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Congress Approves Measure to Toss Biden’s Water Protections

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Michael Phillis and Mary Clare Jalonick

Congress on Wednesday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as a burden on business, advancing a measure that President Joe Biden has promised to veto.

Republicans have targeted the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, labeling it an environmental overreach that harms businesses, developers and farmers.

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Biden May Prevail Against Navajo in SCOTUS Water Battle

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Pamela King and Jennifer Yachnin

The Supreme Court on Monday appeared closely divided on whether to side with the Navajo Nation in the tribe’s high-stakes fight against the Biden administration and four states to protect its right to water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.

While the court could decide the case on narrow procedural grounds, some of the more moderate conservative justices questioned whether a ruling for the Navajo would obligate the federal government to build a vast network of pipelines and pumps to deliver water to the tribe or upset the delicate balance struck by the 40 million people who rely on the massive waterway that travels among seven states and Mexico.

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Navajo Nation is Taking on Three States and the Federal Government for the Right to Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /The New Republicby Matt Ford

The Supreme Court is extremely strict about what can be brought into its chambers during oral arguments. In addition to obvious items like guns and knives, visitors must leave just about every other personal item outside when they enter. Cameras, cell phones, laptops, and the like are left outside—even if you’re a reporter. No snacks or drinks can be brought in. Not even water.

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High Court to Hear Water Dispute Between Navajo, Government

/in , , /by /AP News

The Supreme Court says it will hear a water dispute involving the U.S. government and the Navajo Nation. The high court said Friday it would review a lower court ruling in favor of the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The government signed treaties with the Navajo Nation in 1849 and 1868 that established the reservation. It was later expanded westward to the Colorado River, which forms the reservation’s western boundary.

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Will the Supreme Court Gut the Clean Water Act?

/in , /by /High Country Newsby Jonathan Thompson

If you want to cross the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, anytime between October and July, you probably won’t need a boat, a bridge, waders or even waterproof shoes. During most of the year, the river is an arroyo, a curvy strip of dry sand that holds no more than the memory of water: braided serpentine patterns in the sand, erosion-smoothed stones, debris wrapped around the trunks of the few hardy deciduous trees.

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The Supreme Court Case That’s Likely to Handcuff the Clean Water Act

/in , /by /Voxby Ian Millhiser

For decades, the Supreme Court struggled to define a key term at the heart of the Clean Water Act, the landmark 1972 legislation that forms the backbone of America’s efforts to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”

It’s an admittedly difficult question, that is now in the hands of the most conservative Supreme Court since the 1930s. And the Court’s Republican-appointed supermajority seems poised to deal a severe blow to the clean water law, in a case that could do significant harm to America’s efforts to prevent floods and to ensure that everyone in the country has access to safe drinking water.

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If the Supreme Court Rolls Back the Clean Water Act, California Will Be Ready — Thanks to Trump

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Bob Egelko

The Supreme Court appears ready to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act, eliminating protections for many inland streams and wetlands that feed rivers, lakes and bays. But California is also ready, thanks to former President Donald Trump.

When Trump tried to roll back federal regulation of inland waterways toward the end of his term, California stepped in with new pollution controls designed to protect those waters within the state’s borders — regulations that would largely fill the gap the Supreme Court seems poised to create by mid-2023.

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Supreme Court to Review Which Wetlands Get Federal Water Protections

/in , , /by /The Hillby Rachel Frazin

The Supreme Court will review the question of which wetlands get protections under the Clean Water Act, a case with implications for water pollution and business operations.

The court on Monday agreed to take up the question of what legal test should be used to determine whether certain wetlands are protected under the federal law.

At issue is the case of Michael and Chantell Sackett, who, in 2007, started to build a home on a vacant lot that they own. The Sacketts had obtained local permits for the construction, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined at the time that the activity was a violation of the Clean Water Act because the lot contains wetlands that qualify for protections.

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IID Files Response to Abatti’s Supreme Court Case

/in , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Elizabeth Varin

The Imperial Irrigation District has filed its initial response to Imperial Valley grower, landowner and former elected official Michael Abatti’s U.S. Supreme Court case.

Abatti filed a petition for “writ of certiorari” with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District’s decision in Abatti v. Imperial Irrigation District.

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Navajo Nation Wins Revival of Colorado River Water Rights Suit

/in , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Maya Earls

The Navajo Nation can pursue its lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to secure water from the Colorado River for the reservation, the Ninth Circuit said Wednesday, reversing a lower court’s dismissal of the tribe’s breach of trust claim.

The tribe doesn’t seek a judge’s determination of its rights to the river, which the Interior Department says would fall under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circut.

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