Institutions in water policy: the case of Nebraska

Experts in Nebraska water law suspect that the courts, because of legislative inaction, are heavily involved in making basic decisions about groundwater. It is true that there is a great deal of legislative inaction, but our research indicates that the courts seldom decide water-related cases and when they do, there is a tendency to defer to the local administrative units. The bureaucracy makes the most water policy, and the idea that there is excessive "judicialization' of public policy may be exaggerated. -Authors