Charging Ahead or Drying Up? Lithium Extraction vs Colorado River Stewardship

This note explores conflicts between water allocations from theColorado River and lithium mining in the Western United States. It focuseson how the Colorado River 2026 Plan and its proposed water allocationalternatives will disrupt environmental impact statements (EISs) andlitigation around lithium mining in the Western United States. The noteproposes that, not only is acknowledgment of the foreseeable changes towater management necessary to reduce litigation, but also that it isunlawfully arbitrary and capricious for the EISs to ignore, with norationale, the environmental impacts lithium extraction projects willinflict under foreseeable water management changes. Alternatively, toavoid the litigation necessary to correct EISs, the Bureau of Reclamationshould create and adopt an alternative plan that would protect the waterrights of users, like lithium operations, who contribute to combatting theclimate crisis.