Western Drought Risk Deepens as EPA Rollback Goes to Court
What Happened
A fast deterioration in western snowpack was the clearest development yesterday. After a warm winter and a record March heat wave, Sierra Nevada measurements were down to trace levels, and snowpack in parts of western Colorado fell to less than half of normal. Across the upper Colorado River basin, conditions slid from about 52 percent of median on March 1 to 23 percent on April 1, with runoff into Lake Powell now forecast at roughly 22 percent of normal. Cities are already reacting: Denver is seeking a 20 percent cut in water use, Salt Lake City wants to save 10 million gallons a day, and Phoenix has issued a stage 1 water alert.
Those western warnings were reinforced by national data. NOAA said March was the most abnormally hot month on record for the contiguous United States, with average temperatures 9.35 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century normal. The January-through-March period was also the driest start to a year on record for the lower 48. That combination raises immediate concern for water supply, agriculture, river levels, and wildfire risk heading into spring and summer.
In Washington, the administration’s climate rollback moved further into public and legal confrontation. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended the repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding, the legal basis for federal greenhouse-gas regulation under the Clean Air Act. Twenty-four states, along with cities, tribes, and environmental and public-health groups, have filed challenges. The stakes are broad: the finding underpins federal rules for vehicles, power plants, and major industrial emitters.
There was one important exception on clean-energy buildout. After federal courts blocked Interior Department actions against several offshore wind projects and the government let appeal deadlines pass, projects tied to New England, Long Island, and Virginia have resumed or continued moving toward operation. That does not erase federal hostility, but it shows some projects can still advance when permits, financing, and court orders hold.
Key Points
- Upper Colorado River basin snowpack fell from about 52 percent of median on March 1 to 23 percent on April 1; Lake Powell inflows are forecast at roughly 22 percent of normal.
- Western cities are moving from monitoring to response, with Denver seeking a 20 percent water-use cut, Salt Lake City targeting 10 million gallons a day in savings, and Phoenix under a stage 1 water alert.
- NOAA said March was the most abnormally hot month on record in the contiguous U.S., and the first three months of the year were the driest on record.
- The repeal of EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding is now a major court fight that could reshape U.S. emissions rules for transport, power, and industry.
- Offshore wind developers gained breathing room after court victories kept several U.S. projects moving despite federal attempts to slow them.
Implications
The western water story is no longer a distant summer concern. It is already an operational problem for utilities, cities, agriculture, and fire agencies, with shrinking runoff arriving before peak seasonal demand. It also adds pressure to Colorado River negotiations, where states are trying to divide a smaller and less reliable supply.
On policy, U.S. climate governance is becoming more dependent on courts, states, and project-level litigation. If the endangerment finding remains under attack, regulatory planning becomes less predictable across transport and power. At the same time, the offshore wind decisions show that federal retrenchment does not automatically stop infrastructure where developers already have enough legal and financial footing to keep going.
Things to watch
Watch
Whether western water agencies shift from voluntary conservation requests to mandatory restrictions if runoff forecasts worsen.
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How quickly dry soils and early snowmelt translate into a more severe early fire outlook across the West.
Watch
The first substantive court responses to the endangerment-finding lawsuits, and whether the administration moves next against specific vehicle or power-sector rules.