When Congress debated the Endangered Species Act of 1973, bill sponsors expressed concern about individuals who capture or kill animals “for pleasure or profit” and also recognized habitat destruction as a principal threat to protected species. With its core purpose
In my last post, I wrote from the Noordwaard, a former farming polder (or protected basin) on the edge of De Biesbosch National Park, where the Dutch lowered a dike on purpose so the river can spill into the
I’m writing this from the Netherlands. Today I spent the day at the Noordwaard, a former farming polder (or protected basin) on the edge of De Biesbosch National Park. I traveled here with NAFSMA (the National Association of Flood and
On September 21, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a statewide state of emergency in anticipation of a developing El Niño event that NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center projects has a greater than 90% chance of reaching “very strong” intensity this fall
In case you haven’t heard, the National Weather Service is predicting, with high certainty, a very strong El Niño this year. A strong El Niño has already formed with a 90% chance of it strengthening to very strong and a
Data center development is accelerating across California, bringing increased attention to the water supplies and infrastructure needed to serve these projects. That attention has prompted both developers and public agencies to address issues such as long-term reliability, infrastructure costs, drought
I was recently asked to speak at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the National Waterways Conference, a national trade group advocating in the areas of navigation, flood control, and water supply. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the effects
On August 17, 2026, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a years-long challenge to the United States Bureau of Reclamation’s (“Reclamation”) conversion of certain federal water service contracts, granting a significant win to the municipal
Friends and Colleagues,
Since its launch, The Levee Was Dry has served as a forum for commentary on flood risk and floodplain management. As the legal and policy issues shaping California’s and the United States’ water landscape continue to evolve,
