Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

FEATURE ARTICLE

Defining ‘The Waters’ Congress Intended the Clean Water Act to Regulate: Does Justice Kennedy’s ‘Significant Nexus’ Notion Hold Water? by David M. Ivester, Esq., Briscoe Ivester 219

WESTERN WATER NEWS

Idaho Water Users Concerned over Proposed Federal Budget Cuts to Water Programs225

Nevada’s Humboldt River Basin: A Vast Basin in Jeopardy226

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Colorado Legislature Limits Applicability of Recent State Supreme Court Decision Confirming New Categorical Exclusions from Definition of Beneficial Use228

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

California Agencies Release Final Report Proposing Long-Term Framework Implementing Governor’s Directive to ‘Make Water Conservation a California Way of Life’230

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Arizona Tribe Files Suit in U.S. District Court for Loss of Water from the Redwall-Mauv Aquifer232

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

Ninth Circuit Denies Rehearing in Washington State Culvert Case Involving Tribal Fishing Rights—Continuation of Litigation Dating Back to

1970234

U.S. v. Washington, 853 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2017); Reh. Denied (9th Cir. May 19, 2017).

District Court Rules the Clean Water Act Authorizes Citizen Suits against Anyone that Is Currently Violating Certification under Section 401237

Deschutes River Alliance v. Portland General Electric Company, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 3:16-cv-1644-SI (D. Or. Mar. 27, 2017).

District Court Allows Port to Pursue Negligence, Nuisance, and Other Claims Against Monsanto Corporation For PCB Manufacturing239

Port of Portland v. Monsanto Co. et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 3:17-CV-15-PK (D. Or. Apr. 18, 2017).

District Court Orders Army Corps of Engineers to Honor State Water Quality Interpretation241

State of Ohio v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Suppp.3d___, Case No. 1:15-CV-679 (N.D. Ohio May 5, 2017).

District Court Rejects Groundwater as a Point Source for Clean Water Act Liability242

Upstate Forever and Savannah Riverkeeper v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. and Plantation Pipe Line Company, Inc., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 8:16-40030HMH (D. S.C. 2017).

State:

Oregon Appeals Court Finds Public Trust Doctrine Does Not Require Governments to Provide Public Access to Navigable Waters244

Kramer v. City of Lake Oswego, 285 Or.App. 181, ___P.3d___, (Or.App. May 3, 2017).