State of Arizona Motion to Intervene, State of Nevada v. Burgum

Recently, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation issued three agency actions that will govern the agencies’ release of water from federal dams and reservoirs for the next decade.  If upheld, these actions would significantly reduce the supply of water available to the three States of the Lower Basin—Arizona, California, and Nevada—in violation of the 1922 Compact and related laws. Nevada brought this Administrative Procedure Act suit to challenge those agency actions and to protect its rights under the federal laws governing the Colorado River. Those same challenged actions affect Arizona at least as much as Nevada. Acting through the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, see Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 45-105(A)(9), Arizona therefore moves to intervene and participate in the resolution of these critical issues.