Mealey's Water Rights
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December 08, 2021
Water Nonprofit Appeals Ruling It Isn’t Prepared To Offer New Water Service
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma nonprofit water company on Nov. 24 appealed a federal judge’s Oct. 27 order granting summary judgment to two developers who say they shouldn’t be forced to spend their money to get water from the nonprofit because the latter hasn’t demonstrated the ability to provide service.
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December 07, 2021
Proposal To Re-Establish Pre-2015 Clean Water Rule Published In Federal Register
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Army Corps) on Dec. 7 published a proposed rule to re-establish the pre-2015 definition of the “waters of the United States” (the Clean Water Rule.)
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December 07, 2021
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 07, 2021
California Water District Tells 9th Circuit Law Bars Water Release To Benefit Fish
SAN FRANCISCO — A California water district on Nov. 8 told the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals it should affirm a federal district court ruling that federal law prohibits a lawsuit by two conservation plaintiffs seeking to force the release of more water from the Twitchell Dam to prevent endangered species of steelhead from being killed.
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December 07, 2021
Kelly, Sinema Bill Would Allow Arizona Tribe To Lease Some Colorado River Water
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, both D-Ariz., on Dec. 2 introduced a bill that would allow the Colorado River Indian Tribes, a federally recognized Indian tribe, to lease a portion of its Colorado River water allocation to Arizona communities and to reinvest portions of that revenue into tribal water infrastructure improvements.
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December 07, 2021
California Environmental Group Seeks To Vacate OK Of Trans-Bay Water Pipeline
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — A California environmental group on Nov. 24 filed a petition for a writ of mandate in a state court seeking to have approval of a trans-bay water pipeline vacated for alleged failure to comply with state requirements.
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December 07, 2021
California Appeals Court: Well Wasn’t Inverse Condemnation; No Damages Due
SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate court on Nov. 30 reversed a trial court finding that a well drilled by a water district under an easement from a property owner constituted inverse condemnation, along with a $401,000 compensation award.
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December 07, 2021
New Mexico Water Users Sue Federal, State, Tribal Officials To Enforce Laws
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Six New Mexico residents and a water users association on Nov. 12 sued three federal agency officials, two Navajo officials and two state officials in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment enforcing federal water laws and regulations.
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December 07, 2021
New Mexico Appeals Ruling Answers Water User’s Question, Magistrate Judge Says
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal magistrate judge on Nov. 12 recommended that a federal judge not certify to the New Mexico Supreme Court a question about whether the use of a water right for a mining operation should be considered in a river basin adjudication because the magistrate judge said a state appeals court answered the question in a Sept. 17 decision.
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December 03, 2021
Colorado High Court Affirms Water Court On Merits, Attorney Fee Award
DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court on Nov. 15 affirmed a state water court’s jurisdiction to decide a drawn-out dispute over an irrigation ditch, the lower court’s decision on the merits and its award of attorney fees for the “frivolous, vexatious, and litigious” claims of the appellant.
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December 03, 2021
Washington High Court Affirms, Reverses Yakima Basin Water Rights Adjudication
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Supreme Court on Nov. 18 affirmed in part and reversed in part a state superior court’s adjudication of certain water rights in the Yakima River Drainage Basin, including those of a Native American tribe whose rights are spelled out in an 1855 treaty (In the Matter of the Determination of the Rights to Use the Surface Waters of the Yakima River Drainage Basin, et al.
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November 22, 2021
Supreme Court: Equitable Apportionment Applies To Use Of Groundwater
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The doctrine of equitable apportionment applies to the use of groundwater from aquifers that lie beneath more than one state, the U.S. Supreme Court held Nov. 22 in deciding for the first time that an aquifer is an interstate water resource that must be shared equitably, just like water from lakes, rivers and streams.
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November 10, 2021
Kansas Federal Judge Dismisses Audubon Refuge Water Rights Case
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge on Oct. 20 dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit by Audubon of Kansas Inc. against the U.S. Department of Interior and the Kansas Department of Agriculture because the state has immunity and because the United States has taken no final agency action with regard to water rights in a federal wildlife refuge.
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November 10, 2021
California Governor Proclaims Statewide Drought Emergency
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 19 signed a proclamation declaring a state of emergency due to drought in the state’s eight remaining counties.
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November 09, 2021
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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November 09, 2021
Los Angeles Appeals Court’s CEQA Mandate As Premature, Illegal
SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles on Oct. 14 told a California appeals court that a trial court erred in finding that a water allocation to ranchers leasing city land in an adjoining county and a study of a new type of lease without water allocation are subject to the California Environmental Quality Act.
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November 09, 2021
Federal Claims Court Judge: Habitat Project Didn’t Take Property, Cause Flooding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a May bench trial, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on Oct. 25 ruled that a federal habitat restoration project in a wildlife refuge in Nevada did not cause flooding of a church’s retreat and rehabilitation camp and that the government thus did not take property under the Fifth Amendment.
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November 09, 2021
California Federal Judge Vacates Trump Clean Water Rule, Remands Suit To EPA
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Oct. 21 remanded three Clean Water Rule cases to the Environmental Protection Agency but vacated the 2020 version of the rule enacted during the Trump administration.
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November 09, 2021
Texas Appeals Court: 18 Irrigation Districts Didn’t Exhaust Administrative Remedy
EDINBURG, Texas — A Texas appeals court on Oct. 21 affirmed a lower court ruling that 18 irrigation districts had not exhausted their administrative remedy concerning past water charges made by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
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November 08, 2021
Texas Appeals Court Affirms Takings Claim For Flooding Caused By Dam Release
HOUSTON — A Texas state appeals court on Nov. 4 dismissed an inverse condemnation claim by 34 property owners against the San Jacinto River Authority for flooding their properties by a release of water from an upstream dam but affirmed a lower court ruling allowing claims of unconstitutional taking.
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November 05, 2021
California State Judge Won’t Validate Water District’s Contract With Reclamation
FRESNO, Calif. — A California state court judge on Oct. 27 issued a tentative ruling denying a renewed motion by the Westlands Water District to validate its contract with the United States for water service from the Central Valley Project and repayment of loans from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, finding that the district “failed to show any new or different facts, circumstances, or law that would justify the renewal of its prior motion.”
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October 22, 2021
Oregon Ranchers Ask High Court To Review Tribe’s Ability To Cut Off Irrigation Water
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of Oregon ranchers on Oct. 5 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse lower court rulings that say they have no standing to challenge a protocol that they say allows a Native American tribal nation to cut off their irrigation water in the Klamath River Basin.
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October 12, 2021
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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October 12, 2021
New Mexico Appeals Court Affirms, Reverses Water Rights Adjudication For Mine
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico appeals court panel on Sept. 17 affirmed in part and reversed in part a state adjudication court’s rulings on water rights involving a once and future copper mine.
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October 12, 2021
New Mexico Federal Judge Vacates Trump Clean Water Rule, Remands To Agencies
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge on Sept. 27 vacated the Trump administration’s 2020 Clean Water Rule and remanded an Indian tribe’s case to the Environmental Protection Agency, where a new rule is under development.