I’m in sunny and hot Orlando, Florida today for the American Bar Association’s biennial Eastern Water Resources Conference. The theme is “Surplus and Scarcity: Adapting to Hydrologic Disruption in the East” and as always, there is a fantastic line-up of speakers and topics discussing state water planning and regulation, water economics, and infrastructure. I’m moderating a panel on the water-energy nexus, and my colleague Nick Schroeck is speaking on the interstate compacts panel, discussing the water quantity-quality connection in the Great Lakes Compact. Here’s the official conference blurb:
In this decade, catastrophic floods have devastated the Northeast and a prolonged drought has afflicted the South. We see deepening conflicts over interstate water allocations and limited reservoir storage, while energy needs place new demands on the East’s freshwater resources. Although more sophisticated tools are available for measuring and predicting hydrologic conditions, interpreting and assigning weight to the analytical results is challenging and more contentious than ever. With climate change and hydrologic disruption adding layers of complexity to all aspects of water resources management, how is water law guiding crucial decisions and how is it evolving? Join your colleagues and some of the nation’s leading experts in an exploration of how the legal landscape is adapting to a changing water environment in the East.
And with the conference in Orlando, I've brought the wife and kids and we're taking a family trip to Disney World. When in Rome....