In a significant development for Arizona’s business community and environmental policymakers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has paused its planned reclassification of Maricopa County from “Moderate” to...more
Arizona’s housing shortage is among the most severe in the nation, with demand far outstripping supply and home prices skyrocketing in recent years. According to a lawsuit filed last week by the Goldwater Institute on behalf...more
1/30/2025
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Water
To no one’s surprise, on January 20, 2025, only hours into his second term, President Donald Trump signed the following executive orders impacting environmental and energy policies:
1.Declaring a National Energy Emergency...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently made a significant decision to pause its implementation of new rules aimed at enhancing climate change disclosures by public companies. (Order Issuing Stay) This move,...more
In a move that could have significant implications for Arizona’s environmental policy and economy, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Republican leaders of the Arizona legislature have filed a lawsuit against the...more
On March 6, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final climate disclosure rules sparking a range of reactions within the business and environmental communities. These changes represent a significant...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 June 1, 2023, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs revealed the results of a new groundwater model prepared by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (“ADWR”) that predicts the future availability of groundwater for pumping...more
It seems that not a day goes by without another news story bringing Arizona to the forefront of a national dialogue about water security in a time of drought, changing climate, and growing population. This article is Part 6...more
This article is Part 5 of Snell & Wilmer’s series on Arizona’s water supply and legal framework. So far in this series we have examined the most common and most-used water sources in Arizona’s diverse water portfolio: ...more
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court curtailed the federal government’s powers to regulate private property under the auspices of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Court in Sackett v. EPA held that “the CWA extends to...more
The Department of Interior announced on Monday, May 22, 2023 an agreement with the Lower Basin states to conserve 3 million acre-feet (“MAF”) of water in Lake Mead for the next four years, with 2.3 MAF paid for with funding...more
This article is Part 3 of a series providing information about the resilience of Arizona’s water supplies during a time in which the news is dominated by stories about drought and scarcity. As we noted in Part 1, Arizona has...more
While the local and national press inundate us with articles about the dire nature of Arizona’s water supplies and questions about why people are even allowed to live in a desert, careful planning by water leaders over...more
Arizona’s water supplies have been front page news for months. Both local and national media have reported on increasingly serious shortages on the Colorado River and the inability of the states that rely on the River to...more
The United Nations Human Rights Council passed Resolution 48/13 in October 2021. The Resolution recognizes as a human right a person’s access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Non-governmental organizations...more