Several news sources featured in the Daily Digest may limit the number of articles you can access without a subscription. However, gift articles and open-access links are provided when available. For more open access California water news articles, explore the main page at MavensNotebook.com.
On the calendar today …
- MEETING: SAFER Drinking Water Program from 9am to 5pm. Agenda items include an update on Water Boards work on Domestic Wells; 2024 Program accomplishments and updates; and Advisory Group member announcements. Click here for the full agenda and remote access instructions.
- MEETING: California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout from 10am to 4pm. Agenda items include Klamath River Updates; Updates and Applications of the CA Environmental Flows Framework (CEFF); and Importance of Environmental Flow Variation from Dams for Salmon and Steelhead. Click here to register.
- WEBINAR: EPA Tools & Resources Training Webinar: ECOTOX Knowledgebase and PFAS Updates from 12pm to 1pm. This webinar will demonstrate EPA’s Ecotoxicology Knowledgebase (ECOTOX) tool, which gives quick access to reliable and up-to-date information about how chemicals potentially affect ecologically relevant species. ECOTOX is a comprehensive, publicly available knowledgebase providing single chemical environmental toxicity data for over 12,000 chemicals and species, including aquatic life, terrestrial plants, and wildlife. ECOTOX provides robust curated toxicity data for aquatic and terrestrial organisms to support ecological risk assessments, site assessments, criteria/benchmark development, and other research. The knowledgebase is additionally used to aid the prioritization and assessment of chemicals. By leveraging this knowledge, EPA remains committed to providing clear, actionable, and accessible information about PFAS to the public, researchers, and risk assessors. This presentation will include information on updates to ECOTOX data for PFAS to support hazard evaluation and development of ecological risk assessment screening values. The ECOTOX Knowledgebase Resource Hub can be accessed here. Register for the webinar.
In California water news today …
California farmers are hopeful Trump administration will deliver more water to fields
“Since winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump has been talking about immigration, border security and government efficiency. But in California farm country, his comments about water are also getting top attention. In recent years, farmers have faced more limits on how much water they can access from this network because of environmental concerns, as well as on how much groundwater they can pump after years of overuse and drought.Now, farmers are hoping the second Trump administration will ensure more stable water flows to their fields from the federally managed Central Valley Project and a plan for future water supplies. Trump recently posted on his Truth Social platform a criticism of the “rerouting of MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER A DAY FROM THE NORTH OUT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, rather than using it, free of charge, for the towns, cities, & farms dotted all throughout California.” … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
Finding water for the San Joaquin Valley
Edward Ring, cofounder of the California Policy Center, writes, “Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley require roughly 15 million acre feet of water per year to irrigate their crops. In return they produce more than half of all California’s agricultural output. But everything is changing. Since 2000 the amount of water the farmers receive from the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project has been cut in order to protect fish, and in response the farmers increased groundwater pumping. This in turn triggered the enactment of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014, which limits how much groundwater farmers can use. Also during the past two decades two major water supply projects, both approved by voters in 2014, have failed to begin construction. The Sites Reservoir, off-stream and just west of the Sacramento River, was to have the capacity to store up to 2 million acre feet (MAF) of water. Subject to interminable delays with a design scaled back to 1.5 MAF of storage, nobody knows if Sites will ever get built. Temperance Flat, a 1.3 MAF reservoir proposed for the San Joaquin River upstream of the existing Friant Dam, was defunded and is effectively canceled. With less water from the aqueducts, less water from the aquifers, and no new water supply projects, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley now face losing up to 20 percent of their 4.5 million acres of irrigated farmland. … ” Read more from Californians Energy and Water Abundance.
DAN WALTERS: California officials plan for a dry 2025 with grim water supply guesswork
“Each December there’s a new version of an old guessing game about how much water will be provided to agricultural and municipal users in the year ahead. Federal and state water agencies post initial, and usually very low, estimates based on the current condition of reservoirs, soil conditions that affect runoff, and assumptions of rain and snow during the winter and spring. Over the next few months, the estimates are upgraded as firmer precipitation data accumulates, often — but not always — increasing. For 2022, as drought gripped California, the state Department of Water Resources initially projected zero water deliveries, later raised them to 15% of the contracted supplies, but finally delivered just 5%. One year later, however, the department initially promised 5%, but after a very wet winter finally delivered 100%. This year began with a 10% estimate of state water supply and ended up with 40%. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Fishing groups, water agencies sue over Calif. governor’s water plan
“Both water agencies and fishing groups are suing California over its new operating plan for its massive water delivery system of pumps, reservoirs and canals, alleging the state failed to conduct a thorough environmental review. The lawsuits, filed last week in Sacramento County Superior Court, come as the Biden and Newsom administrations race to cement their version of the rules for the pumps before President-elect Donald Trump comes into office and overturns them. The federal and state governments typically operate their pumps in tandem, but Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom finalized a separate permit for the State Water Project last month, citing fears that federal officials could weaken endangered species rules. Agencies that get water from the federal side of the system, the Central Valley Project, banded together in their lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act claiming the state did not fully analyze the effects of the split on federal water users and did not fully explain enough how it would coordinate with the federal government. … ” Read more at E&E News (sorry, subscription required).
Kern County desert groundwater battle may head to state Supreme Court
“A group of water users in Kern County’s Indian Wells Valley who disagree with how groundwater has been apportioned, won a legal skirmish last month in a court of appeal but the state Supreme Court may have the final word. The issue in the high desert basin is whether the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority is using an appropriate “safe yield” figure. Safe yield refers to how much water naturally accumulates in an aquifer each year in order to determine how much can safely be pumped out without putting the basin into overdraft. The groundwater authority has used a model showing the basin accumulates only about 7,650 acre feet of natural inflow each year but users pump out nearly 28,000 acre feet, creating a severe overdraft. In order to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to bring the basin into balance, the authority severely restricted pumping for most users. The U.S. Navy, which operates the China Lake Naval Weapons Base in the basin, got the lion’s share of pumping. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
How a jet stream ripple from the Himalayas could help end California’s recent dry spell
“Other than the thin layer of haze blanketing much of the Bay Area over the last few days, this week has been filled with cloudless skies, abnormally warm temperatures and not a single drop of rain. So when will the warm weather end, and when might we see some precipitation again? It turns out that we are going to have to wait a while. We estimate that there will be a pattern switch sometime between Dec. 13-15 that will lead to a reintroduction of cooler temperatures and chances of rain. As we head into the weekend, the ridge of high pressure that has been bringing warmth and sunshine to California will actually start to buckle, becoming oriented in a more west to east direction, but still centered over California. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
$204 million awarded for Delta-Mendota Canal subsidence project
“Hundreds of millions of dollars are being allocated to help curtail subsidence in the Delta-Mendota Canal. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority announced Wednesday that the Delta-Mendota Canal Subsidence is receiving $204 million in federal funding. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being allocated to help curtail subsidence in the Delta-Mendota Canal. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority announced Wednesday that the Delta-Mendota Canal Subsidence is receiving $204 million in federal funding. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
SEE ALSO: $204 Million From Feds Will Help Fix Sinking West Side Canal, from GV Wire
In commentary today …
CA salmon, Delta fish populations are in worst-ever crisis as pumps keep exporting water to Big Ag
Dan Bacher writes, “Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in their worst-ever crisis ever as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) moves forward with the controversial Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and voluntary water agreements. Ocean commercial and recreational fishing and river recreational fishing for salmon has been closed for the past two years, due to the collapse of Sacramento and Klamath River salmon populations. The 2024 stock abundance forecast for Sacramento River Fall Chinook, usually the most abundant stock in the ocean fishery, was only 213,600 adults. The return of fall-run Chinook salmon to the federal Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek in Fall 2023 was a disaster, with the hatchery officials forced to obtain eggs from the state’s salmon and steelhead hatcheries. This fall’s return of salmon to the Coleman Hatchery was shockingly low again, even with the second year of the salmon fishing closure in place. … ” Read more from the Daily Kos.
It’s unacceptable that thousands in California lack clean drinking water
Raoul Lowery Contreras is a Marine Corps veteran, political consultant, prolific author and host of the Contreras Report, writes, “The world views California as a leader in environmentalism and good living, but reports on the safety and availability of clean drinking water in the Golden State contradict that view. State health and water regulators recently announced that nearly a quarter of a million California residents lack safe drinking water in their homes. It is unacceptable that any residents of the sixth largest economy in the world can’t drink the water from their kitchen faucets, and even more so for low-income and less fortunate Californians who don’t have a choice in where or how they get their drinking water. For over a decade, Sacramento leaders have debated this problem — and millions of tax dollars have been spent on the issue — yet water safety and access challenges persist. Our communities must coordinate their power and push decisionmakers to find reasonable, balanced solutions to California’s water safety and access challenges. … ” Read more from the Times of San Diego.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Students watch history unfold on the Klamath, dam removal celebration set for Dec. 7
“On a recent field trip to the Klamath River, local school children were able to witness a momentous example of nature’s ability to rebound: salmon spawning in a creek upstream from the former Iron Gate dam after decades of absence. It’s one of many ecological milestones being reached following the largest dam removal project in the nation’s history, with the official completion on Oct. 2 signaling the end of an era and a new beginning for the Klamath River, now flowing free after being released from the stranglehold of the Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate dams. The November visit to Jenny Creek — part of a collaborative program of the Karuk Tribe, Save California Salmon, the Mid Klamath Watershed Council and education partners — marked the third year of such trips for students attending schools within Siskiyou County and the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District. … ” Read more from the North Coast Journal.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Tahoe conservationists sue to block Palisades ski village development
“Lake Tahoe conservationists have filed suit to block a major ski village development plan at Palisades Tahoe approved last month, claiming the project would have a dramatic impact on the lake’s famous water clarity. The 25-year development plan, put forward by Palisades’ owner Alterra Mountain Co. and unanimously approved by Placer County’s Board of Supervisors in November, seeks to add 850 lodging units, 1,500 hotel rooms and 300,000 square feet of commercial space to the base village in Olympic Valley. In a legal challenge filed Wednesday in Placer County Superior Court, conservation nonprofits League to Save Lake Tahoe and Sierra Watch claim that the project “would worsen traffic congestion, increase air pollution, erode roadways, and degrade water quality in the Lake Tahoe Basin,” according to a Thursday press release. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
BAY AREA
Sewage pipe leak sends 20M gallons of wastewater into Contra Costa County marsh
“In the East Bay, there’s a rush to repair a sewer line break that’s causing a massive overflow of untreated wastewater. This is happening near the Shore Acres Pump Station in Bay Point. Officials say as much as 20-million gallons of wastewater has now flowed into a nearby marsh. “I have no words. Wow – its crazy,” said Catherine Galindez of Bay Point just got home from a two-week long vacation. There’s a lot of commotion in front of her home. “Very loud. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Galindez. Right down the street from Galindez’s home, more work crews are trying to deal with a broken sewage pipe. She had absolutely no idea what was going on. … ” Read more from Channel 7.
CENTRAL COAST
As expanded Pure Water Monterey comes online next year, the water is being divvied up
“In February of 2020, Monterey One Water’s advanced wastewater recycling project, Pure Water Monterey, became operational after seven years of planning, delivering 3,500 acre-feet of water annually to the Monterey Peninsula’s Cal Am service area. That is more than a third of the region’s annual water demand, reducing dependence on the historically overpumped Carmel River. In 2023, an expansion of that project broke ground that will add another 2,250 acre-feet of recycled water to the annual portfolio; it’s expected to come online in fall 2025. With that date approaching, Dave Stoldt, general manager of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, has been making the rounds to various city councils apprising them of the proposed allocations each municipality will initially get out of the 2,250 acre-feet of water from the expansion of Pure Water Monterey. … ” Read more from Monterey Now.
Steelhead trout ruling may force SLO County to release more water from Lopez Lake
“San Luis Obispo County may soon need to release more water from Lopez Dam to support a silver, speckled fish living in Arroyo Grande Creek. U. S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ruled that the county’s operation of the dam prevented steelhead trout from accessing critical spawning habitat in Arroyo Grande Creek and blocked the fish from their migration route — threatening the local species with extinction, according to her decision filed on Nov. 27. She ordered the county to develop a water release plan for the dam that better supports steelhead trout and other threatened species in the creek, Environmental Advocates attorney Christopher Sproul said. … ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Court grants major victory for threatened steelhead and wildlife in Arroyo Grande Creek
“In a tremendous legal victory for wildlife and conservation, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has granted a preliminary injunction requiring San Luis Obispo County to alter operations at Lopez Dam to better protect threatened South-Central California Coast Steelhead. This ruling addresses decades of harm caused by mismanagement of water flows critical to the survival of steelhead and other species in Arroyo Grande Creek. The court’s decision follows a lawsuit filed earlier this year by San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, Los Padres ForestWatch, California Coastkeeper Alliance, and the Ecological Rights Foundation. The coalition challenged the County’s decades-long failure to provide adequate water flows and fish passage at Lopez Dam violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and poses an existential threat to the steelhead population. … ” Read more from Los Padres ForestWatch.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Dead salmon rotting in Stockton slough a ‘stinky, messy process’
“Salmon that took a fatal wrong-way turn into a narrow waterway are now stinking up some North Stockton neighborhoods. And officials so far haven’t decided what, if anything, to do about the mess. Some of the Chinook salmon that swam up the Mokelumne River seeking their spawning grounds ended up in Pixley Slough, where they died, the California Department of Fish and Game confirmed. While it’s all part of nature taking its course — the salmon return from the Pacific Ocean to the freshwater rivers where they were born to spawn and then die — Stocktonians who live nearby now have to deal with the stench of rotting fish. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
Tied vote count leaves heated Fresno County irrigation district race in limbo
“A heated election for a board seat at the Laguna Irrigation District is stuck in a tie with both candidates having garnered 101 votes. Wes Harmon, a local well driller, challenged incumbent Frank Zonneveld, Laguna’s board president. Zonneveld had no comment on the race and only wrote in an email that whatever happens next is, “way above my paygrade.” Staff at the Fresno County Registrar of Voters met on Wednesday morning to discuss what processes will take place in the event of tied races.Typically there will be a recount, according to department staff. But as of Wednesday morning, no official process had been disclosed. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
SEE ALSO: A Valley water district election ended in a tie. What happens now?, from the San Joaquin Valley Sun
SAN DIEGO
Powerhouse San Diego law firms set sights on South Bay sewage crisis
“There are now four lawsuits accusing the contractor running the federal sewage treatment plant on the U.S.-Mexico border of mismanagement and contributing to the Tijuana River sewage crisis. Frantz Law Group opened a mass tort case last month against Veolia Water West and its manager Mark Wippler, accusing them of illegally discharging hazardous chemicals into the Tijuana River, as well as failing to operate, manage and maintain the plant in compliance with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board’s mandates. This case and another lawsuit filed by the firm Singleton Schreiber last month mark a growing momentum to cast a wide net in search of plaintiffs who say they have experienced a range of damages caused by Veolia releasing toxic sewage into South Bay waters. … ” Read more from KPBS.
Proposal says money from a toll could pay to fix Tijuana River pollution
“The sprawling estuary of the Tijuana River was the setting State Sen. Steve Padilla chose to announce his proposal. The wetland in Imperial Beach is home to wildlife but it also bears the impact of a constant stream of sewage and industrial pollution the river carries to the ocean. His bill, SB 10, would amend existing law to try to solve the problem. It would allow revenues from a toll on vehicles that will use a new border crossing to be spent not just on transportation but also on environmental clean up. … ” Read more from KPBS.
Senator Padilla, local & environmental leaders, announce legislation to allocate toll funds towards clean up of Tijuana river
“On Monday, the first day of the 2025/2026 legislative session, Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 10, creating a permanent source of funding for Tijuana River remediation efforts by authorizing funds from the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry toll road to be allocated towards the restoration of the Tijuana River Valley. For generations, billions of gallons of contamination, pollution, and wastewater, stemming from failing infrastructure, have ravaged California’s southern coastline. San Diegans are suffering from the health, economic, and environmental impacts of these continued transboundary flows. As a result of this perpetual contamination, the Tijuana River Watershed was recently named in the 10 most endangered rivers in America, a list managed by environmental organization, American Rivers. The designation comes from an analysis of the hazardous industrial waste and raw sewage present in the river. … ” Read more from Senator Padilla’s office.
Along the Colorado River …
Colorado River stakeholders tackle climate change, water rights at annual conference
“What happens when a water source that provides more than 40 million people with drinkable water runs dry? And how can that be prevented? Those are just some of the many questions attendees of the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas grappled with Wednesday. The Colorado River Basin connects over tens of millions of people in the Western U.S. and Mexico with water for drinking, irrigation and hydroelectricity. It supports over $1.4 trillion in economic activity and 16 million jobs. Management of the basin — and the allocation of its resources — is incredibly complex, as it involves two countries, seven states, 30 different Native American tribes, and 20 major dams. California, Nevada, and Arizona sit in the lower basin, while Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are in the upper basin. Environmental and development issues further complicate the management of this important water source, leaving many to wonder what will happen if it runs dry. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Water officials gather in Las Vegas with 2026 deadline looming for Colorado River solutions
“The Colorado River supplies water to seven states, including Nevada. During the 2024 Colorado River Water Users Association Conference one of the goals was getting those states to agree on how to distribute it. “The biggest effort right now is moving toward new operating guidelines for the river system. The current operating guidelines expire at the end of 2026,” Bronson Mack, Outreach Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said. This week, there were talks in Las Vegas involving water officials from Colorado River Basin states. “The biggest Colorado River issues have been the extended drought that we have experienced. I mean, we’re in the second decade of really dry conditions,” Mack said. “This is exactly what the climate scientist had told us here at the Colorado River Association Users Conference years ago — it’s going to get warmer, it’s going to get drier.” … ” Read more from KLAS.
SEE ALSO:
-
- Conference to discuss the management of the Colorado River is underway in the Las Vegas Valley, from Channel 13
- Negotiations moving slowly in new deals governing the Colorado River, from Fox 13
- Experts urge caution in taking Colorado River negotiations to Supreme Court, from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Stalemate over Colorado River flows into Las Vegas, from E&E News
California conservation efforts have raised Lake Mead by 16-feet in two years, regulators say
“Water users in California have conserved enough water since 2022 to raise Lake Mead water levels by 16 feet — an effort that has provided temporary stability to the Nevada reservoir, as western states negotiate how to split the Colorado River’s dwindling water supply over the next decade. Conservation measures implemented by California water regulators have collectively added more than 1.2 million acre-feet of water — the equivalent of 16 feet — to Lake Mead’s water storage, according to the Colorado River Board of California. The Colorado River Board of California highlighted the state’s conservation progress during the annual Colorado River Water Users Association’s conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — the federal agency that manages the Colorado River basin — said “California has been an incredible partner” in the federal government’s efforts to stabilize the Colorado River. … ” Read more from the Nevada Current.
Colorado River water users in CA add 1.2 M A-F to Lake Mead in 2 years
“Colorado River water users in California have together voluntarily conserved more than 1.2 million acre-feet of water in just two years, adding the water to Lake Mead to help stabilize the reservoir during historic drought conditions, according to figures released Wed. Dec.4, according to a recent CRBC press release. The achievements, reported during a meeting of the Colorado River Board of California (CRBC) during this year’s Colorado River Water Users Association’s conference, result from the implementation of a series of conservation agreements in 2023 and 2024, along with agencies storing conserved water in Lake Mead. The agreements involve the Bard Water District, Coachella Valley Water District, Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, San Diego County Water Authority, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. … ” Read more from the Desert Review.
SEE ALSO: California water savings could return 16 feet to Lake Mead, officials say, from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
‘Baby steps’: 5 Colorado River tribes sign critical water agreements
“Having access to clean, reliable water has never been a given on tribal lands that rely on the Colorado River. “Community members turn on their faucets every day to have black, manganese-filled water come out,” said KeAloha Douma, attorney general of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. “That should not be happening in America, but it’s happening within our own communities.” Douma’s tribe is one of five that may see improvements in their water supply thanks to agreements signed Wednesday in Las Vegas at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference, an annual gathering of officials to discuss the most pressing issues facing the basin. It may be one of the final actions Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton takes in the role as Donald Trump reassumes the presidency. … ” Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Colorado River debate puts thirsty alfalfa in the crosshairs: Could alternatives save water?
“The scrubby green plants that fill a checkerboard of 24-by-36-foot research plots on the arid plains of Mesa County could be part of a major shift in agriculture in the drought-plagued western United States. More than a quarter of all Colorado River water is used to grow alfalfa—more water than is used for 40 million people’s drinking water, business needs and industrial uses combined, according to an analysis published earlier this year. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, which includes Colorado, alfalfa irrigation uses double the combined amount of water of those other categories. So a team of researchers at Colorado State University’s Western Colorado Research Center is carefully tending and measuring plots of potential alternative crops outside Fruita. They’re testing whether those stand-ins for alfalfa—known as the “queen of forage”—resist drought better and grow in Colorado using less water. … ” Read more from PhysOrg.
Field of dreams: Alternative crops offer hope for the Colorado River
“It’s nearly dusk as Hunter Doyle checks his last field. He’s walking slowly, chest-deep among rows of dark green crops on a farm in the picturesque Rocky Mountain high country near the town of Kremmling, Colorado. He likes what he sees. “It’s just beautiful,” he says. “We only watered this once but look how high it’s jumped up.” Doyle, who is the Intermountain Agronomy Specialist for The Land Institute, is monitoring a test field of Kernza®, a perennial crop that’s generating buzz among farmers and ranchers throughout the West. As climate change grips the region, alternatives like Kernza® offer a tantalizing hope: a crop with the potential to deliver economic returns, withstand drought and use less water. … ” Read more from The Nature Conservancy.
A sign of hope on the Colorado River
John Fleck writes, “One of the hopeful notes coming out of the recent Colorado River discussions is the way the operation of Glen Canyon Dam in a more flexible way, to accommodate a broader range of values, is back on the table. The USBR alternatives released ahead of this week’s Colorado River Water Users Association, while requiring some tea leaf divination because of their brevity, seem to leave the door open for this discussion. Jack Schmidt and I have a new white paper offering some assistance, based on our understanding of the legal and regulatory structure around Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The idea behind what we’re arguing isn’t to wag a regulatory finger and say, “The law requires us to do X.” Rather, we’re saying, “The law enables us to do X,” where for “X” we argue for the consideration of a wider range of social, cultural, and environmental values as we make decisions about how to divide the water up between Lake Mead and Lake Powell. … ” Read more from the Inkstain blog.
In national water news today …
The ESA is about to board the Trump roller coaster
“The incoming Trump administration and its emboldened congressional allies could soon reshape the Endangered Species Act without really touching the 1973 law. The GOP-controlled Congress could rescind last-minute ESA-related actions. Appropriations bill riders and targeted legislation could block Biden-era moves. Office budgets could be cut, if Congress goes along. By themselves, the Interior Department’s new political appointees could rewrite Biden administration regulations. “I expect they will just have a knee-jerk reaction and pull back regs, shooting themselves in the foot on a policy that could be incredibly useful for infrastructure and agriculture,” said Timothy Male, executive director of the Environmental Policy Innovation Center. … ” Read more from E&E News.
