Mealey's Water Rights
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August 30, 2023
Suit Challenging Corps’ Reversion To 2020 WOTUS Rule Transferred To Georgia
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a motion by a mining company to transfer to the Southern District of Georgia a lawsuit by four environmental groups challenging a settlement that reinstated approval jurisdictional determinations (AJDs) for a Clean Water Act permit application based on the now-replaced 2020 waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition.
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August 30, 2023
WOTUS Rule Amended To Conform With Sackett, EPA And Army Corps Announce
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s waters of the United States (WOTUS) ruling in Michael Sackett, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers on Aug. 29 announced amendments to their 2023 Rule to conform to the decision.
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August 09, 2023
California Appeals Panel Affirms Court’s Rejection Of ‘Anticipated’ Water Pact
FRESNO, Calif. — A California appeals court affirmed dismissal of an action in which a water district sought to have the trial court validate an “anticipated contract” between the district and the United States for continued delivery of water from a federal reclamation project and repayment of federal water project funding.
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August 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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August 08, 2023
Water District Says ESA Water Diversion Is A Taking Of Property By United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California water district has asked the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse the Court of Federal Claims by finding that the federal diversion of 49,800 acre-feet of water from a dam on the Santa Clara River is a compensable physical taking of a property right and not a regulatory taking that is not ripe for review.
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August 08, 2023
Oregon Farmers Say Tribe’s Priority Call For Klamath Water Hurts Their Livelihood
MEDFORD, Ore. — An Oregon federal magistrate judge has taken under advisement five plaintiffs’ challenges to the state’s refusal to stay an order that they stop using their water rights for crop irrigation because of a senior call by a Native American tribe.
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August 07, 2023
California County Asks Court To Set Aside Water Bypass, Comply With CEQA
WOODLAND, Calif. — A California county is seeking a writ of mandate to set aside the environmental impact report for a water bypass project, saying it would divert double the amount of water initially stated.
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August 07, 2023
Tribe Sues Interior Department To Force Diversion Of Unused Water To Pyramid Lake
RENO, Nev. — A Nevada Native American tribe has sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for allegedly failing to fulfill the federal government’s obligations under the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Settlement Act by failing to return water to Pyramid Lake to support fish important to the tribe.
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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.