"California Water Pipeline Hits Legal Setback"

"A controversial Southern California water pipeline project has hit another snag, with a federal judge’s ruling that allows the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw key approvals granted during the Trump administration.

In the latest turn of a long-running and politically sensitive dispute, U.S. District Judge George Wu ruled yesterday that BLM acted properly when it remanded two rights of way that had been granted to Cadiz Inc. by the Trump administration.

“This is not a scenario in which an agency — for example — compiled a full NEPA record, came to a well-supported opinion, and then reversed its opinion mere months later,” Wu wrote, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act."

Michael Doyle reports for E&E News September 14, 2022.