Mealey's Water Rights
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April 27, 2021
Judge: Dam Law Doesn’t Authorize Releasing Water For Endangered Fish
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on April 15 granted defendants’ summary judgment in a suit in which two environmental groups sought an order to release more water from a dam for an endangered fish species, saying congressional authorization for the dam strictly limits the uses of the stored water.
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April 27, 2021
U.S. High Court To Discuss California Farmer’s Water Petition On April 30
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 14 distributed for its April 30 conference a petition by a California farmer to rule on whether an irrigation district may abrogate the water rights of farmers and whether the farmers have federally protected water rights under federal law.
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April 27, 2021
California Tells Nestle To Stop Drawing Unauthorized Water From National Forest
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) on April 23 told Nestle Waters North America Inc. that it must cease and desist from the unauthorized diversion of water from Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest or face fines of up to $10,000 a day during a declared drought.
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April 23, 2021
Challenge To Colorado Dam Settles For $15 Million For Mitigation Projects
DENVER — Parties in a federal appeal involving a proposed Colorado dam on April 21 signed a settlement agreement in which a water district agreed to pay $15 million for projects to protect aquatic and riparian habitats and to improve water quality in areas affected by the dam.
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April 20, 2021
Nevada Supreme Court OKs Transfer Of Water Case To Adjoining County
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Supreme Court on April 15 said an appeal of a state engineer’s order affecting a water basin was properly transferred to a neighboring county where nine other appeals were filed.
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April 07, 2021
Californian Asks U.S. High Court If Farmers Have Protected Federal Water Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California farmer on March 29 petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether an irrigation district may abrogate the water rights of farmers and whether the farmers have federally protected water rights under federal law.
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April 07, 2021
California Appeals Court Affirms WaterFix Lawsuit Is Moot, Unsupported
LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court on March 17 affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a water district’s financial support for the former California WaterFix project, saying that the main defendant hadn’t yet taken any action that would raise water rates or taxes and that the project has been abandoned.
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April 07, 2021
D.C. Circuit Won’t Grant Oregon Farmers’ Request Regarding Tribes’ Water Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia federal appeals court on March 19 said a federal court cannot invalidate a protocol between the federal government and a Native American tribe to take decisions about the tribe’s water rights away from Oregon state officials and give that authority to the federal government.
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April 07, 2021
Texas Appeals Court: Ranch Land Was Taken For Water Pipeline Without Compensation
AMARILLO, Texas — A Texas state appeals court on March 30 affirmed a trial court’s ruling that a water authority physically took part of a landowner’s property without payment of adequate compensation and owned $506,496 in damages to the landowner.
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April 07, 2021
California Appeals Court Affirms Physical Solution In Antelope Valley Water Case
FRESNO, Calif. — A California appeals panel on March 16 affirmed a ruling by a coordinated court that a physical solution to groundwater use in the state’s Antelope Valley Groundwater Basin does not violate state law or infringe on the water rights of a class of landowners who own property above the aquifer but who do not use the groundwater.
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April 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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April 07, 2021
California Appeals Court Affirms Eminent Domain Action For Water Project
SAN FRANCISCO — A California appeals court on March 30 affirmed the taking of private property for a public water project in an eminent domain action.
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April 07, 2021
Judge: Los Angeles Must Do Environmental Review Before Making Water Lease Changes
ALAMEDA, Calif. — A California state court judge on March 8 issued a writ of mandate ordering the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), saying the department’s proposed change in water use leases on 6,400 department-owned acres in Mono County constitutes a “project” subject to review under the CEQA.
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April 07, 2021
Pueblos Ask Court To Revoke Trump Administration Water Rule Regulations
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Trump administration’s repeal and replacement of the 2015 Clean Water Rule unlawfully took away pollution protection for most of the New Mexico desert arroyos that for years have been “channels for life-giving water in times of rain or snowmelt” for Native Americans, two pueblos say in a March 26 federal court lawsuit seeking to have the new regulations tossed.
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April 01, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Florida’s Water Suit Against Georgia
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 1 unanimously ruled that Florida has not proved that Georgia’s alleged overconsumption of interstate water resources resulted in the collapse of Florida’s bay oyster industry, overruled Florida’s exceptions to a special master’s report and dismissed the original jurisdiction case.
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March 25, 2021
Environmental Groups Sue United States To Vacate OK For Desert Water Pipeline
LOS ANGELES — Three environmental groups on March 23 sued the United States seeking to have the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California vacate a last-minute Trump administration right-of-way for a for-profit water project that the plaintiffs say will draw down an aquifer, further dry up a lakebed and produce airborne pollution.
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March 17, 2021
Insurer Files Class Action Against Shkreli, Others For Daraprim Monopoly
NEW YORK — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBSM) on March 4 filed a nationwide class action against two drug companies and two former executives, including Martin Shkreli, in Pennsylvania federal court, alleging that the defendants conspired to create and maintain a monopoly for the drug Daraprim and to raise the drug’s price from $17.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet.
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March 10, 2021
Texas Attorney General Can’t Determine Water District Boundary Line
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas attorney general on Feb. 22 told a state senator that a county appraisal district cannot determine the boundary between two neighboring water districts but neither can the attorney general.
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March 10, 2021
Mississippi, Tennessee File Exceptions To Special Master’s Report On Water Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mississippi and Tennessee on Feb. 22 filed special exceptions to a U.S. Supreme Court special master’s report on their interstate water dispute, with Mississippi urging the high court to reject the entire report and Tennessee asking the court to reject only the portion of the report that recommends allowing Mississippi to file an amended complaint for equitable apportionment of groundwater underlying the two states.
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March 09, 2021
Supreme Court Won’t Review ‘Quasi-Legislative’ California Water Rule Changes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 22 denied a petition to review whether California can invoke emergency “quasi-legislative regulation” to curtail the petitioner’s historic use of water from a creek because the state deemed that use “unreasonable.”
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March 09, 2021
California Water District Appeals Water Rate Judgment As Illegal, Unfair
SAN FRANCISCO — The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Feb. 9 told a state appeals court that a water rate judgment against it exceeds the trial court’s authority and that a writ of mandate improperly applies to future water rates that are not yet in dispute.
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March 09, 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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March 09, 2021
Judge: States’ Suit Against 2015 Clean Water Rule Mooted By New Rule
GALVESTON, Texas — After nearly six years of litigation and two administration changes, a Texas federal judge on March 2 dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit by three states challenging the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule because the rule was repealed by the Trump administration in 2020.
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March 09, 2021
Nevada Supreme Court Dismisses Water Permit Appeal As Moot
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Supreme Court on Feb. 19 dismissed as moot an appeal by Eureka County of a district court’s amendment of a state engineer’s water rights ruling for Sadler Ranch LLC.
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March 09, 2021
Nevada Supreme Court Upholds State Restriction On Well Drilling Permits
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Thirteen months after hearing arguments, the Nevada Supreme Court on Feb. 25 said that the state engineer’s restriction on water well drilling permits in the Pahrump basin is authorized by state law and supported by evidence and that a public hearing on the restriction was not required.