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Water Law

State and Interstate Resources

State Water Departments

  • The Arizona Department of Water Resources safeguards the health, safety, and economic welfare of the public by protecting, conserving, and enhancing Arizona's water supplies.
  • The Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission was created to determine which streams were navigable at the time of statehood, which is necessary to determine certain ownership rights. It includes updates on the legal ownership status of waterways and an archive of court filings.
  • The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona is an independent state authority authorized to finance the construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, and improvement of water infrastructure throughout Arizona. The website includes state law resources and media releases, plus information on water rates and conservation programs.
  • The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality - Water Quality Division protects and enhances public health and the environment by ensuring that public water systems provide healthy drinking water and by controlling current and future sources of surface and ground water pollution.

Kyl Center for Water Policy
This ASU-based center promotes research, analysis, collaboration, and dialogue to build consensus on sound water stewardship for Arizona and the West. The website publishes a blog, news stories, and reports. The Center manages the Colorado River Visualization Enterprise, which models the impacts to Arizona of Colorado River climate, hydrologic, and management scenarios. It also created the Arizona Water Blueprint, a data-rich, interactive map of Arizona’s water resources and infrastructure.

Water Resources Research Center
The WRRC, housed at The University of Arizona, conducts water policy research and analysis, and disseminates its findings in publications, conferences, lectures, and seminars. It provides water news and information to academics, water professionals, elected and appointed officials, students, and the public.

Arizona v. California
This collection from the University of Colorado Law Library contains full-text, fully searchable pleadings, briefs, orders, and transcripts from more than a decade of litigation between Arizona and California over Colorado River rights.

Interstate Council on Water Policy
Founded in 1959, the ICWP is a national nonprofit organization that serves as a national voice for state and interstate water resource managers. It engages in advocacy, research, education, and other activities to support water-management activities.

National Center for Interstate Compacts - Water
NCIC is a nonprofit organization that helps states collaborate on complex public policy issues. This page features the full-text of various water compacts and information about the states that are party to each compact.

National Conference of State Legislatures
NCSL is a bipartisan research organization serving legislators and staff of all 50 states. It provides research, technical assistance, and the ability for policymakers to exchange ideas. NCSL tracks important Environment and Natural Resources issues in state legislatures and provides information on programs sponsored by NCSL.

Federal Resources

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website of the federal legislature. It contains bills and resolutions, committee reports, the Congressional Record, Presidential nominations, treaties, and other related information including summaries and status of legislative acts. It also provides information about members of Congress, links to House and Senate committee pages, the United States Code, and other legislative resources. You can browse the website by subject (e.g., Water quality).

Congressional Research Service Reports
The Congressional Research Service is a public policy research institute that provides research and analysis to the U.S. Congress. To find reports about water law, search the collection with keywords such as water law or water policy or browse through articles assigned to the Environmental Policy topic. The National Agricultural Law Center has also compiled a comprehensive list of water-related CRS reports that were issued before Congress made CRS reports publicly available in 2017. (The last report on the list was published in 2016.)

Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with, among other things, enforcing federal clean water and safe drinking water laws, providing support for municipal wastewater treatment plants, and implementing pollution prevention efforts to protect watersheds and sources of drinking water. The following pages of the website may be useful to a water-law researcher:

  • The EPA: Water Topics page collects and presents information about drinking water, wastewater, wetlands, oceans, watersheds, water research, and infrastructure financing.
  • The Regulatory and Guidance Information by Topic: Water page discusses the laws and regulations applicable to various water-related issues.
  • The Office of Water is the EPA office responsible for implementing several laws, including the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. It works with regional EPA offices and other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to provide guidance, specify scientific methods and data collection requirements, perform oversight, and facilitate communication among those involved.
  • You can also subscribe to EPA News Releases, selecting "Water" as a topic of interest.

Federal Register
The Federal Register is the official journal of the federal government. It is published every weekday, except for federal holidays, and contains notices, proposed rules, final rules, and executive orders. You can browse the website by topic (e.g., Water pollution control).

HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library (available on campus or remotely with ASURITE)
This database includes documents related to the Clean Water Act, the Clean Water Act Amendments, and other important legislation.