State Water Resources Control Board Archives

State Water Resources Control Board

The “Silver Bullet” Required to Improve California’s Water Rights System: More & Better Data

California Lags Behind Other Western States in Obtaining Critically-Needed & Available Water Diversion Data

Recently I’ve posted stories about efforts to enforce California’s water laws in the face of efforts by some diverters to evade and ignore limits on their ability to privatize public water resources–especially in times of critical drought. One post focused on the federal government’s successful criminal prosecution of a San Joaquin Valley water district manager …

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Reforming California’s Financial Penalties for Water Theft Will Create an Effective Deterrent

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

In a Legal Planet Post earlier this week, I recounted the saga of how federal prosecutors recently secured the criminal conviction of Dennis Falaschi, the former San Joaquin Valley water district general manager who oversaw the decades-long theft of millions of gallons of publicly-owned water from California’s Central Valley Project. That successful prosecution certainly qualifies …

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California Enacts Major Water Law Reform Legislation–But More Changes Are Needed

California State Capitol Building (credit: Wikipedia)

New law explicitly authorizes State Water Board to require water users to verify their water rights

The California Legislature has enacted and Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law SB 389, an important water law reform measure authored by State Senator Ben Allen. California has one of the most antiquated and outdated water rights systems of any Western state. To put it bluntly, California currently faces a 21st century water supply …

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The Passing of a Respected Water Warrior

Remembering California Water Law Attorney Clifford Lee

Clifford (Cliff) Lee, one of California’s most knowledgable and respected water law experts, died suddenly late last month. His passing leaves a tremendous void in the field of California water law and policy. After earning his undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley, Cliff attended law school at U.C. Davis and quickly became entranced by water law. …

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Registration Is Open for the 2022 California Water Law Symposium

California’s Most Important Annual Water Law Conference–Law Student Organized!–Set for April 9th

Registration is now open for California’s 2022 Water Law Symposium, scheduled for Saturday, April 9th. U.C. Davis School of Law has the honor of hosting this year’s Symposium, which is an extraordinary event in two respects: first, it is organized entirely by law students (rather than law firms, water organizations, law professors or commercial vendors). …

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California Appellate Court Upholds Water Board’s Broad Drought Response Authority

Court of Appeal Rejects Water Users’ Legal Challenge to Board’s Emergency Regulations, Temporary Curtailment Orders

California’s Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District recently upheld the State Water Resources Control Board’s temporary emergency drought response regulations–enacted in 2014-15–as well as related curtailment orders the Board issued to specific water users to implement those regulations. In doing so, the Water Board rejected a legal challenge agricultural water users brought against …

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California Adopts New, Welcome Wetlands Protection Rules

State Fills Void Left By Trump Administration’s Weakening of Federal Wetlands Standards

This week California’s State Water Resources Control Board adopted important new rules to protect the state’s remaining wetlands resources. Enacted after over a decade of Board hearings, workshops and deliberation, those rules are overdue, welcome and critically necessary. Their adoption is particularly timely now, given the Trump Administration’s wholesale assault on and erosion of federal …

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California and Other Western States See Barriers to Protecting Streams

A new report highlights twelve western states’ efforts to restore stream flows using environmental water transfers

Unnaturally low flows in rivers and streams throughout the western United States have threatened fish and other aquatic species for decades. But restoring flows has proved a significant and complex challenge. A recent report prepared for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation by Stanford University’s Water in the West Program documents twelve western states’ efforts …

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Sacramento Judge Halts California Regulator’s Efforts to Impose Water Cutbacks

Court Rules Water Board’s Administrative Process Violates Water Users’ Due Process Rights

A Sacramento judge has thrown a wrench into the California State Water Resources Control Board’s efforts to impose water cutbacks on several of the state’s senior water rights holders. In a July 10th order, Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that the Water Board’s administrative process, designed to implement drought-based water reductions, violates the due …

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A Water Rights Database For California’s Future

A proposal to modernize information for management of water resources

In April, a group of us (Richard Roos-Collins, Michael Kiparsky, Nell Green Nylen, Michael Hanemann, and Holly Doremus) wrote a document arguing for the need to develop a more complete and functional source of legal information on California’s water rights. Since then, this proposal has been circulated widely among the California water community. In the spirit of …

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Losing Chevron: What Does It Mean for California?

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright will not necessarily impact how California courts review our state agency determinations. But we’ll feel it in other ways.

Is Loper v. Raimondo Really the Power Grab Commentators Assume?

The Supreme Court has already grabbed power from agencies through the major questions doctrine.

The Biden-Trump Debate’s Climate Question

“You’ve vowed to end your opponent’s climate initiatives,” Trump was asked. “But will you take any action as President to slow the climate crisis?”

Grid Experts Weigh in on EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan for NOx

UCLA Emmett Institute faculty submit amicus brief in Utah v. EPA, a major ozone case, on behalf of some of the nation’s leading grid experts.

The Supreme Court & Interstate Pollution

It was puzzling that the Court agreed to hear the case. How has it ruled? And why?

The Ten Most Important U.S. Environmental Laws

Some of the choices may surprise you.

The 2023 NEPA Rewrite and the Supreme Court’s New Climate Case

NEPA isn’t a common law subject. What the statute says matters more than pre-2023 judicial opinions.

The Hawai’i Youth Climate Settlement

Thirteen youth plaintiffs secured a court-enforced agreement to decarbonize the state’s transportation system without even setting foot in a courtroom.

Luminosity

The story behind today’s energy efficient lighting and a forgotten episode in the culture wars.

Is Activism a Part of Responsible Climate Scholarship?

Academics needn’t become activists, but I argue that we must support activism. Indeed, inclusive engagement with activism could enhance our scholarship.

Financing and Investment Strategies for an Equitable Clean Mobility Transition

New CLEE / Prospect Silicon Valley report outlines top strategies from a series of expert convenings

Halftime Report: Environmental Bills Moving Forward

The UCLA Emmett Institute is tracking California environmental bills. In a year of tough budget choices, here are the notable bills that cleared Sacramento’s first big legislative deadline.

Big Oil Runs to the Supreme Court

Oil and gas companies want the justices to take up Honolulu’s climate liability case because this type of litigation is starting to gain strength.

A Brazen California Water Heist Revealed, Prosecuted & Punished

San Joaquin Valley Water District Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Public Water for 20+ Years

Can the IRA Trump-Proof Itself?

Building A Political Firewall Against IRA Repeal

Will Biden and Trump Debate Climate Change?

Here are 22 climate-related questions that moderators could ask Biden and Trump in the presidential debates, as well as the one question they should avoid.

Reforming California’s Financial Penalties for Water Theft Will Create an Effective Deterrent

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

Hillary Clinton, Climate Change, and the ‘Sliding Doors’ of History

Here’s what could have happened instead of Trump’s crusade against climate action, if Clinton had squeaked out a victory in 2016.

The Hawai’i Youth Climate Trial

Thirteen youth plaintiffs say the Aloha State is failing to live up to its ambitious climate goals. Here’s what to watch for as Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation goes to trial this month.

Major League Soccer’s LAFC Has a Big Oil Problem Too

The Dodgers are not the only LA sports team sullying their brand by taking oil money. Beloved soccer club LAFC recently renewed a partnership with Chevron.

State Water Resources Control Board

California Lags Behind Other Western States in Obtaining Critically-Needed & Available Water Diversion Data

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

New law explicitly authorizes State Water Board to require water users to verify their water rights

Remembering California Water Law Attorney Clifford Lee

California’s Most Important Annual Water Law Conference–Law Student Organized!–Set for April 9th

Court of Appeal Rejects Water Users’ Legal Challenge to Board’s Emergency Regulations, Temporary Curtailment Orders

State Fills Void Left By Trump Administration’s Weakening of Federal Wetlands Standards

A new report highlights twelve western states’ efforts to restore stream flows using environmental water transfers

Court Rules Water Board’s Administrative Process Violates Water Users’ Due Process Rights

A proposal to modernize information for management of water resources

TRENDING

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright will not necessarily impact how California courts review our state agency determinations. But we’ll feel it in other ways.

The Supreme Court has already grabbed power from agencies through the major questions doctrine.

“You’ve vowed to end your opponent’s climate initiatives,” Trump was asked. “But will you take any action as President to slow the climate crisis?”

UCLA Emmett Institute faculty submit amicus brief in Utah v. EPA, a major ozone case, on behalf of some of the nation’s leading grid experts.

It was puzzling that the Court agreed to hear the case. How has it ruled? And why?

Some of the choices may surprise you.

NEPA isn’t a common law subject. What the statute says matters more than pre-2023 judicial opinions.

Thirteen youth plaintiffs secured a court-enforced agreement to decarbonize the state’s transportation system without even setting foot in a courtroom.

The story behind today’s energy efficient lighting and a forgotten episode in the culture wars.

Academics needn’t become activists, but I argue that we must support activism. Indeed, inclusive engagement with activism could enhance our scholarship.

New CLEE / Prospect Silicon Valley report outlines top strategies from a series of expert convenings

The UCLA Emmett Institute is tracking California environmental bills. In a year of tough budget choices, here are the notable bills that cleared Sacramento’s first big legislative deadline.

Oil and gas companies want the justices to take up Honolulu’s climate liability case because this type of litigation is starting to gain strength.

San Joaquin Valley Water District Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Public Water for 20+ Years

Building A Political Firewall Against IRA Repeal

Here are 22 climate-related questions that moderators could ask Biden and Trump in the presidential debates, as well as the one question they should avoid.

Overdue State Water Reform Legislation Likely Be Enacted in 2024–Finally

Here’s what could have happened instead of Trump’s crusade against climate action, if Clinton had squeaked out a victory in 2016.

Thirteen youth plaintiffs say the Aloha State is failing to live up to its ambitious climate goals. Here’s what to watch for as Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation goes to trial this month.

The Dodgers are not the only LA sports team sullying their brand by taking oil money. Beloved soccer club LAFC recently renewed a partnership with Chevron.