A blog by Robert Dukes, 2L
Lawyers Gain from Georgia's Water Issues
Unless you have avoided reading anything related the news altogether, you know that Georgia has serious water issues. Shortly after the multi-year drought ended, in July 2008, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson declared that Georgia water withdrawals from Lake Lanier were illegal. Furthermore, if Alabama, Florida, and Georgia cannot reach an agreement about sharing the Chattahoochee River system, under Judge Magnuson’s order, Georgia water withdrawals from the Lake would have to revert to levels not seen since the mid-1970s.
In order to find solutions to having enough water available for Metro Atlanta businesses and population, there will need to be lawyers who can craft good solutions and work on a number of different levels. First, the state is appealing the decision and have retained Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general and head of King & Spalding’s appellate division, to argue for its side. Clement has argued more than forty cases to the U.S. Supreme Court and that could be one possibility of where Georgia wants to take the appeal.
Beyond the courthouse, lawyers will be needed in crafting statewide policies for a water system and in working with local governments for projects that pertain to water resources (which is mostly everything). In the January 2008, the General Assembly adopted a statewide management plan. The plan contained new requirements for permitting and monitoring water withdrawals. Also, in 2001, the state legislature prohibited interbasin transfer of water except inside the metro region due to fear of other parts of the state thinking that Atlanta would come and take their water. As evidenced, there is a lot of intergovernmental conflict and negotiation with water issues.
Due to the breadth of issues that come with water conflict or any natural resource, there are a number of potential opportunities that students can seek out to get ready for a career in the area of environmental law with a focus on water or natural resources. Some opportunities available at Georgia State University include:
- Taking a class with a focus on the appellate practice or participate in moot court competitions. A lot of issues involving local and state governments usually always get appealed. There is use for writing an appellate brief outside of RWA class.
- Take a negotiation course. Most of these issues do not go to court and it can’t hurt to become a master negotiator while you are still in school.
- Take a course on local government or volunteer to work with a local government. Georgia has over 100 counties so there are definitely lots of municipalities and local governments that await an eager law student’s assistance.
- Take a legislation course or find a small firm that does some lobbying and see if they could use a law student’s assistance. GSU College of Law is within a short five minute walk from the Gold Dome so you would not have to worry about the commute from campus. Also, Jim Martin is teaching legislation this year so you could ask the questions about the Georgia Assembly that you always wanted to know but cannot find on the Internet.
- Take a class on natural resources. Georgia is full of minerals and there are a number of legal issues around the state that deal with surface mining, property, and water. The best part of natural resources is that they cannot be outsource and all the material is here in Georgia.
Material Cited from: Dave Williams, Water Cases Send Dollars Flowing to Lawyers, Atlanta Business Chronicles, Nov. 6, 2009 at 1A.
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