Abstract
Nearly 40% of all U.S. citizens now live within 100 miles of our nation’s coastlines. Human encroachment into coastal environments, and the reliance on the food, water, and services they provide, have triggered dramatic changes in the structure and productivity of many estuarine ecosystems signaling the fact that water policy is closely coupled with human socioeconomic systems. As such, resilient coastal communities will need to initiate new efforts in water policy to develop data-driven conservation plans that provide for the wise stewardship of our coastal resources for future generations. The Mobile delta, Mobile Bay estuary, and coastal Alabama are major state assets, and include many environmentally important and biologically productive areas, as well as natural resources such as timber, fisheries, and oil and gas. Application of water law and policy to the coastal area’s natural resources and future management of this socio-ecologic complex will require in-depth knowledge of the region’s hydrology, geology, biology, geomorphology, topography, and ongoing natural processes. Emerging law and policy issues include, but are not limited to, saltwater encroachment, contamination of water resources from more frequent and intense tropical storms and hurricanes, flows into the Mobile delta and Mobile Bay, shoreline erosion, and sea level changes. Most cases currently applicable to surface water law in Alabama were decided in the 1800s, but case law controlling groundwater use in the state is generally from 20th century decisions. The collection of legal and policy instruments demonstrates the interfaces among science, policy, and law in water resources policymaking, promotes the goals of the state by illustrating the importance of continued water investigations, and informs the ongoing statewide surface water and groundwater assessments in Alabama.
