Law scholar examines water law approaches around the world, analyzing how nations protect vital resource

LAWRENCE — Every nation on Earth relies on water. But how those nations access and protect their water varies widely. A University of Kansas environmental law expert has written a chapter comparing water laws around the world as part of a book that examines how different legal systems handle environmental law.

Robin Kundis Craig, Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, wrote “Comparing approaches to water quality law,” a chapter in “Comparative Environmental Law,” edited by Tseming Yang of Santa Clara University, Anastasia Telesetsky of California Polytechnic State University and Sara Phillips of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Part of the Research Handbooks in Comparative Law Series, it was published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

The ways in which nations protect their water, theories they use to support their legal approach, types of water they regulate, how they control pollution and other considerations all vary, according to the KU Law researcher.

“In the transnational sense, the norm has always been protecting drinking water. Whatever else you do with water quality, protect the water you drink,” Craig said. “I went for categorizing the basic structural decisions nations make, like do they try to regulate ambient water quality, regulate pollution or do both, like we do here in the U.S.”

Throughout the chapter, Craig cites examples of nations that use a source-based approach, or those who regulate people, businesses and entities that pollute water, and examines subdivisions of water regulation such as what types of water nations regulate, like surface, groundwater or oceans. Similarly, the author examines different methods of enforcement and how nations hold violators accountable as well as the capacity needed to do so.

Craig’s chapter spans the globe, examining legal approaches in the European Union, China, India, pan-Central and South American nations, pan-African nations, Japan, Russia and Islamic regions. While there are unique approaches by nation and region, there are some universal principles.

Right to water

“We now have the human right to water, which is a United Nations policy. A lot of countries say they follow it, but how closely they do and how they apply it differs,” Craig said. “It’s a positive right, so someone has to be there to provide the right to you, and it’s been a little more difficult to implement than some negative rights, like the right to free speech, which holds that the government cannot take action against you for your speech.”

The author analyzes how international water law has trended toward a source-based permit regulation system in which a government determines who can access water at a source and how an ambient water protection approach is more difficult, requires more legal capacity and money to operate.

Comparative environmental law

Craig, who has written extensively on water law and is part of a team working to generate renewable energy, save water and conserve land across California, said the book is a good primer in comparative law and can be beneficial for policymakers or anyone interested in environmental law.

“If somebody is doing something different than you, it’s always worth asking if they are getting better results for less money — or if they are incorporating new values that we should factor into our law,” Craig said. “Or, are they getting good results, but at a prohibitive cost? Plus, it’s always good in the law just to know what your options are. It can be a very pragmatic way to look at it, especially if a nation is at a point where they can change or need to change.”