In a new course, students at Cornell Law School are studying water law -- and learning that it has become a hot-button issue for communities.

The course, Water Law in Theory and Practice, is a clinic that is both theoretical and hands-on. It is taught by Adjunct Professor Keith Porter, director of the New York State Water Resources Institute (WRI) and is unusual in that it was created in response to law student requests.

WRI's goal -- to address problems of water resources through research, education and outreach -- falls within the university's land-grant mission, said Porter. For that reason New York state, which established WRI in compliance with federal law, chose to locate it on Cornell's campus in 1986. "The students' work is a first-class example of how Cornell can really serve in the land-grant sense," he said.

Four students in the course are working on issues involving the New York City watershed program. "The Environmental Protection Agency considers the program the most important in the United States because of its comprehensiveness in protecting water and its significance as a leading template for other watershed programs," said Porter.

New York City gets 1.2 billion gallons of clean drinking water daily from a chain of reservoirs in the Catskill-Delaware watershed region, Porter explained. But the city's rigorous watershed management program poses critical challenges to communities, farmers and businesses in the watershed. "The economic stakes are high for all parties," said Porter. The eventual outcome has implications for water management everywhere, he said.

"All the student projects involve contentious issues with highly disparate competing views," Porter noted. "It's remarkable, and a credit to the students, that they've managed to gain acceptance and trust from people on all sides of the various issues."

Damian Cavaleri, who is researching New York City land acquisition and property easements in the watershed region, said the course has far exceeded his expectations. "Professor Porter provided contacts and initial information and really directed us, but each person has taken that and run with it."

Liz Ferrell is studying economic development in the New York City watershed, specifically the massive Belleayre "mega-project" proposed for the Catskills. County officials say it will rekindle vital tourism in the economically depressed area. But the project has been held up by the city and environmental organizations because of worries about its impact on the watershed.

Cecilie Howard, who is researching rules and regulations governing the watershed, said, "Watershed rules could work if mechanisms were in place for local input."

Carey Huff said, "In the U.S., people at the local level feel their voices aren't heard at the top." She is working on a comparative study of the use of river trusts in the United Kingdom and land trusts in the United States as instruments for watershed management.

Other students are involved in projects that "contribute to a better legal understanding of the issues raised by New York state's land use strategy in a way that protects the Susquehanna River watershed and other watersheds," noted Porter. "It's a critical issue for the state." Costs for the upper Susquehanna alone are expected to exceed $1 billion.

For example, to explore ways to protect small wetlands called vernal pools, Ya-Wei "Jake" Li is working with lead agencies in the Susquehanna River Basin. Tony Wisen is studying legal issues posed by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and legal challenges to those operations by neighboring landowners and environmentalists. Meli McCurdy and Susan Morningstern have critically assessed the contradictions in laws protecting groundwater, comparing European and U.S. experiences.

Zhou Gangyan, a water commissioner in China who is currently a Humphrey fellow at Cornell, compared the management of the Susquehanna River Basin with that of the Yangtze River in China.

In addition, Ken Poole has asked what legal instruments can keep water resources sustainable in the face of increasing economic development.

And Maymangwa Miranda and Summer Sylva worked on a project involving Native American water rights that has led to a planned symposium on that topic at Cornell, sponsored by the Law and Public Policy Journal and slated for fall 2006.

"Maymangwa and Summer provided the impetus and knowledge for us to move forward on this critical symposium," said Associate Professor Jane Mt. Pleasant, director of Cornell's American Indian Program, a co-sponsor of the symposium.

The students' papers will be compiled and made generally available through the WRI Web site and in printed form, said Porter. Several students also will submit their work to scholarly journals.