Doctoral Dissertation Research: Land Use and Water Law in the United States: Seeking Integrated Legal Solutions to the Water Resource Challenges of Suburban Sprawl

随着全球人口从农村地区向城市地区转移，满足对清洁、充足的水供应的日益增长的需求正成为一个日益困难的问题。在美国，杂乱无章的城市发展带来了一个特别复杂的挑战，因为它增加了对水的需求，同时也危及了供应来源。解决这一问题的一个重要而有效的解决办法是在蔓延发生之前通过建造对水资源的负面影响较少的方式来避免它们的影响。不幸的是，管理发展的当地土地使用决定通常是在脱离水资源考虑的情况下做出的。认识到更好地整合土地和水资源管理的必要性，美国各地的一些司法管辖区已经尝试在土地使用和水资源之间建立法律联系。例如，加利福尼亚州要求大型分区的开发商向当地开发许可机构证明，至少20年内将有足够的供水来满足拟议开发的需求，而马萨诸塞州则对该州大多数河流200英尺范围内的拟议项目实施额外的开发审查。这项博士论文研究首次系统地回顾了这些努力，并从环境和法律“最佳实践”的角度评估了土地利用和水资源决策的整合程度。为此，该项目调查了以下问题：(1)成功整合土地利用和水资源的法律框架将是什么样子？(2)现有的综合法律框架是否能够应对郊区化带来的土地利用和水资源管理的相互交织的挑战？(3)实现土地利用和水资源决策的监管整合的先决条件是什么？为了解决这些问题，调查人员对各州进行了一项调查，以确定和评估综合监管制度。为了更深入地了解这些计划的潜力和局限性，从全国调查中选择了两个拥有综合法律制度范例的州进行进一步调查。该项目采用了法律研究和与土地使用和水管理社区的关键线人的访谈相结合的方法。这项评价为进一步制定途径，整合土地利用和水管理的法律框架，以鼓励水的可持续性奠定了基础。解决美国新出现的一系列水问题将需要在水、土地利用和法律之间建立新联系的解决方案。到目前为止，无论是地理学还是法学领域，很少有文献讨论这些相互联系及其对环境健康和城市可持续发展的重大影响。在弥补这一差距的同时，该项目还将为美国许多目前缺乏有效整合土地利用和水资源管理的法律先决条件的地方提供路线图。

As the global population shifts from rural to urban areas, meeting the growing demand for clean, adequate supplies of water is becoming an increasingly difficult problem. In the U.S., the sprawling form of urban growth has created a particularly complicated challenge in that it increases demand for water while simultaneously endangering sources of supply. An important and efficient solution to the problem is to avert the impacts of sprawl before they occur by building in a way that has fewer negative impacts on water resources. Unfortunately, the local land use decisions that govern development are usually made in isolation from water resource considerations. Recognizing the need to better integrate land and water management, a number of jurisdictions throughout the U.S. have experimented with creating a legal nexus between land use and water resources. For example, California requires developers of large subdivisions to demonstrate to the local development permitting agency that there will be adequate water supply to meet the demands of the proposed development for at least 20 years, while Massachusetts imposes an additional layer of development review for proposed projects within 200 feet of most rivers in the state. This doctoral dissertation research provides the first systematic review of these efforts and evaluates how well each integrates land use and water resource decision-making from the perspective of environmental and legal "best practices." To do so, this project investigates the following questions: (1) what would a legal framework that successfully integrates land use and water resources look like?; (2) are existing examples of integrated legal frameworks capable of addressing the intertwined land use and water management challenges of suburbanization?; and (3) what are the pre-conditions to achieving regulatory integration of land use and water resources decision-making? To address these questions, the investigators undertake a state-by-state survey to identify and evaluate integrated regulatory regimes. To obtain deeper understanding of both the potential and the limitations of these programs, two states with examples of integrated legal regimes are chosen from the national survey for further investigation. The project employs a combination of legal research and interviews with key informants in the land use and water management communities. This evaluation forms the foundation for prescribing further avenues for integrating the legal frameworks of land use and water management to encourage water sustainability. Addressing the suite of emerging water concerns in the United States will require solutions that forge new connections among water, land use, and law. To date, there is little literature in either geography or law that addresses these interconnections and their significant implications for environmental health and urban sustainability. While addressing that gap, this project will also provide a roadmap for the many places in the U.S. that currently lack the legal prerequisites to integrate land use and water resource management effectively.