Public Rights in Water: Public Trust Doctrine

CALI Lesson: The Public Trust Doctrine

NOAA's Public Trust Doctrine Modules

Public Trust Doctrine Glossary 

1. The Public Trust Doctrine in Natural Resources Law: Effective Judicial Intervention (1970)
2. David Aladjem, The Public Trust Doctrine: New Frontiers for Sustainable Water Resources Management, 25-Sum Nat. Resources & Env't 17 (2010).
3. Drinking From a Deep Well: The Public Trust Doctrine and Western Water Law (2006)
4. Mackenzie S. Keith, Judicial Protection for Beaches and Parks: The Public Trust Doctrine Above the High Water Mark, 16 Hastings W.-N.W. J. Envtl. L. & Pol'y 165 (2010).
5. Marty Turnispeed, Stephen E. Roady, Raphael Sagarin, and Larry B. Crowder, The Silver Anniversary of the United States' Exclusive Economic Zone: Twenty Five Years of Ocean and Abuse, and the Possibility of a Blue Water Public Trust Doctrine, 36 Ecology L.Q. 1 (2009). 

 The principle that certain resources are preserved for public use, and that the government is required to maintain them for the public's reasonable use.  

U.S. Supreme Court & Navigable Waters: Under the Public Trust Doctrine, the state holds its navigable waters and underlying beds in trust for certain public uses, principally navigation, commerce, and fisheries.  Illinois Central R.R. Co. v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387 (1892).  

"The law says . . . that the people own this water body.  They are not owned by the Governor, the Legislature, the developers, or the polluters.  They are owned by the people.  Everybody has the right to use them.  Nobody has a right to use them in a way that will diminish or injure their use and enjoyment by others. . .  This is ancient law."  Robert Kennedy, Jr.   

Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region 119 (EPA, 2009).

Titus, J.G., Rising seas, coastal erosion, and the takings clause: how to save wetlands and beaches without hurting property owners, 57 Md. L. Rev. 1277-1399 (1998).

See how Wisconsin anglers and other citizens have fought to ensure that Wisconsin lakes and rivers belong to all state residents, and to secure the public's right to clean waters, good fishing, scenic beauty, and other benefits in those waters.