Great Lakes Law

Supreme Court rejects state’s claim of ownership of groundwater, extends equitable apportionment doctrine to disputed Memphis aquifer

In an unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Mississippi’s claims of state ownership of groundwater within its territorial boundaries. The Court instead, as a matter of first impression, extended the equitable apportionment doctrine for flowing waters and resources to the disputed Memphis aquifer. Over two decades of litigation in federal courts, Mississippi has pressed its claim of sovereign ownership of groundwater in the aquifer within its state boundaries. Based... Read more →

Voters Approve Lake Erie Bill of Rights, Polluters Challenge it in Court

On February 26, 2019, voters in Toledo, Ohio overwhelmingly passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, fully stated- ESTABLISHING A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR LAKE ERIE, WHICH PROHIBITS ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS THAT WOULD VIOLATE THE BILL OF RIGHTS We the people of the City of Toledo declare that Lake Erie and the Lake Erie watershed comprise an ecosystem upon which millions of people and countless species depend for health, drinking water and survival. We further... Read more →

Indiana Supreme Court protects the public trust in Great Lakes shorelines – property owners petition U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari

The following guest post is by Jeffrey B. Hyman, Senior Staff Attorney with the Conservation Law Center in Bloomington, Indiana. Jeff is counsel for respondent/intervenors Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in the Gunderson v. State of Indiana litigation. Early this year the Indiana Supreme Court delivered a landmark public trust and equal footing decision in Gunderson v. State of Indiana. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that at statehood, under these doctrines,... Read more →