News & Analysis as of

Water Rights Appeals

Downey Brand LLP

Supreme Court Denies Review of California Appeals Court Ruling that State Water Board’s Duty to Prevent Waste and Unreasonable Use...

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On February 27, 2023, in a much anticipated decision, California’s Second District Court of Appeal overruled the trial court by determining that the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) did not violate...more

Perkins Coie

Court Upholds EIR for Kern River Diversion and Storage Project

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A California Court of Appeal held that the EIR for a public water authority’s river diversion and water storage project adequately described the unadjudicated waters to be diverted and adequately analyzed impacts to water...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Waterworks/Condemnation Proceedings: Arkansas Court of Appeals Addresses Applicable Statutory Authorities

The Arkansas Court of Appeals (“ACA”) addressed in a February 2nd Opinion an issue arising out of a municipality’s use of statutory condemnation authorities to construct a treated-water transmission line....more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Oregon Supreme Court Holds Hydroelectric Water Rights Automatically Convert to Permanent Instream Water Rights after Five Years of...

The Oregon Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Oregon Court of Appeals and determined that the lease of a vested hydroelectric water right to the state for instream uses did not qualify as the “use of water...more

Perkins Coie

State Water Board Registrations of Small Water Diversions Are Ministerial and Exempt from CEQA

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The State Water Resources Control Board’s registrations of small water diversions are ministerial projects and hence exempt from CEQA. As such, allegedly erroneous registrations cannot be challenged under CEQA. Mission Peak...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Oregon Court of Appeals Holds Hydroelectric Water Rights Do Not Automatically Convert to Permanent In-Stream Rights When...

Under Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 543A.305, a “water right associated with [a] hydroelectric project” converts to a permanent in-stream water right “[f]ive years after the use of water under [the] hydroelectric water right...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Oregon Appeals Court Confirms Water Rights for Hydroelectric Power

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Drawing on the long history of Oregon water rights, the Oregon Court of Appeals on June 10, 2020, issued an opinion in WaterWatch of Oregon v. Water Resources Department that carries significant implications for hydroelectric...more

Whitman Legal Solutions, LLC

Water Music and Water Rights

What Real Estate Do You Own? Normally, property owners know what land they own. They have a deed with a legal description and a survey which clearly shows their property line....more

Downey Brand LLP

Third Appellate District Extends Public Trust Doctrine to Groundwater, Finding That Counties Have a Duty to Administer the Trust...

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On August 29, 2018, the Third Appellate District published its long-awaited opinion in Environmental Law Foundation v. State Water Resources Control Board (“ELF”), a case involving a challenge to Siskiyou County’s (“County”)...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Florida v. Georgia: U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Interstate Water Dispute

The United States Supreme Court (“Court”) issued an opinion today in the interstate water dispute between the states of Florida and Georgia. The Court had previously found that the litigation fit within its original...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

With This Tie, There Is a Winner: 4-4 SCOTUS Ruling Results in Victory for Native Americans and a Clear Mandate for Washington to...

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In most instances, a tie means there is no winner and no loser. Not so with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 tie in the “Culverts Case” (one branch of the sprawling U.S. v. Washington case) on June 11, 2018. Instead, by...more

Stoel Rives LLP

Supreme Court Affirms Ninth Circuit’s Decision in Culverts Case

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Today the United States Supreme Court issued a 4-4 per curiam decision (Justice Kennedy was recused) affirming the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in the Culverts case, which is the latest...more

Holland & Knight LLP

California Court of Appeal Rejects Challenge to Water Right Permit and License Fee

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• In Northern California Water Association et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board et al., the California Third District Court of Appeal rejected challenges to a new annual fee on water right permit and license holders...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Dock Access: Michigan Appellate Court Addresses Non-Riparian Lot Owner Issue

The Michigan Court of Appeals addressed in a January 16th opinion an action in which the Plaintiff sought to limit the rights of non-riparian lot owners to maintain a dock at the end of a dedicated private road abutting a...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Municipalities' Water Withdrawal: NEPA/National Forest Management Act Challenge to U.S. Forest Service Authorization

The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (“Court”) addressed in an October 23rd opinion Plaintiffs-Appellants Central Oregon LandWatch and WaterWatch of Oregon (collectively “Plaintiffs”) challenge to the United...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Public Trust Doctrine & Water Rights - The Walker Case: Does the Public Trust Doctrine Apply to Water Rights Established in...

A case currently pending in the Ninth Circuit raises a significant and novel issue of western water law. The case addresses whether the public trust doctrine can authorize modification of a water rights decree and...more

Snell & Wilmer

Ninth Circuit Holds that Federal Reserved Water Rights Extend to Groundwater

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On March 7, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District, Case No. 15-55896. In this decision, the Court unequivocally held that...more

Nossaman LLP

Ninth Circuit Rules Injury from Future Water Rights Restrictions Too Speculative for Article III Standing

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On February 21, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District (collectively, “Water Contractors”) lacked Article III standing to...more

Snell & Wilmer

Federal Appeals Court to Determine Tribal Reserved Rights to Groundwater

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will soon determine whether the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has a federal reserved right to groundwater in a water rights case that could set a precedent for tribes across the...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - June 2016 #2

Allen Matkins on

Environmental and Policy Focus - Appellate court temporarily blocks Delta island sale - Sacramento Bee - Jun 7 - The California Third District Court of Appeal on Tuesday granted a temporary stay blocking...more

Stoel Rives LLP

Fish & Game Code Section 1602 Is Unambiguous, Now Requiring More Water Users To Provide “1602 Notification” To “Substantially...

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On June 4, 2015, the Court of Appeal ruled that California Fish and Game Code section 1602 (“Section 1602”) unambiguously requires notification to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (“Department”) if an entity or individual...more

Miller Starr Regalia

A CEQA Trustee Agency “Muscles Up”: Third District Holds Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Newly Exercised Power To Require Notice...

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Under CEQA, a “trustee agency” is a “state agency having jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by a project which are held in trust for the people of the State of California” and “[t]he California Department of...more

Nossaman LLP

High Court Denies Petition by Parties with Reclamation Contracts Seeking to Avoid ESA Consultation

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On November 17, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by Glenn Colusa Irrigation District and others seeking to overturn a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...more

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