The Potential Role of Local Governments in Watershed Management

This Article examines the potential roles for local government in federal and state watershed protection initiatives designed both to enhance pollution abatement and to conserve biodiversity. Professor Dan Tarlock begins the article with a brief survey of the reasons for the current interest in watershed protection. He then goes on to situate local watershed protection and conservation initiatives in the broader context of the downward devolution of environmental protection competence that is now occurring. Professor Tarlock goes on to examine the selective options that local governments have to protect sensitive lands and enhance watershed quality and to incorporate watershed protection goals into growth management and smart growth programs.

Professor Tarlock ends the paper with an examination of the impact of the Court's property rights protection jurisprudence on these efforts.