The Biden administration had a major setback today as the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the EPA’s current definition of “waters of the United States.” The definition had been used to halt construction of a home on property deemed a wetland by the EPA. The case, Sackett vs. EPA, has been going on for 15 years….
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Are Wetlands Navigable Water? The Conflict Continues
A Texas district court has rejected, for the time being, the EPA’s definition of the waters of the United States (“WOTUS”). The EPA’s latest definition went into force nationally on March 20 but the announcement explicitly excluded Texas and Idaho. Idaho was omitted because the Supreme Court is considering the case of Michael and Chantelle…
The Water Problem in the West Is Not Just Drought, It’s Policy
Western water policies going back to 1922 are making it difficult or impossible to deal with drought in California, Arizona, and Nevada, says Shawn Regan, writing in National Review (behind a paywall). Regan is vice president of research at PERC (the Property and Environment Research Center). To begin with, says Regan, the Colorado River Compact…
Raising Water Prices in California Will Not Just Cut Demand. It Will Supply More Water!
California’s extreme drought will force rationing of water or higher prices, say John McKenzie and Richard McKenzie. Raising water prices has a great advantage: “Higher water prices can increase the state’s available water supply—without additional rainfall or the construction of desalination plants. California is annually losing a massive amount of accessed water in its distribution systems…
PERC Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief, Seeks Clarity on Definition of U.S. Waters
“Fifty years after the enactment of the Clean Water Act, its reach is clear as mud,” writes Jonathan Wood, introducing an amicus brief for a Supreme Court case. The Court has agreed to hear a case claiming that the federal interpretation of the “waters of the United States” (known to environmental specialists as WOTUS) is…