The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- July 2016

Inside this issue: Message from the interim director........................................1 Staff spotlight...........................1 Research update......................2 Product highlight....................3 Partnership spotlight.............3 AWDN information.................4 Update on regional climate conditions..................................4 Outreach/engagement.........5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2017

Inside this issue: Message from the interim director........................................1 30th anniversary......................1 Stakeholder engagement activities......................................2 Product highlights..................3 AWDN information.................4 Update on regional climate conditions..................................4 Services update........................5 Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................

Support for Drought Response and Community Preparedness: Filling the Gaps between Plans and Action

This chapter examines which levels of government handle various aspects of drought, as well as interactions between levels of government, providing examples from states across the western United States. It also takes a look at aspects of drought that fall outside traditional lines of authority and disciplinary boundaries. As part of a discussion on how states support local drought response, the chapter details and contrasts how California and Colorado track public water supply restrictions, and describes Colorado’s process for incorporating input from river basins across the state into its water plan. Case studies focus on drought planning in the Klamath River and Upper Colorado River basins through the lens of collaborative environmental planning. The chapter concludes that drought planning will be more effective as more states coordinate and align goals and policies at multiple levels of government

Does the Constitution Allow Private Companies to Use Eminent Domain Against a State? Penn East Pipeline Co., LLC v. New Jersey

In 2021 the United States Supreme Court decided in the case PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey that Section 717(h) of the Natural Gas Act authorized the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to delegate the government’s eminent domain power to private companies. The Court’s decision allows a private company to condemn all “necessary rights-of-way,” whether privately-owned or state-owned land. This case note explores the history of the government’s eminent domain power and the states’ Eleventh Amendment immunity from lawsuits. The majority opinion in PennEast reasoned that the states waived their sovereign immunity at the ratification of the Constitution. Thus, according to the majority PennEast’s condemnation of New Jersey-owned land to build a pipeline does not offend state sovereignty. This Note provides the legal background for the claims at issue in PennEast and examines the case’s procedural posture. Ultimately, this Note concludes that the United States Supreme Court decided the case incorrectly. The idea that a nongovernment party can take land from a nonconsenting state is contrary to state sovereignty and the Eleventh Amendment