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> “The Great Salt Lake belongs to the people of Utah and the state has a legal obligation to protect this resource” As this seems to be the core of the lawsuit

by zugi 3y ago

> “The Great Salt Lake belongs to the people of Utah and the state has a legal obligation to protect this resource” As this seems to be the core of the lawsuit, I'm curious whether this is accurate from a legal perspective. Not that it's always the right thing to do, but governments typically have legal leeway to make all kinds of decisions like damming rivers, flooding canyons, etc. So I wonder if there's specific legislation about preserving the lake in the Utah State Constitution or legislation that would form the legal basis of this lawsuit.

LegionMammal978 3y ago
The lawsuit is linked in a press release from one of the firms pursuing it [0]. The legal argument is summarized in paragraph 8 in the Introduction: > The public trust doctrine is well-established in Utah law, confirmed by statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and the Utah constitution. Under this doctrine, the public owns many natural resources, and the State holds and manages them in trust for the public, which is the beneficiary of the trust. Such resources include the Great Salt Lake—a historically navigable waterway—and the sovereign lands underlying the Lake. As trustee, the State of Utah has an ongoing obligation to protect the Great Salt Lake’s waters and underlying lands, so that Utahns can continue to use them for navigation, commerce, brine shrimp fishing, recreation, and other uses recognized under the public trust doctrine. That is, they're arguing that the state government has a duty to protect the public waterways, alongside its powers to manage them. They elaborate on their interpretation of the public trust doctrine in the Legal Background section; the precedents they cite don't look like obvious bunk to me, but I'm no lawyer, much less an expert in Utah law. [0] https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/lawsuit-targets-state-of-utah-for-failing-to-protect-the-great-salt-lake https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/lawsuit-targets-state-of...

by zugi 3y ago

LegionMammal978 3y ago

The lawsuit is linked in a press release from one of the firms pursuing it [0]. The legal argument is summarized in paragraph 8 in the Introduction: > The public trust doctrine is well-established in Utah law, confirmed by statutes, Supreme Court decisions, and the Utah constitution. Under this doctrine, the public owns many natural resources, and the State holds and manages them in trust for the public, which is the beneficiary of the trust. Such resources include the Great Salt Lake—a historically navigable waterway—and the sovereign lands underlying the Lake. As trustee, the State of Utah has an ongoing obligation to protect the Great Salt Lake’s waters and underlying lands, so that Utahns can continue to use them for navigation, commerce, brine shrimp fishing, recreation, and other uses recognized under the public trust doctrine. That is, they're arguing that the state government has a duty to protect the public waterways, alongside its powers to manage them. They elaborate on their interpretation of the public trust doctrine in the Legal Background section; the precedents they cite don't look like obvious bunk to me, but I'm no lawyer, much less an expert in Utah law. [0] https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/lawsuit-targets-state-of-utah-for-failing-to-protect-the-great-salt-lake https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/lawsuit-targets-state-of...