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Mealey's Water Rights

April 17, 2023
Having Lost Injunction, Tribe Defends Summary Judgment Bid In Trinity River Case

FRESNO, Calif. — After convincing a judge that the balance of harms did not rise to the level required for granting a tribe’s motion enjoining the Trinity River water plan, the government asked the court to stay summary judgment briefing and for expedited consideration of its motion to dismiss. In an April 14 response, the tribe told the federal California court there is nothing stopping the court from receiving briefing on motions to dismiss and for summary judgment and that doing so would conserve judicial resources.
April 17, 2023
North Dakota Federal Judge Enjoins WOTUS Rule In 24 Plaintiff States

BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota federal judge has preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the revised definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in 24 states that challenged the rule, finding that the rule would cause them to incur significant costs.
March 24, 2023
New Mexico High Court Suspends Lawyer For Attacks On Judge In Tribal Water Case

SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Supreme Court has suspended for at least 18 months an attorney for making “unfounded” statements that a judge presiding over a Native American water rights case had a conflict of interest and might fix the case in favor of the tribe.
March 21, 2023
9th Circuit Partly Reverses Dismissal Of Claim That Canal Fix Will Hurt Aquifer

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal district court correctly dismissed environmental claims involving a federal repair of a leaky irrigation canal but abused its discretion by not granting a city leave to file an amended complaint, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
March 20, 2023
Judge Enjoins WOTUS Rule, But Only In Texas And Idaho, Not Nationwide

GALVESTON, Texas — One day before the Biden administration’s waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule was set to take effect, a Texas federal judge on March 19 granted a motion by Texas and Idaho to preliminarily enjoin the rule in those two states but denied a request by 18 trade associations in a second case to enjoin the rule nationally.
March 20, 2023
United States’ Trust Duty For Navajo Nation Water Argued Before Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the Southwest United States experiencing extreme drought conditions at a time when the average Navajo Nation resident in Arizona uses only 7 gallons of water a day, the federal government needs to exercise its treaty-promised trust duty to the tribe to see if it can obtain water from the lower Colorado River, an attorney for the tribe told the U.S. Supreme Court this morning in a long-running water rights dispute.
March 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.
March 07, 2023
Riparian Rights Lawsuit Dismissed With Leave To Amend; Judge Advises On Basis

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has dismissed with leave to refile property owners’ claims that federal operation of a dam violates the property owners’ riparian rights, but the judge specified what laws an amended complaint is best brought under to avoid another dismissal.
March 07, 2023
Tribe Files 3rd Motion For Injunction Against Trinity River Water Plan

FRESNO, Calif. — California’s Hoopa Valley Tribe has asked a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction against a Trinity River water flow plan that the tribe says will come at the expense of a reduced flow for the spring and summer.
March 06, 2023
Utah Appeals Court: Water Rights Interference Case Isn’t An Adjudication Issue

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah court erred in ruling that it lacked jurisdiction in a water rights interference case and sending the case to a water basin general adjudication, the Utah Court of Appeals said in remanding.
March 06, 2023
Oregon Appeals Court Affirms State Water Department Water Rights Determination

SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Court of Appeals has affirmed a determination by the Oregon Water Resources Department about the water rights of three municipalities and forecasts of water use effects on endangered fish.
March 06, 2023
United States Didn’t Accept Trust Duty For Navajo Nation Water, Supreme Court Told

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navajo Nation’s attempt to hold the federal government liable for breaching its trust duty to provide water for the tribe, including from the Colorado River, fails because the claim “does not rest on any specific trust duty that the government has expressly accepted,” the government argues in its March 3 reply brief on the merits in the U.S. Supreme Court.
March 06, 2023
22 States Seek Injunction Against New WOTUS Rule Or Delay Pending Sackett Ruling

BISMARCK, N.D. — Twenty-two states have asked a North Dakota federal judge to enter a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, saying that if the rule goes into effect on March 20, it “will trigger significant burdens for the States, who administer costly and time-intensive permitting and other programs under the CWA [Clean Water Act].”
March 03, 2023
Washington Appeals Court: State Agency Policy Didn’t Cause Injury In Water Case

SPOKANE, Wash. — A Washington appellate court said that a county water conservation board did not suffer an injury-in-fact when the state Department of Ecology applied a department policy and that the board lacks standing to challenge how the department handled the division of a private water right being held in trust by the state.
February 23, 2023
Texas Seeks To Enjoin New Waters Of The U.S. Rule; 2 Cases Consolidated

GALVESTON, Texas — Texas has asked a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’ waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, saying the state and five of its agencies are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the rule violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution and that the state will suffer irreparable injury complying with the rule.
February 22, 2023
9th Circuit: Trump WOTUS Rule Wasn’t Ruled Unlawful Before Remand For New Rule

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 21 said a federal district court lacked authority to vacate and remand a Trump-era waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule without first holding that it was unlawful.
February 21, 2023
Judge Denies Tribe’s Motion To Enjoin Changes To Operation Of Central Valley Project

FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a motion by a Native American tribe to issue a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) for adopting a new plan governing the release of water from the Central Valley Project without the tribe’s concurrence.
February 21, 2023
California Appeals Court Backs Anti-SLAPP Win By Law Firm In Weed Water Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court affirmed a lower court’s grant of an anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) motion filed by a law firm against a grassroots organization and its eight members, agreeing that the plaintiffs did not show that the law firm lacked probable cause in filing an underlying quiet title lawsuit or that it acted out of malice in naming them as respondents.
February 10, 2023
Dozens Of Tribes, Others Back Navajo Nation In Supreme Court Water Rights Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is “blackletter law” that the United States, as trustee of reserved water rights for Indian tribes, is obligated to identify the waters reserved for tribes like the Navajo Nation, a group of large tribes tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief in a dispute over water from the Colorado River.
February 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.
February 07, 2023
Landowners Appeal Process Used In Tribal Water Rights Case In Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two individuals and a landowners association have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari for a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that they say deprived them of their day in court in a tribal water rights case.
February 07, 2023
New Mexico Appeals Court: Water Sale Breached When Rights Sold Twice

ALBURQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Court of Appeals has affirmed a state trial court judgment that a defendant breached a contract by separately selling the same 82 acre-feet of water to two parties and the trial court’s awarding of compensatory damages and interest.
February 07, 2023
Judge: Endangered Species Act Preempts Oregon Order For Federal Water Releases

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Feb. 6 ruled that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) preempts an order by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) that prohibited the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from releasing water from the Upper Klamath Lake to preserve downstream endangered fish species during drought conditions.
February 07, 2023
Consent Decree For Texas, New Mexico, Colorado Rio Grande Dispute Released

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Texas, New Mexico and Colorado say an Effective El Paso Index will be the centerpiece to resolving their dispute about the apportionment of Rio Grande water and tell a U.S. Supreme Court special master that he should deny the United States’ objections to the settlement, according to a brief in support of the consent decree released Feb. 6.
February 07, 2023
Navajo Nation, U.S. Stipulate To Dismissal Of WOTUS Rule Challenge

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The Navajo Nation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have jointly stipulated to dismissing the tribe’s challenge of the Trump administration’s rule defining the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in light of the Biden administration publishing a revised definition.