Abstract:
Michelle Bryan Mudd, Associate Professor, Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program, and
Director, Land Use Clinic, University of Montana School of Law.
Abstract: The West is witnessing early, important efforts to join water supply
and land use planning, and the reality of climate change makes this convergence
all the more critical. Local comprehensive planning presents itself as an existing
and indispensable tool for unifying important planning efforts in the areas of
land use, water, and climate change. As the primary regulators of land use, local
governments are at the front line of regulating a myriad of environmental
concerns. They are also integral partners in planning and implementing waterrelated
initiatives alongside tribal, state, federal, and private partners. The
West’s potential for broad-based action is greatly increased if water and climate
become an essential, required element of local comprehensive planning. This
article thus calls for a new, freestanding “water-climate element” in
comprehensive planning that better prepares our communities for the important
task of managing water in wise, resilient, and collaborative ways.
Part I summarizes the first legal steps being taken to integrate water-land
use planning, predominantly through assured supply laws. This first level of
integration alone is no small task since it requires a realignment of historically
separate legal spheres in which water law is the domain of the state and land
use is the domain of the local government. Yet there is more to be done. Part II
argues for an expansion of water-land use planning to include climate planning,
and discusses the innovative work that some communities are generating in this
area. Part III illustrates why model legislation for a “water-climate” element in
comprehensive planning is a next, big step to bring land use, water, and climate
together. It then describes the key provisions of such model legislation.
The article concludes that if western states require local water-climate planning,
there will be improved community preparedness and more robust interjurisdictional
cooperation regarding shared land and water resources. Thus, a
water-climate element is a practical and critical part of integrating water, land
use, and climate planning in the West.
