On-Demand Webinar | Taking the Plunge: Lessons Learned from Water System Consolidations
President Donald Trump on Monday issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior to develop a new plan within 90 days “to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to...more
The Third District Court of Appeal upheld the Department of Water Resources’ EIR concerning State Water Project contract amendments against multiple CEQA challenges related to impact analysis, project descriptions, and...more
State and federal officials move forward plans and policies for water conservation, conveyance, and climate resilience. The winter of 2022-23 brought historic levels of precipitation to California after years of deep...more
Following compliance with the parliamentary requirements, the National Policy Statement (NPS) for water resource infrastructure was finally designated by the Environment Secretary on 18 September 2023, bringing it immediately...more
July 17, 2023 Of Counsel On June 7, 2023, Governor Tina Kotek signed into law SB 718, which provides an additional layer of protection for Oregon water right holders in drought-stricken counties. The new law goes into effect...more
An environmental impact report need not discuss impacts that are too speculative in nature for proper evaluation or assess economic costs not linked to a physical change in the environment. County of Butte v. Dept. of Water...more
On February 6, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sided with the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and plaintiffs Institute for Fisheries Resources, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s...more
As severe drought conditions continue across the western U.S., Allen Matkins will begin publishing a quarterly newsletter focused on recent legal, regulatory, and policy issues impacting water users and suppliers in...more
Ramifications for Urban Water Suppliers and Non-Functional Turf - The State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) has adopted an emergency regulation (Regulation) requiring urban water suppliers to implement the...more
The EIR for a water ditch to underground pipeline conversion project withstood challenges to the project description and impacts analysis. The Third Appellate District held that the project description sufficiently disclosed...more
THE DROUGHT CRISIS - 2021 was the driest year California has experienced in a century. At the end of the water year, spanning October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, the State received only 11.87 inches of precipitation,...more
With a wide patchwork of water systems servicing residents across California, there have been ongoing efforts by the Legislature to encourage the consolidation of smaller water systems to take advantage of scale economies and...more
On February 19, 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on the reinitiation of consultation on the coordinated long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. At the...more
As members of the Colorado River Water Users’ Association gathered for their annual meeting in Las Vegas last week, the States of Arizona and California appeared to be making progress towards approving agreements needed to...more
Join Nossaman attorneys Corey Boock and Elizabeth Cousins, along with guest speaker, Jason Garside, Program Management Delivery Lead of Carollo Engineers, Inc., on December 11th for the next installment of our 2018 Water...more
Water updates from South Africa - South Africa: U.S. firm launches “water from air” device in Cape Town - A U.S.-based company has launched a new solar "water from air" device in Cape Town to alleviate some of the...more
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (“ANRC”) issued a June 5th document titled: Drought Contingency Response Network Report (“Report”) ...more
After five parched years, substantial winter rains and Sierra snowpack have brought California a long-sought reprieve from drought, though not without presenting a new set of challenges. In February, nearly 200,000 residents...more
On May, 17, 2016, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water and Energy held hearings on a number of pending bills, including S. 2533, sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA). The...more
Whether dealing with water or with endangered species directly, there have been a numbers of recent developments that are worth keeping on your radar. July 16, 2015 – The House of Representative, in a largely partisan...more
On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt another blow to traditional operation of the massive water projects that supply California’s Central Valley. The Court reversed those parts of a District Court opinion that...more
Most know by now that California is facing one of its driest years in recorded history. Yet droughts are not new to California, and to put things in context we can be thankful that current drought conditions are only as bad...more
Last Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California denied a motion brought by environmental groups to enjoin a water transfer project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta). Plaintiffs...more
In a July 3, 2014 published decision more notable for the practical importance of the water rights involved than the CEQA law applied, the Fifth District Court of Appeal rejected the CEQA challenges of various environmental...more