PFAS in Focus: Forever-Engineering With Trent Stober, HDR - Reflections on Water Podcast
On-Demand Webinar | Flood or Drought? A Discussion of the Election’s Potential Legislative Impacts on the Water Sector
[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
Water Rights with Eric Garner: Prescriptive Rights
Context is Crucial in Examining BLM’s Proposed Rule for Fracking On Federal Land
California officials have joined a legal effort to restore water to the Kern River after an abrupt shutoff of water dried up the river and killed thousands of fish in Bakersfield....more
The time for Newsom to sign or veto bills has now passed. Of the nine bills discussed herein, Newsom signed seven and vetoed two. Please see the update below each bill that discusses its resolution....more
Farmers in southern Tulare County will face greater scrutiny for groundwater pumping after the state placed the region on probation following a lengthy hearing in Sacramento on Tuesday....more
The 2024 legislative session ended on August 31, meaning the legislature passed all bills for this year. All of the bills are currently with Governor Newsom. He has until September 30 to sign or veto any bills. Any bills not...more
A California Superior Court judge ruled last week that Sonoma County must do more to ensure responsible groundwater pumping under the state’s Public Trust Doctrine, which holds that rivers, creeks, and other waterways are...more
A United States District Court (E.D. California) (“Court”) addressed in a July 31st Order a federal question jurisdiction issue arising out of a Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) judicial action. See...more
Climate change threatens to dramatically shrink the amount of water California can deliver over the next 20 years and could significantly reduce supplies available from the State Water Project according to new projections...more
Environment California (“EC”) filed a July 23rd United States District Court (Central District of California) Clean Water Act citizen suit action against the Port of Los Angeles (“Port”) for alleged violations. See case No....more
A judge has temporarily blocked a plan by a California state water board to take over monitoring groundwater use in a portion of the crop-rich San Joaquin Valley, according to a copy of the decision obtained on July 16. Kings...more
In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle denied a private property owner’s effort to enjoin the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing their September 2023...more
Republican attorneys general from 20 U.S. states sued the Biden administration on Tuesday, seeking to block new reforms to the U.S. environmental review process for major projects such as transmission lines and wind and solar...more
This year marks the 10th anniversary of a major milestone in California water law history: the enactment of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014. This landmark legislation signaled a critical step toward...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday finalized tougher methane reporting standards that could increase the number of oil and gas companies that must pay fees for excess methane emissions....more
On April 2, 2024, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the California Water Plan Update 2023 (CWP 2023 Update). DWR’s press release dubs the plan “A Roadmap to Water Management and Infrastructure for a...more
Set against the context of unprecedented demand for water supply solutions, Brownstein and WestWater Research brought together water industry and finance leaders for the second annual Sustainable Water Investment Summit. The...more
A coalition of conservation groups filed a petition on Tuesday asking the California Fish and Game Commission to protect burrowing owl populations in five parts of the state including parts of the Bay Area and the Central...more
An ongoing, historic drought in California has compelled California state legislators to rethink the state’s long-standing treatment of water rights. While the recent heavy snowpack and wet spring and summer have alleviated...more
On November 13, 2023, the Sixth District Court of Appeal issued the first published decision interpreting California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) in City of Marina et al., v. County of Monterey et al.,...more
Last month, environmental and natural resources law practitioners, including members of the Brownstein team, gathered outside Yosemite National Park for the annual Yosemite Environmental Law Conference. The conference...more
The California 2023 Legislative Session ended on September 14, 2023, and presented the Governor with several important changes to California’s water-related statutes. The Governor had until October 14, 2023, to sign all...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) on Tuesday released a new rule that reduces the number of federally protected waters by more than half following a Supreme Court...more
In the nation’s first appellate case on the issue, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that the City and County of San Francisco (City) must meet limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for...more
When ranchers violated an emergency order to stop pumping water from the Shasta River in 2022, state officials fined them $4,000, or roughly $50 each. Now California legislators are weighing a bill that would triple fines for...more
California courts have long recognized the state’s duty to protect its tidelands, navigable waterways, and submerged lands (i.e., the land below the high tideline) under the common law public trust doctrine. However,...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering expanding the number of per- and polyfluoroalklyl substances (PFAS) compounds classified as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,...more