Mealey's Water Rights
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November 30, 2023
California Appeals Court: County Groundwater Agency Covers ‘CEMEX Area’ Of Aquifer
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals court has affirmed a trial court’s ruling that a county groundwater sustainability agency and not a city’s competing agency is authorized to manage the so-called CEMEX area of the 180/400 Foot Aquifer Subbasin of the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
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November 27, 2023
United States Urges Supreme Court To Deny Review Of Klamath Water Suit Removal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States says the U.S. Supreme Court should deny a certiorari petition in which the Klamath Irrigation District seeks a writ of mandate to remand to state court its lawsuit asserting primary jurisdiction over the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the Kalmath Project and minimum water levels to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to benefit two Native American tribes.
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November 21, 2023
California Appeals Court: Water District Can’t Intervene In All Coordinated Cases
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California state appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s denial of an attempt by the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) to separately intervene in all cases in a Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding (JCCP) challenging California’s adoption of amendments to the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay/Delta Plan), agreeing that the lower court did not err in denying the authority mandatory or permissive intervention under state law.
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November 08, 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.
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November 07, 2023
Deny Tri-State Rio Grande Consent Decree, United States Urges Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States says the U.S. Supreme Court should deny approval of a consent decree settling Rio Grande water disputes among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado because it would resolve a dispute involving the Rio Grande Compact without the consent of the federal government.
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November 07, 2023
Judge Dismisses Tribal Members’ Challenge Of Crow Water Rights Settlement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge has dismissed on the merits a complaint by several Montana Native Americans alleging that a tribal water rights settlement agreement and enacting legislation deprive them of their senior water rights and devalue their properties.
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November 07, 2023
BlueTriton Water Bottler Sues California Board Over Order Halting Water Extraction
FRESNO, Calif. — Water bottler BlueTriton Brands Inc. filed a complaint in California court against the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) seeking a writ of administrative mandate for declaratory relief and a finding of inverse condemnation due to the state agency’s recent order to stop groundwater extractions.
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November 07, 2023
California Judge Enjoins City From Operating Weirs That Reduce Water For Fish
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A California judge has preliminarily enjoined Bakersfield from operating any weirs in a way that would reduce water on the Kern River to levels that would harm fish downstream.
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November 03, 2023
New Mexico Appeals Court: Company Forfeited Water Right By Nonuse
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court ruling that a former potash mining company forfeited its water rights by not putting most of the water to beneficial use for more than 40 years.
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November 02, 2023
Oregon Appeals Court: New Water Storage Right Permit Conflicts With Trout Right
SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Court of Appeals on Nov. 1 affirmed a conclusion by the Oregon Water Resources Commission denying a water district’s application for a new water storage right because it conflicted with an existing in-stream water right that benefits cutthroat trout in a creek.
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November 02, 2023
Supreme Court Won’t Review 9th Circuit Decision On Water Rights Adjudications
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied an Oregon water district’s petition for a writ of certiorari in which it asked the court to reverse a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that it said gives two Native American tribes “veto” power over state water rights adjudications in the Klamath Basin.
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October 26, 2023
Washington State Appeals Panel Says Water Right Relinquished For 5 Years Of Nonuse
SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington state appeals court panel ruled that a landowner lost his water right because he failed to use water on his farm for more than five years.
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October 20, 2023
9th Circuit: Lower Court Must Address Sovereign Immunity In Water Rights Case
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appels has reversed a district court’s remand of a water rights case to Nevada state court and ordered the federal trial court to address whether the United States’ sovereign immunity prohibits the plaintiffs from trying their case in state court and applying a water adjudication ruling.
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October 16, 2023
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari In 2nd Challenge To Chevron Deference
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in a second case challenging the doctrine of Chevron deference and ordered that it be briefed on a schedule allowing argument “in tandem” with a pending case pertaining to the same issue, both of which involve challenges to regulations that require fishing vessels to pay federal monitors.
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October 11, 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.
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October 11, 2023
Judge Confirms: Abatti Claim To Colorado River Water Barred By Res Judicata
SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge has affirmed his tentative ruling dismissing as barred by res judicata a lawsuit by farmer and landowner Michael A. Abatti and 25 other plaintiffs against the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) in which the plaintiffs asserted a federal right to water from the Colorado River.
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October 10, 2023
Mining Company Sues California Water Board For ‘Re-Noticing’ 1993 Water Permit
LOS ANGELES — A mining company has filed a petition for a writ of mandate against the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) for re-noticing the company’s 1993 application for a permit to appropriate water from the Santa Clara River.
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October 10, 2023
California Appeals Court Restores County’s OK Of Desalination Plant
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals court has vacated a lower court ruling that reversed a county’s approval of a private desalination plant.
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October 10, 2023
2 Alaskan Tribes Appeal Water Permit Approvals For Planned Gold Mine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two Native American tribes have filed a notice of appeal to the state Supreme Court of a state district court’s finding that the state’s approval of 12 water permits for a proposed gold mine was not unconstitutional or arbitrary.
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October 10, 2023
Texas, Idaho Will Challenge ‘Conforming’ WOTUS Rule In Texas Federal Case
GALVESTON, Texas — A Texas federal judge has stricken a motion by Texas and Idaho for summary judgment in their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule so they can file an amended complaint challenging the administration’s new rule that conforms to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Michael Sackett, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
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October 06, 2023
Oklahoma High Court: Water Board, Court Didn’t Err In OK Of Stream Water Permit
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a lower court did not err in affirming the granting of a stream water permit for Oklahoma City by the state’s water resources board.
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October 06, 2023
Supreme Court Won’t Review U.S. Discretion To Divert Water For Fish Migration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition to rule that the federal government has no discretion to divert water from the Twitchell Dam for the benefit of steelhead fish trying to migrate upstream.
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October 06, 2023
Magistrate Judge Enjoins Klamath Water District From Making Water Diversions
MEDFORD, Ore. — An Oregon federal magistrate judge has permanently enjoined a Klamath Basin water district from making diversions that are not authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation under terms of a 1943 contract.
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October 02, 2023
Judge Moots Cross-Motions In Gila River Subflow Case Until Related Appeal Decided
TUCSON, Ariz. — An Arizona federal judge held that cross-motions for summary judgment involving alleged unlawful pumping of Gila River subflow are moot and stayed them until after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issues a ruling in a related appeal.
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October 02, 2023
Oregon Water Department Won’t Respond To Water District’s High Court Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) has waived its right to respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari in which the Klamath Irrigation District seeks review of an appeals court’s application of the doctrine of prior exclusion jurisdiction in an ongoing water adjudication under the McCarren Amendment.