WATER in the WEST
In the West, water is a scarce and precious resource. It’s what we drink. It’s what entire ecosystems rely upon to thrive.
Now more than ever, our water is on the line. This limited public resource is so often thoughtlessly misused, mismanaged, and laid waste by corporate interests.
Our water-focused cases employ the Clean Water Act, the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, other environmental laws, and basic common sense to stop pollution, protect streams and watersheds, and improve water quality, bar none.
State and Industry Challenges to Public Lands Rule
Case: States of Utah and Wyoming v. Deb Haaland, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Conservation Lands Foundation, and The Wilderness Society
October 1, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners at Conservation Lands Foundation, The Wilderness Society, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a motion to intervene to defend BLM’s Public Lands Rule against yet another lawsuit brought this past summer by the American Farm Bureau and other industry trade associations representing the oil…
Stibnite Mine Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification
Case: Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, Save the South Fork Salmon, and Earthworks v. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
June 25, 2024 — Advocates for the West appealed a Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification issued by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to Perpetua Resources Idaho, Inc. for its proposed Stibnite Gold Project. We represent the Idaho Conservation League and Idaho Rivers United in this appeal, which was filed together…
NEXT Refinery and Railyard
Case: Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
October 19, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed our response to defendants’ motion to dismiss. May 30, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for determining that a Rivers and Harbors Act Section 14 permit was not required for NEXT Renewable Fuels’ proposed refinery and rail yard…
Grand View Feedlot Clean Water Act Enforcement
Case: Snake River Waterkeeper v. J.R. Simplot Company and Simplot Livestock
June 24, 2024 — A federal judge issued a memorandum decision and order denying Simplot’s motion to dismiss the case. Simplot filed a motion to dismiss the case in July 2023, arguing that Snake River Waterkeeper (SRW), our client-partner in the case, “failed to describe exactly where, when, and how such alleged illicit discharges occur”…
Galena Mine Clean Water Act Enforcement
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. U.S. Silver
March 30, 2023 — Representing the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), Advocates for the West filed a Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen enforcement suit against mining company U.S. Silver for unlawful discharges of arsenic, lead, and other pollutants at the Galena Complex Mine in north Idaho. The pollution into the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River and…
Point Reyes National Seashore Followup Case
Case: Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project v. National Park Service
January 10, 2022 —Advocates for the West filed a lawsuit challenging the controversial National Park Service management plan for California’s Point Reyes National Seashore, one of a handful of national parks that permits cattle grazing. For decades, the Park Service has leased about 28,000 acres of public lands at Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden…
Suction Dredge Clean Water Act Enforcement
Case: Idaho Conservation League v. Shannon Poe
July 2, 2024 — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition to review prior federal court rulings that found Shannon Poe in violation of the Clean Water Act when he dumped suction dredge mining waste into Idaho’s South Fork of the Clearwater River without a required pollution permit, requiring him to pay a $150,000 fine,…
Bureau of Reclamation: FOIA Records Request
Case: WaterWatch of Oregon v. Bureau of Land Reclamation
August 25, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to release certain records that are vital to WaterWatch of Oregon’s ability to participate in its mission to protect Oregon rivers and the species that depend on those rivers. March 9, 2020…
Bonneville Power Administration: FOIA Records Request
Case: Advocates for the West v. Bonneville Power Administration
October 5, 2020 – Advocates for the West filed a motion for partial summary judgment and we are now moving for a court order requiring BPA to disclose documents to us at an accelerated pace. June 26, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to compel the Bonneville…
Micron Water Right Protest
Case: Advocates for the West, Charles McDevitt, and Idaho Department of Water Resources protest on behalf of Idaho Foundation for Parks and Lands
December 23, 2019 – Advocates for the West teamed up with former Idaho Supreme Court chief justice Charles McDevitt to file an administrative protest with the Idaho Dept. of Water Resources of behalf of the Idaho Foundation for Parks and Lands (IFPL), objecting to a proposed new water right sought by Micron Corp. to divert…
