Guidebook Released that Provides Communities with Land Use Strategies for Water Conservation – Complementary Workshop on Water Quality Announced

From John Nolon:

Last week, Western Resource Advocates and Pace University’s Land Use Law Center released a guidebook to help growing communities throughout the Interior West to reduce the water footprint of new development.

The guidebook’s January 16^th press release states that “While the Interior West is expected to attract millions of new residents over the coming decades, water resources are becoming increasingly scarce in an already arid region, putting greater stress on rivers, cities, farms, ranches, and recreation. The guidebook provides hundreds of techniques, sample codes and policies, and examples to help communities integrate water efficiency and conservation practices into their planning efforts. “This comprehensive guidebook will be an invaluable resource to land use lawyers and planners looking for ways to manage water demands as they face a growing population,” said lead author Jennie Nolon Blanchard, Land Use Law Center attorney and adjunct professor of law at Pace University. The guidebook can be found here:

The Integrating Water Efficiency into Land Use Planning Guidebook

The partner organizations worked for five years training local governmental officials, developing and testing land use tools and techniques, and receiving input from and recommending actions to regional and state agencies. 

This water efficiency project complements the work the Land Use Law Center is doing on water quality protection, focused on the wetter regions of the nation where flooding, stormwater runoff, and sea level rise threaten drinking water supplies.  On March 4^th, the Land Use Law Center will conduct a workshop for local officials, practicing attorneys, professors, and students on the complementary tools and techniques it is developing to protect water quality. The program – Calming Troubled Watters: Local Solutions -- will begin at 4 pm, in the Tudor Room of Preston Hall on the Law School’s campus. 

Questions about either of these two water law programs can be sent to Allison Fausner, the Land Use Scholar at the Pace Land Use Law Center and President of the School’s Environmental Law Society. Ms. Fausner can be reached at:  [email protected].