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 Welcome to Argentco.com - your authoritative source for environmental, land use and water law, regulation and policy. Our publications are written and analyzed by top practitioners in their fields, and are designed to provide thorough and timely information that is distilled for quick understanding.Use this site to identify key actions in your area of practice or interest. You can search or browse the Argentco.com Archives by Court, Location or Subject. Paid subscribers have access to full-text articles from the Argentco.com Archive. And both visitors and paid subscribers can register for our free E-mail Alert service which can be customized to cover specific subjects of interest.
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The Latest from Argentco.com
January 2012
Activists Suit Seeking to Challenge State Water Quality Certifications Likely to Fall Short
The National Wildlife Federation and Minnesota Conservation Federation (collectively: NWF) have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to overturn EPA's longstanding rule that prevents challenges to state water quality certifications issued under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....
January 2012
Santa Margarita Water District Issues Draft EIR for the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery, and Storage Project
On December 5, 2011, the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) issued a Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR) as lead agency for the important Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery, and Storage Project (Cadiz Project or Project)....
January 2012
California State and Regional Water Boards Expand their Land Use Entitlement Authority under the State and Federal Clean Water Acts
The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) and the nine California Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Water Boards) are expanding the reach of their land use jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of waters protected by the state and federal water quality acts....
January 2012
'Much Ado About Nothing Much'--A Summary and Analysis of the 2011 California Environmental Quality Act Legislation
Much of the media coverage of the 2011 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) legislation referred to the enacted bills as either streamlining or short cutting CEQA's review process (with the choice of verb depending on the political viewpoint of the author). To be blunt, for almost all projects, there is zero streamlining and zero shortcutting in the adopted bills. The expedited lawsuit bills that attracted the most attention exemplify this....
January 2012
New Hampshire Supreme Court Finds Towns Have Authority to Regulate Pond Height through Beaver Dams
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire has ruled that a local municipality--the Town of Lyme, has the legal authority to regulate the height of a pond by use of local beaver dams, even if that deprives local residents of wetlands. Affected local residents had challenged the town's authority on the theory that regulating the depth of the pond would also impact the local environment....
January 2012
At Sea: New Vessel General Permit Proposed for Ships in U.S. Waters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will publish a new Vessel General Permit (VGP) for both large and small (less than 79 foot) vessels, to be effective in December 2013 for a four year period. The VGP will for the first time introduce numerical standards to various vessel discharges....
January 2012
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Editor's Note: Complaints and indictments discussed below are merely allegations unless or until they are proven in a court of law of competent jurisdiction....
January 2012
Federal Court of Claims Rejects Public Trust Limits on Water Right but Dismisses Water District's Takings Claim as Unripe
After years of litigation and a successful interim appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to confirm the physical nature of the taking of its water through an Endangered Species Act (ESA) mandated action on the Ventura River, on December 5, 2011 a trial court judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed the damages portion of Casitas Municipal Water District's (Casitas) takings claim as unripe....
January 2012
Sixth District Finds Applications to LAFCO for Extensions of Water and Sewer Services Are Not Limited to Service Providers, but May Be Filed by Service Recipients
The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District ruled that a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) had jurisdiction to entertain the University of California at Santa Cruz's (UCSC) application to have the City of Santa Cruz extend water and sewer services to UCSC's north campus. The decision clarifies that the LAFCO has the power to consider applications filed by prospective service recipients, rather than being limited to service providers....
January 2012
Update of Water-Related Legislative Developments in Colorado
There were several noteworthy legislative developments this year in Colorado. Taking the form of House Bills, House Joint Resolutions, and proposed ballot initiatives, the new and proposed laws address a wide range of topics, from energy production to produced water to the public trust doctrine. Some of these proposals have been signed into law, while others are still at the beginning of the law-making process....
January 2012
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Responds to New Mexico's Suit Seeking Declaratory and Injunctive Relief over Accounting of Rio Grande Compact Credit Water in Elephant Butte Reservoir
On October 11, 2011, the United States filed its answer to the State of New Mexico's complaint For declaratory and injunctive relief in New Mexico v. United States. The controversy between the State of New Mexico and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) arose this past summer when it is alleged the Bureau reduced, without the consent of the State of New Mexico or the Rio Grande Compact Commission (Compact Commission), the accrued "Credit Water" from 166,300 acre-feet to 100,000 acre-feet....
January 2012
Flood Control Management and Liability Update
On October 11, 2011, the United States filed its answer to the State of New Mexico's complaint For declaratory and injunctive relief in New Mexico v. United States. The controversy between the State of New Mexico and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) arose this past summer when it is alleged the Bureau reduced, without the consent of the State of New Mexico or the Rio Grande Compact Commission (Compact Commission), the accrued "Credit Water" from 166,300 acre-feet to 100,000 acre-feet....
January 2012
American Society of Civil Engineers Commissioned Report Paints Bleak Economic Outlook of Aging U.S. Water Infrastructure
Aside from water law practitioners, one may assume that many Americans rarely, if ever, think about water infrastructure....
January 2012
Delta Stewardship Council Issues Draft Environmental Impact Report on the Delta Plan
The Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) has issued a 2,200-page Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the council's proposed Delta Plan....
January 2012
Fishing and Conservation Groups Sue to Stop Discharge of Contaminated Groundwater in San Joaquin River
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and other conservation groups (Conservation Groups) have sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority (Water Agencies) under the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....
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