Mealey's Water Rights
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August 07, 2023
Partial Summary Judgment Granted In Suit Over Water Service Territory
SIOUX FALLS, S.C. — A South Dakota federal judge granted partial summary judgment to a South Dakota water district, finding that a town violated the district’s federally protected service jurisdiction, unlawfully annexed a housing development and violated the district’s easement.
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August 07, 2023
1 WOTUS Appeal Back On, 2 Others In Abeyance Pending New Post-Sackett Rule
One U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has taken a states’ lawsuit challenging the 2015 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule off abeyance status in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Michael Sackett, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., but two other circuit courts and a district court have stayed appeals involving the 2023 version of the rule pending an amended rule currently in the works after Sackett.
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August 07, 2023
Colorado Judge Partially Dismisses Suit Challenging Town’s Water Moratorium
EAGLE, Colo. — A Colorado judge has granted a town’s motion to partly dismiss a developer’s complaint involving a water moratorium and denial of equal treatment.
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August 07, 2023
Maryland Judge Grants Joint Motion To Dismiss Case Against Trump WOTUS Rule
BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has granted a joint stipulation by two environmental groups and the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to dismiss without prejudice the plaintiffs’ complaint against the Trump administration’s 2020 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
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August 01, 2023
Appellate Panel: Fracking Operator Has Exclusive Rights To Produced Water
EL PASO, Texas — A split appellate panel in Texas affirmed a lower court’s decision that held that, based on the language and context of the mineral leases in dispute, a hydraulic fracturing operator has the exclusive right to the oil and gas product stream, including the produced water, contrary to the claims of a water well services company.
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July 24, 2023
Supreme Court Sets Dates For Exceptions To Special Master’s Rio Grande Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on July 24 accepted the Third Interim Report of the special master overseeing a water rights lawsuit involving Texas, New Mexico and Colorado and ordered that exceptions to the report to be filed.
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July 21, 2023
10th Circuit: Reservoir Right Of Way Determined By 1909 Map
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the scope of a Wyoming irrigation district’s right of way around a reservoir is determined only by a line drawn in 1909 and approved by the U.S. Interior Department and is not changed by any later surveys and corrections.
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July 11, 2023
States, Businesses Say Sackett Requires Summary Judgment In WOTUS Rule Case
GALVESTON, Texas — Texas, Idaho and 18 business associations asked a Texas federal court to grant summary judgment against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers in their case challenging the legality of the current waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
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July 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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July 11, 2023
EPA, Army Corps Will Amend WOTUS Rule By Sept. 1 In Light Of Sackett
The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers say that in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA, they are developing a rule to amend their January 2022 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and intend to issue a final rule by Sept. 1, 2023.
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July 11, 2023
Colorado Ski Resort: Water Rights Quiet Title Action Against Agency Is Timely
DENVER — A Colorado ski resort tells a Colorado federal court in a response to a motion to dismiss that its lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service to quiet title to the resort’s water rights in and near a national forest is timely and that it has common-law access to its rights in a national park.
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July 11, 2023
Judge: California Water Agency Must Vacate Ordinance Favoring Agricultural Users
LOS ANGELES — A California state court judge has granted a petition for a writ of mandate against a groundwater management agency, ordering it to vacate part of an ordinance allocating water between agricultural and municipal water operators.
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July 11, 2023
United States Seeks Dismissal Of Crow Members’ Water Rights Act Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior has moved to dismiss a year-old lawsuit by six members of the Crow Tribe alleging that the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010 improperly seeks to take their water rights without due process or just compensation.
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July 11, 2023
Oregon Farmer Tells Court State Retaliated After He Sought Water Records
PENDLETON — An Oregon farmer has petitioned a state court for judicial review of a state water department violation notice telling him to apply for a water permit, an action he says is in retaliation for him wanting to see public records.
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July 11, 2023
10th Circuit: Reclamation Took ‘Hard Look’ At Utah Water Exchange Contract
DENVER — A divided 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 10 affirmed a trial court ruling that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation took the required “hard look” at a proposed water contract between the agency and Utah and provided a reasoned explanation concluding that the contract did not require an environmental impact statement (EIS) for any effect on water or fish resources in the Green River Basin.
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July 10, 2023
6th Circuit Holds WOTUS Appeal In Abeyance Pending New Rule After Sackett Ruling
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has granted an unopposed motion to hold in abeyance Kentucky’s appeal of a waters of the United States (WOTUS) ruling pending a new rule to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Michael Sackett, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.
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July 07, 2023
Tribe, Fishermen Withdraw Injunction Motion After New Klamath Water Plan Posted
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge has confirmed the withdrawal of a motion by the Yurok Tribe and two fishermen’s nonprofit organizations to enjoin the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from supplying irrigation water from the Klamath Project until water flows are ensured for endangered salmon.
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July 06, 2023
Supreme Court Special Master Recommends Approval Of Rio Grande Consent Decree
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Supreme Court special master overruled the objections of the United States to a consent decree settling water claims among Texas, New Mexico and Colorado involving the 1938 Rio Grande Compact and recommended that the court approve the decree and dismiss the United States’ objections without prejudice.
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June 22, 2023
Split Supreme Court Denies Navajo Nation’s Bid For Water Accounting
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States does not have a duty under an 1868 peace treaty to take “affirmative steps” to provide a water supply for the Navajo Nation, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 22 in a 5-4 decision, reversing a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling.
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June 07, 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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June 07, 2023
Oregon Water District Asks Supreme Court To Nix Tribes’ ‘Veto’ Of Adjudications
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Oregon water district has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that it says gives two Native American tribes “veto” power over state water rights adjudications in the Klamath Basin.
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June 07, 2023
Judge, States Ask About Sackett’s Effect On Their WOTUS Cases
A California federal judge has asked parties in a waters of the United States (WOTUS) case what bearing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA has on the case, and in a separate WOTUS case, two states have asked the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals how it would like to proceed in their appeal now that Sackett is decided.
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June 07, 2023
9th Circuit: Vacatur Of Pipeline Decision Moots Appeal By Community Groups
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has dismissed as moot an appeal by eight California community groups that sought to stop the vacatur of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval of the reuse of a gas pipeline for water that would potentially benefit their communities.
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June 07, 2023
State Appeals Panel: No Need Shown To Preserve Witness Testimony In Water Case
SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington state appeals court panel on June 6 ruled that a county water board made no showing under a court rule that it needs to preserve witness testimony in a prospective water rights case.
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June 06, 2023
9th Circuit: Oregon Water District Can’t Force Remand Of Lawsuit To State Court
SAN FRANCISCO — In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 said a federal district court did not err by refusing to remand a federal water release lawsuit by the Klamath Irrigation District (KID) against the Bureau of Reclamation to an Oregon court.