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Mealey's Water Rights

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.
January 09, 2024
California Appeals Court Affirms Denial Of Challenges To Water Contract Amendments

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court has affirmed a trial court ruling that amendments to long-term water contracts between the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and 29 local governments do not violate the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act or California’s public interest doctrine.
January 08, 2024
U.S. High Court Won’t Decide If State Has Jurisdiction In Klamath ESA, Tribal Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 8 denied a petition by the Klamath Irrigation District for the high court to order that the district’s lawsuit against the federal government’s operation of the Klamath Project be remanded to state court and included in a water adjudication.
January 05, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Water Rights Case After Tribes’ Rights Are Settled

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma federal judge has granted an unopposed motion by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and Oklahoma City to dismiss their water rights complaint against the United States in light of a 2016 settlement agreement among the board, the city and the United States regarding the water rights of two Native American tribes in the context of a stream adjudication.
January 05, 2024
California Judge Modifies Weir Injunction To Allow For ‘Dire Necessity’ Of Water

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A California state court judge has modified his Nov. 9 preliminary injunction on Bakersfield’s operation of weirs to allow for “dire necessity to sustain human consumption through the domestic water supply.”
January 05, 2024
D.C. Federal Judge: Army Corps’ Manual For ACT River Basin Is Lawful

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge has granted summary judgment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, finding that its Master Manual for the operation of federal water projects in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin is lawful.
January 04, 2024
ACF River Basin Appeal Stayed After Alabama, Army Corps Reach Agreement

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has granted a joint motion to stay an appeal of a trial court ruling involving the operation of federal water projects in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin after the parties told the court that they reached an agreement to modify the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ modification of the Water Control Manual for the ACF Basin.
January 02, 2024
Oregon Appeals Court: State Must Consider Application To Change Water Diversion

SALEM, Ore. — A panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by a state circuit court directing the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) to consider an application to change the point of diversion for water feeding an “off-channel” reservoir, but for a slightly different reason than given by the trial court.
December 12, 2023
Multiplaintiff, Interstate Or Notable Water Rights Cases

New developments in the following multiplaintiff, interstate or notable water rights cases are marked in boldface type.
December 12, 2023
Overrule United States’ Exception To Rio Grande, States Tell Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas, New Mexico and Colorado tell the U.S. Supreme Court that it should overrule an exception by the United States to their consent decree resolving a dispute over the Rio Grande Compact, saying the agreement resolves ambiguities, doesn’t preclude the United States from litigating any of its valid claims and imposes no new obligations on the federal government.
December 12, 2023
Texas, Idaho File Amended WOTUS Complaint Against Sackett ‘Conforming Rule’

GALVESTON, Texas — Texas and Idaho have filed a second amended complaint in Texas federal court arguing that a waters of the United States (WOTUS) ruled promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court’s WOTUS ruling in Michael Sackett, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and should be vacated.
December 12, 2023
Oregon Cattlemen Give Up WOTUS Rule Challenge In Oregon Federal Court

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and the United States have stipulated to the voluntary dismissal of the association’s 2019 complaint involving the waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
December 12, 2023
Washington Federal Judge: Sackett Decision Didn’t Affect CWA Consent Decree

SEATTLE — The U.S. Supreme Court’s adoption of a definition of wetlands for the purposes of the Clean Water Act (CWA) did not constitute a significant change in circumstances that warranted revision of a consent decree entered between the United States, an Indian tribe and two companies over the companies’ alleged illegal discharges of dredged and fill material into protected waters because the definition was previously unchallenged in the case, a Washington federal judge found in denying the companies’ motion to vacate or modify the consent decree.
December 11, 2023
California High Court Denies Review Of Water Contract Repayment Appellate Ruling

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court has denied a petition to review the dismissal of a water contract validation action filed by the Westlands Water District for lack of essential details.
December 11, 2023
24 States File Amended Complaint Challenging Conforming WOTUS Rule

BISMARCK, N.D. — Twenty-four states have filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota asking the court to declare that the latest Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Clean Water Act and the U.S. Constitution.
December 11, 2023
5th Circuit Cites U.S.-Mexico Water Rio Grande Treaty In Floating Barrier Case

NEW ORLEANS — Texas’ 1,000-foot floating barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande threatens a treaty crucial to allocation of water between the United States and Mexico, a majority of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in part in allowing a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the barrier to resume pending a resolution on the merits.
December 08, 2023
Montana High Court: It’s Too Late To Challenge 1997 Water Adjudication Settlement

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court has denied an appeal involving a water adjudication claim, agreeing with a water master and the Montana Water Court that the appellant had willingly entered into a stipulated settlement of disputed claims in 1997 and that there is no evidence that any problem was recently discovered.
December 01, 2023
U.S. High Court To Consider Klamath Water Jurisdiction Petition On Jan. 5

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider at its Jan. 5 conference a certiorari petition in which the Klamath Irrigation District seeks a writ of mandate to remand to Oregon state court its lawsuit asserting primary jurisdiction over the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the Klamath Project to maintain minimum river levels to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to benefit two Native American tribes, according to a Nov. 29 docket entry.