Professor Frank Comments for Daily Journal on Drought and Water Law

Professor of Environmental Practice Richard Frank commented for the Daily Journal on the legal issues that may arise as a result of the state government's response to California's drought.  Recently, Governor Jerry Brown invoked sweeping emergency powers that enable the state to alter water rights and water quality laws, which could trigger legal battles as cities, agricultural interests, and environmental advocates compete for limited resources.

The governor's invocation of emergency powers is likely to make it more difficult for legal challenges to the government's actions to prevail, Frank said. "The drought declaration is going to invest the water managers in the state with relatively more discretion than before and that's likely to be acknowledged and accepted by the courts," he explained.

Frank, a 1974 graduate of King Hall, is a leader in the field of environmental law and the founding Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.

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