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Opinion: Nevada Should Challenge Utah’s Move for a Lake Powell Pipeline

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independent by Richard Spotts

In politics, what goes around can and sometimes should come around. A case in point is the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Powell Pipeline.

Utah’s infamous Rep. Rob Bishop, known for his abysmally bad voting record on public lands and environmental issues, recently pulled off a “sneak attack” on Nevada in the House Armed Services Committee. On July 1st, reportedly without consulting with any Nevada officials, he put forward an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act legislation to give the Air Force primary control over approximately 850,000 acres of the DNWR.

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Imperial Irrigation District Seeks Salton Sea Consideration In Lawsuit Over Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Desert Sun (Palm Springs)by Mark Olalde

The Imperial Irrigation District has filed its opening brief in a case against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that it launched last year in an attempt to halt the implementation of the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan for the Colorado River. IID wants to see it paused until the Salton Sea is also considered.

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Nevada Mulls EPA Reversal of Obama Era Drinking Water Rules

/in , /by /The San Diego Union Tribune

The Trump administration has decided a chemical with a notorious legacy in Nevada will not be regulated in drinking water, but state officials say the reversal of the Obama-era policy shouldn’t result in any decline in drinking water standards across the state.

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In Protecting Endangered Fish, Muddy River flows, State Regulators Find Little Water Left In Basin Eyed by Coyote Springs

/in , /by /The Nevada Independent by Daniel Rothberg

The state’s top water regulator issued a ruling Monday that is likely to have a significant effect on any future development in a large area northeast of Las Vegas, including the construction of Coyote Springs, a proposed master-planned community.

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Nevada Supreme Court Hears Arguments About the State’s Role in Protecting Water for the ‘Public Trust’

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independentby Daniel Rothberg

The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case weighing how state regulators should consider “public trust” values — the environment or recreation — when the sustainability of lakes or rivers could be harmed by how the state has allocated water rights.

The questions before the court stem from ongoing federal litigation over the use of water in the Walker River. But the case has received significant attention because it could provide an opportunity for the state’s top court to bolster legal protections for the environment. At the same time, agricultural groups, businesses and municipal water users fear a broad ruling could upend their existing water rights.

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