Journals
Winter 2002, Vol. 42, No. 1
Essay – Saved by Scarcity?
V.B. Price
Broadening U.S. Water Resources Project Planning and Evaluation
Jeffrey W. Jacobs
U.S. federal water resources planning and evaluation activities have usually emphasized future costs and benefits of prospective projects. A detailed planning document, the Principles and Guidelines, guides U.S. federal water resources project planning. But no comparable document exists to guide retrospective, ex post reviews of water projects and programs.
Social goals and preferences may change substantially after project implementation. A lack of ex post evaluation may inhibit appropriate project and policy adjustments. Broadening U.S. water resources management to incorporate a greater degree of ex post evaluation may help resolve some of the nation’s water resources controversies. The inclusion of independent scientists—who should work cooperatively with agency officials—can help ensure objectivity and credibility. Successful implementation of adaptive management, which is increasingly looked to for helping to resolve U.S. water policy challenges, may rely upon effective ex post evaluation.
Choreographing NGO Strategies to Protect Instream Flows
Lynne Marie Paretchan
Non-governmental organizations play key roles in the efforts to enhance and protect instream flows in western rivers. To provide direction to individuals and organizations working on instream flow issues, this article evaluates the eight primary strategies used by non-profit, non-governmental organizations working on instream flow issues: expanding legal protections, government agency oversight, coordinating with land trusts and conservancies, establishing instream flow water trusts, coalition efforts, building public awareness, creating new institutions, and using legal advocacy. These evaluations illustrate that while the strategies are related, each addresses a unique opportunity to further protect instream flows. While instream flow interests are best served when non-governmental organizations are able to employ all of the strategies within every state, where this is not yet possible, a framework for distinguishing and prioritizing the strategies is suggested to assist instream flow advocates in selecting the best tools to achieve their desired outcome.
The Economics of Environmental Regulation by Licensing: An Assessment of Recent Changes to the Wetland Permitting Process
David Sunding & David Zilberman
Recent changes to the federal wetland permitting process increase the time and effort required of applicants to obtain needed permits. Using a combination of survey and government data, the cost of the reform is calculated at over $300 million annually. This cost is shown to be large relative to the number of wetland acres affected. It is also argued that these changes to the wetland permitting process are inefficient in that they fail to discriminate among wetlands of different quality. Further, it is observed that other, non-regulatory federal programs protect wetlands at a fraction of the cost of the reform package, raising questions about the consistency of the licensing program with other governmental efforts. Finally, this article addresses the issues of federalism and inter-governmental relations raised by the changes.
Reforming EPA’s Organizational Structure: Establishing an Adaptable Agency through Eco-Regions
Paul S. Weiland & Robert O. Vos
Numerous scholars and practitioners have called for major reform of the environmental laws implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But less attention has been paid to the organization of EPA itself. Assessment of EPA’s organizational structure is both timely and important. Based on an assessment of the ecological and political context within which EPA operates, we contend that the agency should be organized in a less programmatic and more adaptable manner. Specifically, we propose the realignment of EPA’s regional offices on an eco-regional basis. An eco-region based organizational structure has many advantages over the current structure of the agency and may assist EPA in efforts to address the dynamic challenges it faces now and in the future.
The California Watershed Movement: Science and the Politics of Place
John T. Woolley & Michael Vincent McGinnis with Julie Kellner
California’s watersheds supply water for drinking, recreation, industry, and farming and at the same time provide critical habitat for a wide variety of animal species. Conceptually, a watershed is any sloping surface that sheds water, such as a creek, lake, slough, or estuary. In California, rapid population growth in watersheds has led to increased conflict between human users of natural resources, dramatic loss of native diversity, and general decline in the health of ecosystems. California ranks second in the country in the number of listed endangered and threatened species.
With information from survey respondents on their views, beliefs, and perceptions about nature, technology, science, and political issues, this article explores California watershed-based organizations and their activities. We describe the primary sources of the watershed-based movement in the state of California, the many facets of "institutionalization" of watershed activity, the diversity of the movement, and the value and role of science in watershed organization and activity. We find that institutionalization is influenced by the presence of public land ownership within the watershed, the human population and location of the watershed, the age of the watershed group, and the presence or absence of listed endangered species. Our analysis shows that the bulk of watershed organizations are located in northern California and along the coast. Most watershed groups are located in urban settings with relatively high population density. Those areas without watershed-based organizations appear to have slightly poorer overall water quality and fewer aquatic species at risk. There is a fairly strong association between the number of endangered species within a watershed and the extent of watershed group activity. We find that one primary reason activists are involved in watershed-based activities is their residential rootedness. Watershed activism can be broadly understood as a type of place-based activism. It combines science with place-based sensibility.
Valuation of Minerals in Takings Cases
Rebekah King
It is well settled that when the government uses the power of eminent domain to take private property for a public purpose, the government is required to pay the private land owner just compensation. Just compensation is the fair market value of the property. This is a difficult determination when the property does not contain unexplored mineral deposits; it is an especially difficult determination if the property does. When attempting to place a value on an unexplored mineral deposit, appraisers turn to three main methods: (1) the comparable sales approach, (2) the cost approach, and (3) the income capitalization approach. All of these methods have their pros and cons. This article explores each method and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each. After each method is discussed, it is applied to an actual situation in Montana and discussed in that context. The final discussion includes an analysis of which method would work best in that situation and why.
The State of the Natural Resources Literature – On the State of Environmental History
Hal K. Rothman
