Mealey's Water Rights

  • March 13, 2024

    Judge OKs Summary Judgment For Tribe In Suit Over Management Of Klamath Water

    MEDFORD, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge has adopted a magistrate judge’s findings and recommendation and granted summary judgment to the Klamath Tribes on its complaint that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by implementing temporary operating procedures for the federally operated Klamath Project during droughts that gave water to Klamath Basin irrigators at the expense of two endangered fish species that are culturally important to the tribe.

  • March 12, 2024

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

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

  • March 12, 2024

    New Mexico Appeals Court OKs Ruling On Water Rights, Irrigation Ditch Rights

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court ruling that three family members own only a portion of a decreed water right and that they failed to show that they had a constitutionally protected property interest in water from an acequia (community irrigation ditch).

  • March 11, 2024

    Colorado Appeals Court: ‘Water Matter’ Belongs In Water Court

    DENVER — A trial court petition challenging a state engineer’s ruling involving water rights belongs in state water court under Colorado’s Water Rights Act, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled.

  • March 08, 2024

    California Water Districts: Groundwater Agency Not Honoring Subsidence Settlement

    VISALIA, Calif. — Two California water districts have filed a breach of contract complaint against a groundwater sustainability agency, saying the latter is not living up to a 2021 settlement to take actions to limit subsidence caused by the overdrafting of groundwater, to impose penalties and to remit those penalties for repair of the Friant-Kern Canal.

  • March 06, 2024

    Judge: Arizona Water Transfer Needs Federal Environmental Impact Statement

    PRESCOTT, Ariz. — An Arizona federal judge has granted summary judgment to four municipalities that challenged a water transfer approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, agreeing that the federal agency needs to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS).

  • March 06, 2024

    6th Circuit Told Dismissal Of Kentucky’s WOTUS Challenge Should Remain Undisturbed

    CINCINNATI — The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have told the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should affirm dismissal of lawsuits filed by Kentucky challenging one of the recent waters of the United States (WOTUS) rules, noting that the agencies have subsequently promulgated a rule that comports with the most recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

  • February 29, 2024

    Montana Judge Cites Montana’s ‘Appetite’ For Abrogating State’s Water Use Act

    TOWNSEND, Mont. — A Montana state court judge has granted summary judgment to objectors to a 442-acre development, finding that the county’s approval was arbitrary, capricious or unlawful and accusing the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) of flouting state water rights law.

  • February 26, 2024

    U.S. High Court OKs Divided Argument On Tri-State Rio Grande Water Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a motion by Texas and New Mexico for divided argument at the March 20 hearing on whether the high court should accept a special master’s interim reports recommending a settlement of Rio Grande water distribution claims among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

  • February 26, 2024

    California Appeals Court Rejects Challenge To Groundwater Replenishment Fee

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California appeals court panel has denied a mandamus petition filed by a pistachio grower asking the court to overrule the state requirement for water users to “pay first” before they challenge the groundwater law replenishment fee.

  • February 22, 2024

    Interior, Tribes, Water Users Agree To Cooperate On Klamath Basin Projects

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Klamath Tribes, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and the Klamath Water Users Association have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and cooperate on water-related efforts in the Klamath Basin, according to an announcement by the DOI.

  • February 06, 2024

    3 Complaints Filed Against California’s Delta Water Conveyance Project

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three lawsuits were filed by a water district, environmental groups and a Native American tribe asking a California state court to set aside state approval for the Delta Conveyance Project and to order the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in evaluating the environmental impact of the planned water project in the state’s Delta region.

  • February 06, 2024

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

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

  • February 06, 2024

    Wyoming High Court: City Can’t Block University From Drilling, Using Water Wells

    CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled that a city cannot use a restrictive covenant in a deed to prevent the University of Wyoming from drilling two new water wells on its property and using that groundwater and that a subsequent state law blocking the city is not unconstitutional because the university has sovereign immunity.

  • February 05, 2024

    Idaho Supreme Court Vacates Water Diversion Ruling By Lower Court

    BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho Supreme Court majority on Feb. 2 reversed a district court ruling vacating state water department approval of a water diversion application, saying the lower court used the wrong criteria.

  • February 01, 2024

    California Appeals Court: Agency Violated CEQA In OK Of Water District Expansion

    FRESNO, Calif. — A California state appeals court panel has affirmed a trial court ruling that a local agency formation commission (LAFCO) violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by approving the annexation of about 630 acres of land and a sphere-of-influence amendment by a water storage district without first considering environmental impacts.

  • January 31, 2024

    U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Interstate Rio Grande Water Case On March 20

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 20 on whether the high court should accept a special master’s interim report recommending a settlement of Rio Grande water distribution claims among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

  • January 29, 2024

    Nevada High Court: State Engineer Authorized To Create Water ‘Superbasin’

    CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the state engineer has authority to create a “superbasin” to manage groundwater use among seven interconnected basins.

  • January 25, 2024

    U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Interstate Rio Grande Water Case ‘In Due Course’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has set for argument “in due course” a special master’s interim report recommending a settlement of a dispute among Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and the United States over the distribution of water from the Rio Grande.

  • January 22, 2024

    Idaho High Court: State Was Correct In Curtailing Junior Groundwater Rights

    BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that the state Department of Water Resources and its director did not err in initiating a proceeding to determine whether there was enough water in an aquifer to meet junior groundwater rights, in concluding that the state’s Conjunctive Management of Surface and Ground Water Resources (CM Rules) did not apply to the proceedings, in finding that the proceeding did not violate the state’s prior appropriation doctrine and in finding that objecting groundwater districts were not denied due process in challenging the proceeding.

  • January 18, 2024

    California Judge: State Delta Water Project Revenue Bonds Exceeded Authorization

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) exceeded its authority when it authorized the issuance of revenue bonds to fund the controversial Delta Conveyance Project, a state court ruled, handing a defeat to the state agency and a victory to the Sierra Club.

  • January 17, 2024

    High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.

  • January 09, 2024

    United States: ESA Letter Did Not Constitute A Physical Taking Of District’s Water

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States has told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) making recommendations that a California water district implement to protect an endangered fish does not constitute a physical taking of the district’s property right.

  • January 09, 2024

    California Environmentalists Ask Court To Void Approval Of New Reservoir

    WOODLAND, Calif. — Six California environmental organizations have filed a petition for writ of mandate against a reservoir authority, asking a state court to rescind the authority’s environmental clearances for failure to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

  • January 09, 2024

    Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

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