Mealey's Water Rights
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January 30, 2020
California Tribe Sues 2 Water Districts, Says Water Fee Is Illegal
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians on Jan. 24 filed a declaratory action complaint against long-time legal foes Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency for imposing a water “replenishment assessment charge” (RAC) for water drawn from the tribe’s federally reserved groundwater (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District, et al., No. 20-174, C.D. Calif., Eastern Div.).
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January 28, 2020
Supreme Court Wants Briefs On Special Master Report In Florida/Georgia Water Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 27 received a special master’s report on the interstate water dispute between Florida and Georgia and ordered the parties to file exceptions, replies and sur-replies within four months (State of Florida v. State of Georgia, No. 142, Original, U.S. Sup.).
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January 28, 2020
U.S. High Court Will Review Texas-New Mexico Water Report ‘In Due Course’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 27 said oral argument on a motion to review a river master’s final determination in an interstate water dispute among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado will take place “in due course” (Texas v. New Mexico, et al., No. 141, Original, U.S. Sup.).
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January 15, 2020
Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases
New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.
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January 15, 2020
Court Awards A Fraction Of Claimed Costs In California Water Curtailment Cases
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A California state court judge on Dec. 23 awarded $13,205 to four water districts as the prevailing parties in the California water curtailment cases but granted the state government’s motion to strike $1.13 million in other costs (California Water Curtailment Cases, JCCP No. 4838, Calif. Super., Santa Clara Co.).
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January 15, 2020
New Mexico Appeals Court Affirms Condemnation For Irrigation Ditch
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico state appeals court on Dec. 6 affirmed a district court’s approval of a condemnation action for an irrigation ditch on a neighbor’s property and for the court’s determination that the defendants are due only $689 as reasonable compensation (Trudy S. Abrams, et al. v. Aaron Martinez, et al., No. A-1-CA-36430, N.M. App., 2019 N.M. App. Unpub. LEXIS 490).
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January 15, 2020
California Appeals Court: No Environmental Report Needed For Islands Purchase
SAN JOAQUIN, Calif. — A California appeals court on Dec. 30 affirmed that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California did not have to perform an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it purchased 20,000 acres of islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta because Metropolitan has not said what it will use the property for (San Joaquin, et al. v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, et al., No. C087640, Calif. App., 3rd Dist., San Joaquin, 2019 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 8652).
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January 15, 2020
Water Authority Offers To Settle Water Rate Case For $72M; Opponent Says $140M
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Water Authority on Dec. 19 made a counteroffer to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) to settle their long-running litigation for $140 million and agreements on certain water rates and transmission costs.
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January 15, 2020
16 Business Associations Seek To Intervene In Clean Water Rule Challenge
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sixteen business associations on Dec. 18 moved to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the federal government’s latest attempt to repeal the 2019 Clean Water Rule (South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, et al. v. Andrew Wheeler, et al., No. 19-3006, D. S.C., Charleston Div.).
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January 15, 2020
Oklahoma, Business Groups Dismiss Clean Water Rule Appeal In 10th Circuit
DENVER — An appeal of a Clean Water Rule decision by Oklahoma and five business groups was voluntarily dismissed Dec. 23 by the appellants in light of the administration’s so-called Repeal Rule (Oklahoma, ex rel. Mike Hunter, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., No. 19-5055, 10th Cir.).
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January 15, 2020
14 States, 2 Cities Want Clean Water Rule Replacement Declared Invalid
NEW YORK — Fourteen states, the District of Columbia and New York City on Dec. 20 filed a complaint asking a federal court in New York to declare that the federal government’s proposed replacement for the 2015 Clean Water Rule is invalid (New York, et al. v. Andrew R. Wheeler, et al., No. 19-11673, S.D. N.Y.).
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January 15, 2020
Nevada Ministry Loses Water Rights Taking Claims, But Flooding Claim Survives
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Nov. 20 dismissed an unconstitutional takings claim by a Nevada ministry that says the federal government took its water rights but preserved for trial the ministry’s claim that floods caused by a federal water project took use of the ministry’s property (Ministerio Roca Solida v. United States, No. 16-826L, Fed. Clms., 2019 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1812).
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January 15, 2020
Georgia Federal Judge Won’t Vacate 2015 Clean Water Rule
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A Georgia federal judge on Jan. 3 denied as moot a motion by states and business intervenors to reconsider his August order remanding the 2015 Clean Water Rule to the federal government and to instead vacate the rule entirely (Georgia v. Andrew R. Wheeler, et al., No. 15-79, S.D. Ga., Brunswick Div.).
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January 13, 2020
U.S. High Court Denies ‘Pre-Federal’ Parties Intervention In Water Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a motion by the “pre-federal” plaintiffs for leave to intervene in an interstate water dispute among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado (Texas v. New Mexico, et al., No. 141, Original, U.S. Sup.).
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December 13, 2019
Special Master Recommends High Court Not Grant Florida’s Interstate Water Request
SANTA FE, N.M — A U.S. Supreme Court special master on Dec. 11 recommended that the high court not grant Florida’s request for a decree equitably apportioning the waters of the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) basins because the evidence in the six-year-old case doesn’t show Florida was harmed by Georgia (State of Florida v. State of Georgia, No. 142, Original, U.S. Sup.).
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December 11, 2019
Utah Appeals Court Affirms Family’s Water Easement, Says Neighbors Forfeited Rights
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 affirmed that a family that holds a water easement across a neighboring property dating back to the 1880s holds a water easement across a neighboring property and that the neighbors forfeited their water rights by failing to put them to beneficial use (Ross and Norma Allen Family Trust, et al. v. Jeffrey Holt, et al., No. 20180614-CA, Utah App., 2019 Ut. App. 197).
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December 11, 2019
2 Water Agencies Oppose Tribe’s Amended Complaint In Groundwater Suit
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Two California water districts on Nov. 25 told a federal court that a Native American tribe is trying to expand its groundwater lawsuit now that the court has narrowed the case to one issue (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District, et al., No. 13-883, C.D. Calif.).
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December 11, 2019
Federal Judge Won’t Dismiss United States’ Water Suit Against California’s Delta Plan
FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Dec. 2 denied a motion by the state to dismiss a federal government lawsuit related to a water quality plan for the state’s so-called Delta area and ordered additional briefing on federal immunity (United States v. State Water Resources Control Board, et al., No. 19-547, E.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207360).
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December 11, 2019
Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases
New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.
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December 11, 2019
Environmental Group Urges Stay Of Trial Pending Biological Opinion Challenge
FRESNO, Calif. — Environmental plaintiffs in a California fish takings case on Dec. 2 asked a federal court to stay a claim and stay judgment on three other claims until the validity of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 2019 biological opinion (BiOp) is determined in separate litigation (Natural Resources Defense Council, et al. v. David Bernhardt, et al., No. 05-1207, E.D. Calif.).