Environmental and Economic Pitfalls of Interstate Water Transfers

• Author: Micah Goodwin
• Position: B.A., Centenary College of Louisiana; J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law
• Pages: 740-777

Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review

Volume 80

Number 3

Spring 2020

Article 7

9-15-2020

Environmental and Economic Pitfalls of Interstate Water Environmental and Economic Pitfalls of Interstate Water

Transfers Transfers

Micah Goodwin

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Repository Citation Repository Citation

Micah Goodwin,

Environmental and Economic Pitfalls of Interstate Water Transfers

, 80 La. L. Rev. (2020)

Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol80/iss3/7

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital

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________________________________________________________________________

Environmental and Economic Pitfalls of Interstate

Water Transfers

Micah Goodwin*

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.................................................................................. 740

I. The Basis for Interstate Water Transfers...................................... 746

A. Surface Water Regimes ......................................................... 746

B. Groundwater Management .................................................... 748

C. The Supremes Declare,

“There Shalt Be Commerce” ................................................. 751

II. The Relative Myth of Interstate Water Markets........................... 754

A. What We Know About Interstate Water

Marketing 30 Years Post-Sporhase ....................................... 754

B. Major Problems Confronting Interstate

Water Transfers ..................................................................... 757

III. Dealing with (and in) Interstate Water Markets........................... 762

A. The Players ............................................................................ 763

B. If They Must Exist… .............................................................765

C. What Is Water Worth? ........................................................... 768

D. The Morality of Selling Water............................................... 773

Conclusion.................................................................................... 775

Copyright 2020, by MICAH GOODWIN.

* B.A., Centenary College of Louisiana; J.D., University of Arkansas

School of Law. The author is an environmental attorney practicing in the Rogers,

Arkansas, office of Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. He

thanks his wife, Dorrie, whose patience and contributions helped this Article

across the finish line.

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740 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 80

INTRODUCTION

While our nation’s population skyrockets to new heights, its fresh

water supply is dwindling.1 Aquifers are lower and rivers drier,2 even in

regions traditionally labeled as “water-rich.”3 The United States depletes

its aquifers by roughly 2.3 trillion gallons of groundwater every day,4

pushing many beyond their sustainable yield. As the population continues

to grow, so will the demand for electricity generation,5 one of the largest

water-consuming industries in the United States.6 Even ignoring the

impacts of climate change on freshwater resources,7 many consider our

1. ROBERT GLENNON, UNQUENCHABLE: AMERICA’S WATER CRISIS AND

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT 16–17, 23–102 (2009); SANDRA COLBY ET AL ., U.S.

CENSUS BUREAU, PROJECTIONS OF THE SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF THE U.S.

POPULATION: 2014 TO 2060 2 (Mar. 2015), available at https://www.census.gov

/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.pdf [https://perm

a.cc/7KT4-25CB] (discussing population projections).

2. See, e.g., ROBERT GLENNON, WATER FOLLIES: GROUNDWATER PUMPING

AND THE FATE OF AMERICA’S FRESH WATERS 45–50 (2002).

3. See LEONARD KONIKOW, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURV., U.S. DEP’T OF INTER.,

GROUNDWATER DEPLETION IN THE UNITED STATES (1900–2008) (20 13),

available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079/SIR2013-5079.pdf [ https://

perma.cc/A2N4-X49B]; Kenneth Gould, An Introduction to Water Rights in the

Twenty-First Century: The Ch allenges Move East, 25 U. ARK. LITTLE ROCK L.

REV. 3, 4–5 (2002) (discussing Arkansas’s diminishing aquifer dilemma).

4. This determination is based on groundwater withdrawal estimates from

2000 to 2008. See Leonard Konikow, Contribution of Global Groundwater

Depletion Since 1900 to Sea-Level Rise, 38 GEOPH. RES. LETTERS L17401 (2011).

5. According to one estimate, the nationwide electricity demand will double

between 2000 and 2050. Benjamin Sovacool & Kelly Sovacool, Identifying

Future Electricity-Water Tradeoffs in the United States, 37 ENERGY POL’Y 2763,

2763 (2009). This may or may not occur because electricity demand years from

now is difficult to predict, especially given advances in electricity efficiency

technology.

6. MOLLY MAUPIN ET AL., U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURV., ESTIMATED USE OF

WATER IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2010: CIRCULAR 1405 10 (2014), available at

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/pdf/circ1405.pdf [https://perma.cc/9ZMW-T5UY].

7. See Kathleen Miller, Grappling with Uncertainty: Water Planning and

Policy in a Changing Climate, 5 ENVTL & ENERGY L. & POL’Y 395 (2011)

(discussing the impact of climate change on water management and the difficulty

of predicting precipitation pattern shifts).