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About Us:
Welcome to the S&W Environmental, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Law Blog. This blog is a resource for the regulated community to stay current on new developments impacting the environmental, natural resources and energy sectors. It provides timely updates on a broad range of federal, state and local environmental topics — including proposed legislation and government rulemakings — that impact regulated industries throughout the southwest and the nation as a whole.
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Recent Posts
- New Bureau of Land Management Guidance on Geologic Carbon Sequestration on Federal Public Lands Answers Some Questions, But Uncertainty Remains for Split-Estate Lands
- DOE Seeks Input on How to Spend $2.5 billion on Transmission Projects
- Office of Environmental Justice & Reviving Supplemental Environmental Projects
- Pushing the United Nations for Recognition of Access to a Clean Environment as a Human Right
- Basin States Agree to Reduced Colorado River Deliveries
Basin States Agree to Reduced Colorado River Deliveries
by Fred Breedlove Less than two weeks ago, we wrote that the Department of Interior proposed reducing Colorado River deliveries in 2022 by 480,000 acre-feet and that Assistant Secretary Trujillo had asked the Basin States for comments on this proposal. … Continue reading
Tagged Basin States, Colorado River, drought, Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Tanya Trujillo, water
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Reclamation Declares Tier 1 Shortage on Colorado River for 2022
by Fred Breedlove The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) published its August 2021 24-Month Study on Monday, effectively declaring a shortage on the Colorado River for the Lower Colorado River Basin. The August study predicts that the elevation of Lake … Continue reading
Tagged Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado River, Tier 1 shortage
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Colorado River Lower Basin States Face Tier 1 Shortage and Maybe More
by Fred Breedlove The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s April 24-Month Study, published this week, as expected, signals a significant likelihood of reduced water deliveries in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River to Arizona, California, and Nevada. Not only does … Continue reading
Tagged Colorado River, drought contingency plan, Lower Basin States
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Drought and Water Demand Continues in Spite of COVID-19 Pandemic
by Fred Breedlove The demands on government and private water providers to address the declining availability of water resources in the southwest did not get a reprieve, unfortunately, when the COVID-19 virus emerged in February. Last August, I wrote that … Continue reading
Tagged Arizona Department of Water Resources, Colorado River, coronavirus, COVID-19, water
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Colorado River News is a Mixed Bag: Heavy Snowmelt Can’t Prevent “Tier Zero” Shortage
by Fred Breedlove Every year, Colorado River water users anxiously wait for the results of the Bureau of Reclamation’s (“BOR”) August 24-Month Study Report. While the report is updated and published monthly, the August report is particularly significant because it … Continue reading
Tagged BLM, Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado River, DCP, drought contingency plan, Interim Guidelines
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Murky Waters Following the Gold King Mine Spill
by Cynthia M. Chandley In the wake of actions taken on August 5, 2015 by contractors for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that resulted in the Gold King Mine Spill, western states that rely on water from the … Continue reading
Tagged Animas River, Colorado River, Gold King Mine Spill, New Mexico, San Juan River
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As Lake Mead Dwindles, Arizona and Other Colorado River Basin States Continue to Plan for a Drier Future
by Bill Staudenmaier It has become a familiar refrain. For each of the past three years, the United States Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the major reservoirs on the Colorado River, has announced a new “record low” water elevation in … Continue reading
Tagged ADWR, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Arizona Water Banking Authority, Colorado River, Lake Mead, Lower Basin, United States Bureau of Reclamation
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