University of Denver Water Law Review Annual Dinner: A Gathering of Water Law and Policy Leaders and Analysts

One of the most enjoyable nights of the spring semester each year is the annual dinner of the University of Denver Water Law Review. And tonight was no exception.

The Water Law Review is unique among American law school journals since it focuses entirely on water law. It includes the highest quality articles from the leading figures in water law. Moreover, student prepared summaries of key water cases are valuable to all water practitioners.

Chairing the annual dinner marked one of the final responsibilities for current editor-in-chief, Ryan McLane, who received a standing ovation for his contributions to the Review. It also provided incoming editor-in-chief Matt Brodahl an opportunity to look ahead to next year's issues. Many of the Review's impressive staff of students were also on hand to enjoy the evening.

The Water Law Review really is one of the "crown jewels" at Denver Law. A highly respected source of the most current information about water developments, The Water Law Review is consulted each year by many of the nation's top water lawyers. In fact, a recent article has resulted in a currently on-going debate in Montana about whether to revise the state's water policy.

Joining in the dinner and collegiality were several individuals who have also been strong supporters of the Water Law Review including water law expert Professor George (Rock) Pring, faculty advisor since the inception of the Review, and Professor Tom Romero, who also teaches water law and will be joining Professor Pring as a faculty advisor. Both received warm applause from students who benefit enormously from their expertise and guidance. Professor and Associate Dean Fred Cheever also attended along with Adjunct Professor Star Waring, who teaches Water Law and has been involved in a recent series of the most important cases involving Colorado water law.

This annual event marks a proud night in Denver Law's long-standing commitment to environmental and natural resources law. Few institutions anywhere can boast of such an impressive group of professionals -- professors, students, members of the water law and policy community -- involved with water law.

Prospective law students who are interested in water issues should seriously consider Denver Law as a place to learn about water law as well as rub shoulders with sterling leaders such as Professors Cheever, Pring, Romero, and Warring as well as current students who are the water law and policy leaders of tomorrow.

Don C. Smith
Director
Environmental and Natural Resources Law

New Book About Colorado Rivers by Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs Reviewed by DU Professor Tom I. Romero II

A new book about Colorado rivers written by Colorado Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs has been described as “…one man’s lifelong journey to understand and come to grips with the wonderful but often inequitable bounty of Colorado’s rivers and its people,” by Tom I. Romero II, an Associate Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Professor Romero, who teaches Water Law, recently reviewed Living the Four Corners: Colorado, Centennial State at the Headwaters for The Colorado Lawyer (December 2010 pages 59-60), the journal of the Colorado Bar Association.

Justice Hobbs has been a long time friend of the College of Law and the Environmental and Natural Resources Law program in particular. He regularly speaks at the University of Denver Water Law Review Annual Meeting as well as to various water law-related courses.

Professor Romero writes that “Once majestic and unpredictable bodies of water, the headwaters of the Centennial State have become tightly controlled, over-managed cisterns on which every single drop is drained.”

In commenting about Justice Hobbs’ book, Professor Romero says:

“Justice Greg Hobbs reminds us…these rivers continue to inspire awe and wonder, perhaps because of our deep-rooted reliance on the river systems for our economy, politics, and culture—or perhaps because we simultaneously recognize and take for granted each river’s persistence and durability.”

Moreover, Professor Romero suggests that the book is a “teaching text” for all those involved in water issues:

“It shows us how to breathe life into our endeavors; it implores us to suck the marrow out of our shared experiences; and it empowers us to drink liberally from those water that have cut such deep canyons in the history, lives, and culture of Colorado."

Living the Four Corners is published by Continuing Legal Education in Colorado. For information about how to order the book, please click here.

Writings of Professor Tom I. Romero II Featured in New Book About Colorado Legal History, "Steam, Steel & Statutes"

A new book about Colorado legal history features contributions by Tom I. Romero II, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Steam, Steel & Statutes: True Tales from Colorado Legal History is a compilation of historical perspective articles published from 2002-1010 in The Colorado Lawyer, the journal of the Colorado Bar Association.

Professor Romero established the "Historical Perspectives" column in 2002 when he wrote “Raging Waters at Cub Creek: A Homesteader Confronts Prior Appropriation.” At the time the piece was published Professor Romero was Legal Studies Fellow at the Center of the American West at Colorado University. Professor Romero authored the column from 2002 through 2003.

Leona Martínez, Managing Editor of The Colorado Lawyer, commenting about the book said:

“The articles have generated enormous reader interest and support” adding, “With this compilation of Historical Perspectives articles, the Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education has opened the doors to Colorado’s colorful legal history. The staff of The Colorado Lawyer is grateful to Tom Romero for laying the groundwork to a fine tradition…”

Authored by Frank Gibbard, who also wrote many of the book’s articles as well as organized the publication, Steam, Steel & Statutes includes the work of Colorado lawyers Bill C. Berger, Jeffrey P. Kelson, Robert M. Linz, and Claire E. Munger as well as Professor Romero.

Among the contributions written by Professor Romero are these environmental and natural resources offerings:

• “Forming the Environmental Citizen: Colorado’s Early Legal Efforts at Protecting Outdoor Recreation”
• “Rocky Mountain Riches: Law and the Extraction of Colorado’s Mineral Wealth”
• “The Original ‘Sod Squad’: Dry Lawns, Dirty Cars, and the Legality of Water Restrictions in the 1950s”
• “Vision Quest: Coal and Culture in Colorado’s Native Lands”

Non-environmental and natural resources contributions include:

• Bah Humbug! Colorado Law and the Winter Holidays
• Law, Order, and Municipal Authority in Colorado’s Early Mining Towns
• Race, Murder and Criminal Prosecution in Wartime Denver

The book is published by the Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education. More information about the book is available by clicking here.

Professor Romero’s environmental and natural resources courses are clearly enriched by his study of Colorado history.

Associate Professor Tom Romero Comments on New Poll Finding That Latinos, Asians More Concerned Than Whites About Environment

Associate Professor Tom Romero of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law recently brought an article to our attention. The article, "Latinos, Asians more worried about environment than whites, poll finds," was published in The Los Angeles Times (Nov. 20, 2010).

Professor Romero, who teaches Water Law and Property Law, added these observations:

"These findings are not surprising given the scholarship of the environmental justice movement that has documented the fact that the burdens of industrial development have almost always been borne by communities of color. As a result of past as well as present practices of racial discrimination in housing and employment markets, communities of color in California, as well as Colorado, live in large concentrations near hazardous chemical waste disposal sites, refineries, industrial operations, freeways and railroads.

"As such, these communities suffer disproportionately ill health and social effects created by air, noise, and water pollution. Yet, that such a large percentage of Latinos and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the California survey, many of whom are recent migrants from the developing world, identified a concern with the environment also speaks to an emerging multi-racial and international sensibility about the laws and policies protecting the environment that has ramifications that stretch far beyond California.

"As the article points out, ignoring the concerns of Latinos, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and American Indians is poor advocacy for all of us lawyers and policy makers concerned about protecting the environment."

Professor Romero is one of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law program's full-time professors. He teaches and researches in the areas of the legal history of the American West, Latinos and the law, school desegregation in multiracial contexts, property, land use, water law, and urban development and local government in the United States and Latin America. Professor Romero is currently completing a book-length manuscript on law and race relations in post-World War II Denver.

Autumn Semester 2010 Gets Underway: New Developments in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program Announced

Today marks the first day of the autumn 2010 semester at the Sturm College of Law. And as befits the beginning of the new semester, we in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy program would like to mention some of the new people, topics and events that will become part of the program this semester.

New Professors
First, we'd like to welcome several new faculty members who will be teaching in the program:

• Tom Romero, who will be teaching Water Law, was a Professor at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, MN, before coming to DU. A Denver native and a graduate of DU's undergraduate program, his research examines the legal construction of race relations in the metropolitan American West and Global South. He is currently completing a book-length manuscript on law and race relations in post-World War II Denver.

• William Shutkin, Director of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, has held faculty positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, MIT, and Boston College Law School. He has founded and/or led four organizations in the sustainable development field.

• Annecoos Wiersema, who will be teaching Environmental Law and Administrative Law, joins the College of Law from The Ohio State University, where she was an Assistant Professor of Law. Her primary research is in international environmental law, focusing on how legal institutions can be developed that effectively protect species and ecosystems in the face of ecological complexity and scientific uncertainty.

Professors Romero, Shutkin, and Wiersema will join the College of Law's outstanding full-time and adjunct faculty in delivering a level of education and experience widely considered to be among the best in the U.S. and the world.

Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
The College of Law has recently approved the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate, which is intended to recognize a path of specialized learning within the JD program. All enrolled law students in good standing will be eligible for the ENRL Certificate. The certificate will require students to complete Administrative Law and either Environmental Law or Natural Resources Law and 12 credits in other approved environmental and natural resources courses. More information will be forthcoming shortly about the certificate.

ENRL Speaker Series
This semester will mark the beginning of the Environmental and Natural Resources Speakers Series in which leading individuals in the environmental and natural resources sectors will be speaking at the College of Law. The sessions, which will average one per month in September, October, November, January, February, March, and April, will begin on Sept. 15 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. The first speakers will be two former assistant secretaries of the U.S. Interior Department John Carver and Rebecca Watson. More information about this new series will be posted shortly.

ENRL Program and Activities Calendar
In the next several weeks, the ENRL website will include a calendar to program events and activities.