Water Policy Archives

Nevada Supreme Court says State Cannot Change Water Rights for ‘Public Trust,’ a Loss for Environmentalists, County

September 18, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Nevada Independentby Daniel Rothberg

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state cannot reshuffle existing water rights to prevent environmental damage, despite recognizing a legal principle that requires the government to preserve natural resources for future generations.

Instead, the court ruled that principle, known as the public trust doctrine, is recognized in existing law. The Nevada court, in a 4-2 decision, separated itself from the California Supreme Court, which reached the opposite conclusion in a landmark 1980s case.

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Opinion: Water Board Must Establish a State Water Budget that California Can Afford

September 17, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMattersby Chris Shutes

Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt writes that a “Grand Bargain” in California water is needed to end the “political culture of deferral” and allow major water projects to advance. On the contrary, what’s needed is an adult regulator that will make hard choices that water users refuse to make.

For at least five years, the state and various water users have postponed balancing the state’s water budget by promising a grand bargain. This promised new grand bargain is not the solution to the aptly named “culture of deferral.” The grand bargain is the current center of deferral.

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Opinion: Yes, We Need a ‘Grand Bargain’ Over Delta Water – and Everyone’s Best Ideas

August 28, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /CalMattersby Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt calls for “a ‘Grand Bargain’ in which all the parties achieve a consensus, confirmed in legislation, to apportion Delta water between exports and an adequate ecological flow to San Francisco Bay.” We agree. Let’s start with a statewide water audit. Leadership now asks, “How much was promised?” That question ignores the reality of how much water actually exists and leads to endless litigation, as Babbitt explained.

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2020 Water Resilience Portfolio Released by Governor Newsom

August 7, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AgNet Westby Brian German

Governor Gavin Newsom recently released the final version of the 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio to help guide California water policy moving forward. The initial draft proposal of the portfolio was announced back in January and now includes 14 new actions after receiving input from more than 200 individuals and organizations during the comment period. The water blueprint outlines 142 policy priorities for state agencies to emphasize.

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Sixth Circuit Rejects States’ Challenge in Obama Water Rule Case

August 6, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Bloomberg Lawby Ellen M. Gilmer

A defunct Obama-era water rule isn’t poised to spring back to life in Ohio or Tennessee, after the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday sided with critics of the regulation in an unusual appeal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dismissed the appeal as moot, and remanded the case to the district court. The appeals panel also vacated the district court’s order denying the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction against the 2015 Clean Water Rule, saying the mootness of the case precluded the panel from reviewing the merits of that order.

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OPINION: Gavin Newsom’s Plan for California Water is a Good One. Stay the Course

July 31, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Los Angeles Timesby The Times Editorial Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new blueprint for California water policy offers a stay-the-course agenda for projects and policies intended to help cope with a warming climate and more volatile weather patterns that already are affecting the state’s irrigation, environmental and drinking water supplies. There are no moonshots and few surprises, and that’s fine; it will be challenging enough to ensure that all Californians are hooked up to safe and reliable water supplies to meet their needs for the coming decade and beyond.

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21 State Attorneys General Sue Over New Trump Water Rule

July 22, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby Don Thompson

Attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that new federal rules undermine their ability to protect rivers, lakes and streams within their borders.

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Local Leaders Discuss Impacts of Water Conservation Laws

July 2, 2020/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

Four elected officials representing area water districts expressed frustration with state laws aimed at water conservation during an American Liberty Forum of Ramona informational meeting Saturday, June 27.

Roughly 50 attendees gathered at Ramona Mainstage to hear the “Water Regulations Today and Tomorrow” presenters discuss the pending impacts of Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668, which were signed into law by former Gov. Jerry Brown in May 2018.

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EPA to End Policy Suspending Pollution Monitoring by End of Summer

July 2, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Hillby Rebecca Beitsch

The Environmental Protection Agency will rescind its controversial policy allowing companies to skip monitoring their pollution by the end of the summer, the agency wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

The policy, unveiled in a March 26 memo in an effort to help companies reduce regulatory burdens during the coronavirus, alerted companies they would not face penalties for failing to monitor their pollution emissions as required under a host of environmental laws.

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Federal Judge Considers States’ Bid to Block Trump Water Rule

June 19, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Bloomberg Lawby Alexandra Yetter and Ellen M. Gilmer

A California federal judge is weighing whether to block the Trump administration’s controversial water rule, as requested by more than a dozen states suing over the regulation.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California spent three hours Thursday hearing arguments on whether to halt the Navigable Waters Protection Rule from taking effect on June 22, as planned.

A preliminary injunction will “prevent widespread harm to national water quality, and disruption” to water pollution control in cities and states while the claim is litigated, the 17-state coalition led by California and New York argued in a motion filed last month.

The rule “seriously undermines water quality and seriously is contrary” to the Clean Water Act, New York attorney Timothy L. Hoffman, representing the coalition, told Judge Richard Seeborg.

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