New Upstream Pit Permitting Rules — Energy Law Insights
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
Baker Botts' 39th Annual Environmental Seminar featured two breakout sessions covering the latest environmental, safety and incident response developments and trends....more
On January 21, 2026, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) published its Best Management Practices of the Sustainable Management of Groundwater – Land Subsidence (Subsidence BMPs). The press release details the...more
California law requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to create, promulgate, and update every five years the California Water Plan (Plan). The Plan is intended to provide a comprehensive strategy for the sustainable...more
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that preliminary work can begin on the Delta Conveyance Project, a controversial proposal to build a 14-mile underground tunnel to transport water from Northern California southward....more
While site and ground-related risks are important considerations for all construction projects, tunnelling and underground works are inherently more complex and significantly more sensitive to these risks than above-ground...more
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture announced the next Water Well Construction Committee (“Committee”) will meet on September 10th. The Committee will meet at 9:30 A.M. at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Natural...more
The budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) adds a new provision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that allows project sponsors/applicants to pay for...more
Beginning January 1, 2025, the “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulatory framework requires urban retail water suppliers — not individual households or businesses — to adopt a series of “urban water use...more
Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing to lay the groundwork for building a $20-billion water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before his term expires, and state water regulators are considering whether to grant a...more
Stakeholders should stay informed as state and federal officials advance plans and policies for water conservation, water quality, and climate resilience in California....more
The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has begun its process to develop a new statewide Urban Stormwater Infiltration Policy. The goal of the proposed new policy is to establish statewide...more
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
Traditional sources of freshwater are dwindling as a result of increased demand, reduced natural replenishment, volatile weather patterns, and extended-duration droughts. Desalination, the industrial-scale removal of salt...more
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
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
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
Geotechnical practitioners are often focused on the “Three G’s”—namely geology, groundwater, and geometry. The interconnectedness of the Three G’s is responsible for fundamental aspects of the Earth’s composition and...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
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an Executive Order (“EO”) requesting that the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Division (“NRD”) undertake: A comprehensive analysis/report of the State’s water...more
On June 27, the European Parliament proposed amendments to legislation aimed at reducing pollution in Europe’s water bodies covering inland, transitional and coastal surface waters and groundwater, to better protect human...more
Over the past five weeks, we have described the wide range of water resources available to meet Arizona’s current and future needs. These resources include groundwater, in-state surface water, Colorado River water, long-term...more
On December 6, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a bipartisan vote of 350-80. The NDAA includes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022, which includes...more
How water rights are granted and managed in the United States has always been a challenge. Unlike land grants, which are finite areas, water knows no boundaries and flows freely. How water is distributed, managed, and...more
Entities seeking federal authorization for infrastructure projects that may impact waters of the United States must obtain a Section 401 certification under the Trump administration’s narrowed Section 401 certification...more