Water Law Meets Geology in a Time of Change: Pennsylvania and Water Governance (60 PDH mins.)

Recorded March 9, 2021 Level: Basic/general Webinar Overview: Managing water in Pennsylvania is undergoing significant stress right now- due to floods, droughts, contamination, and water quality concerns. This talk explores the legal structure of water law in Pennsylvania—both for water quantity/allocation and water quality—with a particular focus on groundwater issues. We will briefly touch on the interstate and regional nature of water management through various interstate compacts such as the Delaware River Compact and regional agreements such as the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load. About our presenter: This talk is given by Lara Fowler, a senior lecturer at Penn State Law and the assistant director for outreach and engagement at Penn State’s Institutes of Energy and the Environment. Lara worked for the Oregon Water Resources Department on water policy issues before attending the University of Washington School of Law. Following law school, she served as a mediator and facilator on complex water issues in California and Oregon, and an attorney on water issues in Washington State. Example projects included who was entitled to store and use groundwater in the greater Los Angeles area or how to fix flooding in Washington State’s second largest river basin. Since moving in 2012, she has been exploring how water issues play out in Pennsylvania.