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Mealey's Water Rights

  • April 19, 2018

    Justices Hear Arguments In Row Over Road Culverts, Tribes’ Fishing Rights

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled April 18 with how to best balance the treaty-guaranteed fishing rights of several Indian tribes in the state of Washington with the state’s responsibility to honor the treaties by correcting hundreds of fish-blocking road culverts at a cost of billions of dollars, hearing arguments from the state, the United States and the tribes (Washington v. United States, et al., No. 17-269, U.S. Sup.).

  • April 11, 2018

    Metropolitan Water District Board Votes To Fund Entire WaterFix Project

    LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) on April 10 went against its staff recommendation and voted to fund the full California WaterFix project.

  • April 11, 2018

    Metropolitan Water District Board Votes To Fund Entire WaterFix Project

    LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) on April 10 went against its staff recommendation and voted to fund the full California WaterFix project.

  • April 11, 2018

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

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

  • April 11, 2018

    Colorado Supreme Court: Water Replacement Plan Is Speculative Under Law

    DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court on April 9 affirmed denial of a water replacement plan, saying it violates the state’s anti-speculation doctrine for the granting of water rights (Front Range Resources, LLC v. Colorado Ground Water Commission, et al., No. 16SA243, Colo. Sup., 2018 Colo. LEXIS 280).

  • April 11, 2018

    California Appeals Court: Water Lawsuit Against Development Is Premature

    SAN DIEGO — The Fourth District California Court of Appeal on March 26 affirmed a demurrer in a case in which a real estate company challenged county government findings that there was enough water available to serve a planned residential development located next to the real estate company (Golden Door Properties, LLC v. Vallecitos Water District, et al., No. C072280, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 1, 2018 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1992).

  • April 10, 2018

    Metropolitan Water District To Consider Paying To Fund Entire WaterFix Project

    LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) is set April 10 to consider whether to back a scaled-back version of the state’s WaterFix project or to fund the entire project itself, according to a memorandum for the agency’s board meeting.

  • April 10, 2018

    United States Opposes Lifting Of Injunction Staying Clean Water Rule

    BISMARCK, N.D. — The United States on April 6 objected to a North Dakota federal magistrate judge’s order lifting the court’s stay of the Clean Water Rule, saying two agencies should not have to simultaneously rewrite the rule and engage in litigation (North Dakota, et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 15-96, D. N.D.).

  • April 9, 2018

    Environmental Group Seeks Summary Judgment In California Delta Water Case

    FRESNO, Calif. — The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on March 7 moved for summary judgment in its 18-year-old lawsuit against the United States for failing to release enough freshwater into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to keep two endangered species of fish from going extinct (Natural Resources Defense Council, et al. v. Ryan Zinke, et al., No. 05-1207, E.D. Calif.).

  • April 9, 2018

    Idaho Supreme Court: Right To Challenge Priority Date Waived During Adjudication

    BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court on March 7 ruled that landowners waived their right to challenge the priority date for a neighbor’s water right after the date was determined by an adjudication special master and court (Ricky C. Holden, et al. v. Jackie Weece, et al., No. 44944, Idaho Sup., 2018 Ida. LEXIS 59).

  • April 6, 2018

    California Water District Dismisses Farm Lease Suit Against Largest District

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California state court judge on April 13 vacated a mandamus hearing in a lawsuit accusing the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) of leasing farmland to lock up water sources after the plaintiff irrigation district on March 16 moved to dismiss the complaint with prejudice (Palo Verde Irrigation District v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, et al., No. RIC1714672, Calif., Super., Riverside Co.).

  • April 6, 2018

    Montana Supreme Court Affirms Water Court Ruling In Teton River Dispute

    HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on April 3 affirmed a state Water Court ruling on disputes over rights to water from the Teton River that date to 1906 (Teton Cooperative Reservoir Company, et al. v. Farmers Cooperative Canal Co., et al., No. DA 16-0322, Mont. Sup., 2018 Mont. LEXIS 94).

  • April 6, 2018

    New Mexico Appeals Court Affirms Validity Of Navajo Water Settlement

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico appeals panel on April 3 affirmed a lower court ruling that a Native American water settlement was fair, adequate, reasonable and consistent with the public interest and state and federal laws (State of New Mexico, et al. v. United States of America, et al., No. A-1-CA-33535, N.M. App., 2018 N.M. App. LEXIS 21).

  • April 2, 2018

    U.S. Supreme Court Names New Special Master In Texas-New Mexico Water Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 2 replaced the special master in an interstate water dispute between Texas and New Mexico (Texas v. New Mexico, et al., No. 141 Original, U.S. Sup.).

  • March 29, 2018

    California Water Board May Limit Repetitive Requests At WaterFix Hearing

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) on March 27 said it might be forced to limit participation in the ongoing California WaterFix hearing if objectors continue to make “repetitive procedural requests” and ignore the board’s prior rulings.

  • March 13, 2018

    Interior Secretary Releases $800,000 Under Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement

    BROWNING, Mont. — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on March 9 signed the first authorization of funds for the Blackfeet tribe’s expenditure plan under the Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act, according to a department press release.

  • March 7, 2018

    Montana State Judge Dissolves Reformed Water Board For Lack Of Election

    POLSON, Mont. — A Montana trial court judge on Jan. 30 ordered that the Flathead Joint Board of Control be dissolved because its members never conducted an election according to state law (Mission Valley Irrigators United, Inc., et al. v. Flathead Joint Board of Control, et al., No. DV-16-106, Mont. Dist., Lake Co.).

  • March 7, 2018

    Montana Supreme Court Won’t Take Over Dam Mediation From Lower Court

    HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Feb. 6 denied a motion by the state’s natural resources department to take supervisory control over the transfer of the Willow Creek Dam Project to a water users association (Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, et al. v. Montana Eighteenth District, et al., No. OP 17-0719, Mont. Sup., 2018 Mont. LEXIS 39).

  • March 7, 2018

    3 States Ask 6th Circuit To Remand Clean Water Rule Case To Lower Court

    CINCINNATI — Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan on March 6 filed a motion asking the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to summarily reverse its jurisdiction ruling in their Clean Water Rule challenge and to remand the case to a federal district court in accordance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case (Ohio, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., No. 16-3564, 6th Cir.).

  • March 7, 2018

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

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