How to Take Climate Change into Account: A Guidance Document for Judges Adjudicating Water Disputes

Climate change issues are being raised and increasingly considered in water litigation and in environmental policy more generally. This document notes the escalating importance for water management of the "climate change/hydrologic cycle" link and sketches implications for courts. The general problem climate change presents to courts in water disputes is how to deal with decision-making in light of greater uncertainty. The report, written by experts in water law, climate science, and environmental law surveys several tools judges can use to understand the new science of climate change, and some of the options for resolving water disputes in ways that reflect a more rapidly changing and uncertain world.