lake doctrine. The article concludes that the the public trust doctrine's deep historical roots and conceptual coherence make it a promising vehicle by which to moderate the excesses of the prior appropriation doctrine of western water law and replace that doctrine's all or nothing approach with what the article refers to as the accommodation principle, under which both diversionary and instream uses of water will be accommodated wherever feasible.

Keywords: environmental law, water law, property law

JEL Classification: K11, K32

Suggested Citation

Blumm, Michael C. and Schwartz, Thea, Mono Lake and the Evolving Public Trust in Western Water. Arizona Law Review, Vol. 37, p. 701, 1995, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=841744

Michael C. Blumm (Contact Author)

Lewis & Clark College - Lewis & Clark Law School ( email )

10101 S. Terwilliger Boulevard
Portland, 97219-7762

Lewis & Clark College Paul L Boley Library ( email )

10015 S.W. Terwilliger Blvd.
Portland, OR 97219
United States
503-768-6824 (Phone)
503-768-6701 (Fax)

Thea Schwartz

Independent ( email )

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