Just northwest of Rifle, the Roan Plateau rises 3,000 feet above the Colorado River Valley, a towering wall of sandstone cliffs. … [A] fight has been reignited as the Bureau of Land Management considers several new oil and gas leases atop the Roan in its upcoming sale in December.  … The BLM first proposed leasing on the 73,600-acre Roan Plateau in 2007 — spurring thousands of protests and a lawsuit that took until 2014 to settle, resulting in the cancellation of 17 leases on the plateau. … The basis of the groups’ argument then — and now — is that oil and gas development on the plateau would impact watersheds that support a rare, genetically pure trout species, wildlife habitat that’s crucial to elk, mule deer and greater sage grouse and well-established hunting, fishing and backcountry recreation. 

Other water and mining news:

• Inside Climate News: Arizona regulators are raising contaminant limits for a uranium mine with an arsenic problem
• E&E News by Politico: Uranium mining grows as Trump seeks to feed a nuclear boom
• Oil City News (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Wyoming uranium miner wants to expand aquifer drilling