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Water Law Research Guide

Introduction

This research guide describes resources in the Georgetown Law Library and on the Internet for researching water law at the federal and state level. It does not attempt to cover International Water Law . Since there is often overlap with Environmental Law and Property you may want to review our guides on these topics as well.

If you have any questions or need additional research assistance, please feel free to stop by the Library's Reference Desk, send us an email, or schedule an in-depth research consultation.

Background - Treatises

Because water law is a complicated area of the law that involves federal, state and local laws, it is often helpful to begin research in a treatise that provides an overview of the law.

Cases and Materials on Water Law, George A. Gould, Douglas L. Grant, Gregory S. Weber, 2005
KF644 .T73

Law of Water Rights and Resources, A. Dan Tarlock, 1988-
KF5569 .T37
Also on Westlaw

Principles of Water Law and Administration : National and International, Dante A. Caponera, 2007
K3496 .C36

Water Law in a Nutshell, David H. Getches, 1997
KF5569.3 .G48

Waters and Water Rights, Robert E. Beck, ed.., 1991-2004
KF645 .W3

In addition to the treatises listed above, the library owns a variety of general and specialized resources covering water law. To find other resources:

• Try browsing the shelves around the call numbers listed for the treatises above. Generally, most resources can be found in the KF644 and KF5569 range.
• Try a subject search in GULLiver or George (the main campus library's catalog) for one of the following subject headings:
  Water -- Law and Legislation -- United States
  Water Rights -- United States
  

Legislation - Federal & State

Title 33 of the U.S. Code deals with Navigation and Navigable Waters, so much of the federal legislation will be found here including:

Safe Drinking Water Act - statutes & regulations on the EPA website
Clean Water Act - summary & links to statute on EPA website
Prevention of Pollution from Ships - U.S. Code , Title 33, Chapter 33

State Water Codes:

Internet Resources

General Websites on Water Law

• Center for Water Resources - University of California
• Findlaw's Update on Water Law
• Library of California Current Large Marine Ecosystem Law and Regulation - includes U.S. statutes & regulations, as well as state material from California, Oregon, & Washington
• Megalaw's Water Law Resources
  
• National Institutes for Water Resources- provides links to all 50 state research centers
• Northwest Water Law & Policy Project - Lewis & Clark School of Law
  

Federal Websites on Water Law

• U. S. Bureau of Reclamation
• U. S. Department of Agriculture Water Resources
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Water Site
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water
• U. S. Geological Survey Water Resources
  

Law Reviews & Journal Indexes

To do a comprehensive search of the journal literature on your topic, you must use journal indexes. The full-text journal databases on Lexis and Westlaw do not contain all of the law journals published, and, for those that are included, the starting date of coverage is rarely volume 1.

The journal indexes, in contrast, include virtually all legal journals from volume 1 and, in the case of the Legal Resource Index, legal newspapers as well.

For research on water law prior to 1980, older journals can provide excellent background information and discussions of policy issues.

• Index to Legal Periodicals & Books (Retro) Tutorial
• Legal Resource Index Tutorial
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Tutorial
  

Some specialized journals on the topic of water law include:

Land and Water Law Review - University of Wyoming, ceased publication in 2000
Water Law Review - University of Colorado, also electronic
Wyoming Law Review - replaced Land and Water Law Review, also electronic

created 08/08 (MK)
links 05/09 (MK)

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The guides may be freely downloaded and adapted for educational purposes, as long as proper credit is given. The guides may not be sold.