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Mealey's Water Rights

  • September 18, 2017

    Discovery Denied In Challenge To Delta Islands Purchase For California WaterFix

    STOCKTON, Calif. — A California state court judge on Sept. 13 said a decision by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) to purchase the Delta Islands was a formal action and denied a motion by challengers to conduct discovery in their mandamus action against MWD (County of San Joaquin v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, No. STK-CV-UWM-2016-0003597, Calif. Super., San Joaquin Co.).

  • September 13, 2017

    Senate Bill Would Settle Hualapai Tribe’s Water Rights

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arizona’s two senators on Sept. 7 introduced a bill to settle water rights claims of the Hualapai Tribe (Senate Bill 1770, The Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act).

  • September 13, 2017

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

    New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.

  • September 12, 2017

    United States Identifies More Than 3,600 Parcels In Klamath Water Takings Class

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 3,600 parcels of land have been identified by landowners or lessees in a water takings class action, counsel for defendant United States told the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in a Sept. 8 status report (Lonney E. Baley, et al. v. United States of America, et al., No. 01-591L, John Anderson Farms, Inc., et al. v. United States, No. 07-194C, Fed. Clms.).

  • September 12, 2017

    Oregon Judge Affirms State Order Shutting Wells After Senior Water Rights Call

    SALEM, Ore. — An Oregon state court judge on Aug. 22 affirmed state water department orders in 2015 and 2016 that two property owners had to turn their wells off in favor of senior surface water right holders downstream (Larry J. Sees, et al. v. Oregon Water Resources Department, et al., No. 15-CV-18272, Ore. Cir., Marion Co.).

  • September 12, 2017

    Lawsuits Filed To Rescind Approvals Clearing Way For California WaterFix Project

    Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21, various California counties, cities, water districts and environmental groups filed state court lawsuits against the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for its clearance of California’s WaterFix Project.

  • September 12, 2017

    Montana Supreme Court Affirms 1800s Water Right Seniority Claim

    HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Aug. 15 affirmed a water court’s grant of summary judgment in a dispute over the seniority of a water right dating back to the late 1800s (Melanie J. Knadler, et al. v. Quirk Cattle Company, No. DA 16-0740, Mont. Sup., 2017 Mont. LEXIS 529).

  • September 11, 2017

    Arizona Tribe Appeals Dismissal Of Groundwater Lawsuit To 9th Circuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — An Arizona Native American tribe on Aug. 17 appealed a federal district court’s dismissal of the tribe’s groundwater lawsuit against several parties after the United States apparently declined to become a party (Havasupai Tribe v. Anasazi Water Company LLC, et al., No. 17-16651, 9th Cir.).

  • September 11, 2017

    United States Opposes Defense Strike Motion In Yuba River Dam, Fish Lawsuit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The United States on Aug. 28 opposed a motion by an environmental group to strike the government’s cross-motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit over the effect of dam operations on fish in California’s Yuba River (Friends of the River v. National Marine Fisheries Service, et al., No. 16-818, E.D. Calif.).

  • September 11, 2017

    Army Corps Doesn’t Have To Provide More Administrative Records In Rio Grande Case

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge on Sept. 1 denied a motion by an environmental group to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide more documents to the administrative record in a Rio Grande water management lawsuit (WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 14-666, D. N.M., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141870).

  • September 7, 2017

    Judge Won’t Alter Trial Issues, Expand Discovery In Tribal Groundwater Case

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge overseeing a groundwater dispute between two water districts and a Native American tribe on Sept. 6 denied defense requests to alter the issues in the second phase of a trial and to conduct additional discovery (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District, et al., No. 13-883, C.D. Calif.).

  • August 25, 2017

    Judge Orders Agency To Address Habitat Loss Mitigation From Nevada Water Pipeline

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to address how it or the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) will mitigate habitat losses from a controversial 263-mile-long water pipeline project from rural Nevada to the Las Vegas area (Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau of Land Management, et al., No. 14-226, White Pine County, et al. v. United States Bureau of Land Management, et al., No. 14-228, D. Nev.).

  • August 14, 2017

    Federal Judge Denies Attempt By Missouri, Manitoba To Stop Dakota Water Pipeline

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Aug. 10 granted summary judgment against the Province of Manitoba, Canada, and the State of Missouri in their bid to further delay a North Dakota water pipeline, saying the federal government met its statutory obligation to conduct an environmental review about whether the project will introduce alien organisms into separate bodies of water (Government of the Province of Manitoba, et al. v. Ryan Zinke, et al., No. 02-2057, D. D.C., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127212).

  • August 11, 2017

    California County Plans To Sue State Over WaterFix Environmental Certification

    OROVILLE, Calif. — A northern California county on Aug. 9 announced that its supervisors voted unanimously to sue the California Department of Water Resources for allegedly failing to comply with state water law by inadequately addressing the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the California WaterFix project.

  • August 11, 2017

    High Court Asked To Resolve Whether Tribe Has Reserved Groundwater Rights

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two California water districts on July 3 and 5 petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue of whether the federal government and a Native American tribe have reserved rights to groundwater under federally reserved land (Coachella Valley Water District, et al. v. Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, et al., No. 17-40, U.S. Sup., 2017 U.S. S. Ct. Briefs LEXIS 2360, and Desert Water Agency v. Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, No. 17-42, U.S. Sup., 2017 U.S. S. Ct. Briefs LEXIS 2371).

  • August 9, 2017

    United States: Cap On Georgia’s Water Might Not Benefit Florida

    PORTLAND, Maine — The United States on Aug. 7 filed an amicus curiae brief in Florida’s U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit against Georgia, saying that it doesn’t think a cap on water use by Georgia would increase water flow to Florida during droughts and that any changes to federal dam operations would require an administrative process rather than a court order (State of Florida v. State of Georgia, No. 142, Original, U.S. Sup.).

  • August 9, 2017

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

    New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.

  • August 9, 2017

    Environmental Group Wants ‘Open-Ended’ Water Lawsuit, United States Says

    FRESNO, Calif. — The United States on July 26 opposed a motion by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to “complete” the production of the government’s administrative record in a lawsuit seeking more water releases for endangered fish, saying the documents are not part of the record, are not germane and are an attempt to create an “open-ended lawsuit”  (Natural Resources Defense Council, et al., No. 05-1207, E.D. Calif.)

  • August 9, 2017

    Tribe Appeals Water Takings Dismissal To Federal Circuit Court Of Appeals

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe on July 25 appealed the dismissal of its water takings lawsuit to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. The United States, No. 17-2340, Fed. Cir.).

  • August 9, 2017

    Arizona Tribe, Water District Reach Interim Agreement In Federal Water Case

    PHOENIX — An Arizona Native American tribe on July 31 withdrew its motion for a preliminary injunction against a water district in return for the district’s agreement to deliver an amount of water to be determined by the U.S. Interior Department under a federal water rights settlement law (Ak-Chin Indian Community v. Central Arizona Water Conservancy District, et al., No. 17-918, D. Ariz.).