Mealey's Water Rights
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September 03, 2021
3 California Irrigation Districts Sue State Water Board Over Curtailment Order
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three northern California irrigation districts on Sept. 1 filed a complaint in state court against the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), saying the board’s Aug. 20 curtailment of the districts’ water rights in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed (the California Delta) is contrary to law, without factual basis and in violation of due process rights.
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September 01, 2021
Agencies’ Remand Motion Granted By Federal Judge In Tribes’ Clean Water Rules Suit
TUCSON, Ariz. — An Arizona federal judge on Aug. 30 granted a voluntary motion for remand filed by defendants U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an action brought by Native American tribes seeking to reinstate the repealed 2015 Clean Water Rule and vacate a navigable waters rule. The judge also ordered that, upon remand, the Trump-era rules in place be vacated.
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August 31, 2021
Bureau Of Reclamation: Drought Puts Lake Mead In 1st Level 1 Water Shortage
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Aug. 16 said Lake Mead will operate in its first-ever Level 1 Shortage Condition due to drought in the Colorado River basin.
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August 23, 2021
U.S. Solicitor General Will Take Part In High Court Interstate Water Case Oct. 4
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 23 granted a motion by the U.S. solicitor general to participate as amicus curiae in Oct. 4 arguments on whether groundwater under Mississippi an interstate resource subject to equitable apportionment in an interstate dispute with Tennessee.
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August 10, 2021
Federal Claims Court: Grazing Restrictions Didn’t Take Property Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on July 26 reconsidered its 2017 finding in a takings case and said instead that a grazing association did not have a right to beneficial use of stock water in a national forest and the United States did not effect a physical taking by denying grazing permits.
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August 10, 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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August 10, 2021
22 States: Remand Clean Water Rule Case To Agencies Without Vacatur
SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty-two states that intervened in a Clean Water Rule lawsuit on Aug. 6 told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that it should grant the United States’ motion to remand the case to federal agencies and not vacate the Trump-era version of the rule.
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August 10, 2021
Navajo Nation: Trump Clean Water Rule Causing Harm, Should Be Vacated
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The Navajo Nation on Aug. 4 stood firm on its request that a New Mexico federal court vacate the Trump administration’s Clean Water Rule, saying the rule “has been causing harm for over a year and remanding it without vacatur will allow that harm to continue for at least another year.”
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August 09, 2021
Montana Water Court’s 1st Final Decree Adjudicates Tribe’s Water Rights
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Water Court on July 12 issued its first final decree since its creation 41 years ago by adjudicating the water rights claimed by the United States on behalf of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
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August 09, 2021
South Carolina Federal Judge Remands Clean Water Rule Suit To EPA Without Vacatur
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina federal court judge on July 14 remanded environmentalists’ lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Clean Water Rule to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers without vacatur so the new administration can begin a rulemaking process.
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August 09, 2021
EPA, Army Will Restore Pre-2015 Clean Water Rule Definition, Then Start Anew
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army on July 30 said they will restore the definition of the waters of the United States that was in place until 2015 and then begin a second rulemaking process to “refine this regulatory foundation and establish an updated and durable definition.”
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August 06, 2021
California Curtails Water Rights Due To ‘Alarming’ Water Level Drops
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Due to “alarming lows” of water levels, California’s State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) on Aug. 3 and Aug. 2 took action that could curtail 6,561 water rights in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and on the Upper Russian River.
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August 05, 2021
5th Circuit: Texas Water Authority Not Immune From Antitrust Lawsuit
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 3 affirmed that a Texas water authority is not entitled to state action immunity against an antitrust lawsuit brought by two water utilities.
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July 19, 2021
En Banc 1st Circuit Finds Maine River Isn’t Part Of Penobscot Reservation
BOSTON — Four years after a First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that the Penobscot Nation’s reservation does not include any of the tribe’s namesake river, an en banc majority of the court affirmed this finding in a July 8 opinion, holding that both Maine and federal Indian claims settlement acts unambiguously established that the nation controls islands within a disputed section of the river, but not the river itself.
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July 14, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Mississippi-Tennessee Water Dispute On Oct. 4
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mississippi’s interstate water dispute with Tennessee will be the first case heard when the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term on Oct. 4, the court announced July 13.
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July 08, 2021
Water District’s Claims Dismissed In Arizona Tribe’s Water Quality Action
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on July 6 dismissed a water district’s counterclaim against an Indian tribe and cross-claim against the United States in the tribe’s suit against two water districts over the quality of the water provided to the tribe, finding that the claims are prohibited by sovereign immunity.
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July 07, 2021
Idaho Landowners Want 9th Circuit Ruling In Clean Water Rule Case By July 29
SAN FRANCISCO — Two Idaho landowners on June 28 asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not to hold a Clean Water Rule case in abeyance pending new rulemaking by the Environmental Protection Agency and to instead expedite their appeal and decide the case without oral argument so they can get protections under the new rule before a replacement rule takes precedence.
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July 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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July 07, 2021
Group Says California City’s Well Permits Violate Public Trust Doctrine
NAPA, Calif. — A public benefit corporation on June 15 sued a California city in state court alleging the city has violated the public trust doctrine by issuing groundwater permits in violation of its duty to safeguard a public resource.
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July 07, 2021
Tribes’ Clean Water Rule Suit Held In Abeyance Due To EPA’s New Rulemaking
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico federal magistrate judge on June 24 placed in abeyance the United States’ obligation to respond to a Native American tribe’s motion for summary judgment against the Trump administration’s Clean Water Rule.
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July 07, 2021
California Water Authority Asks Court To Invalidate Water District’s Resolution
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A California water authority on June 18 filed suit asking a state court to declare invalid a resolution by a water district that the authority says interferes with the authority’s obligations under the State Water Supply Contract.
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July 07, 2021
Environmental Group Sues California County Over Groundwater Trust Duties
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — An environmental group on June 23 filed suit asking a California state court to enjoin Sonoma County from issuing well permits until the county adopts policies and procedures to comply with its nondiscretionary duties as administrator of the public trust for groundwater.
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July 06, 2021
Environmental Groups Want 2020 Clean Water Rule Vacated Before Remand For New Rule
SAN FRANCISCO — Thirteen environmental groups on July 2 told a California federal court that they want the court to vacate the Trump administration’s Clean Water Rule before granting the Biden administration’s motion to remand the issue to the Environmental Protection Agency for development of a new rule.
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July 06, 2021
Texas Seeks High Court OK To File Supplemental Complaint In New Mexico Water Case
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Less than three months before a U.S. Supreme Court special master is set to conduct a trial on a claim that New Mexico is taking Texas’ share of water under the Rio Grande Compact, Texas moved June 24 for leave to file a supplemental complaint, citing “recently discovered” evidence that New Mexico’s water diversion is more extensive than Texas first believed.
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July 02, 2021
New Mexico Appeals Court Says Res Judicata Bars Attempt To Change 2012 Adjudication
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico Court of Appeals panel on June 24 affirmed the striking of a stream system participation form because it involves a water rights adjudication that is barred under the doctrine of res judicata.