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California Water Law & Policy Reporter

February 2012

Volume 22, Number 5 February 2012

FEATURE ARTICLE

Federal Claims Court Holds United States Did Not ‘Take’ a Water District’s Property Interest by Requiring the District to Allocate Water to Benefit

Endangered Species by Roderick Walston, Best, Best 131

CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS

2012 California Water Law & Policy MCLE Conference Opens for Registra-

tion138

National Water Research Institute Releases White Paper on Wastewater Reuse140

Burgeoning California Coalition Explores a New Agricultural Flood Hazard Area under the National Flood Insurance Program141

Nevada Irrigation District Unanimously Opposes Garden Bar Dam143

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

President Obama Signs into Law Appropriations Bill Containing Language

by U.S. Senator Feinstein Lifting Prior CVPIA Ban on CVP Water

Transfers144

Marine Protection Areas in California’s South Coast Region become Effective January 1, 2012145

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Golden State Water Reaches Agreement in CPUC Proceeding to Pay Customers $1.56 Million Back Due to Overcharging147

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Idaho Couple’s Clean Water Act Arguments Seemingly Well Received by U.S. Supreme Court in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency149

Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club Challenge Bureau of Land Management Lease for Oil and Gas Development152

New Lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation Seeks to Restrict Operation of the Grasslands Bypass and San Luis Drain153

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

District Court:

District Court Rejects Challenge to Remove Redwood Creek from Clean Water Act List of Polluted

Waters155

Barnum Timber Co. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C08-01988 WHA (N.D. Cal. Dec. 15, 2011).

District Court Denies Request for Injunction where Conservation Groups Fail to Show Water Pumping Irreparably Protected Species156

Wild Equity Institute v. City and County of San Francisco, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C11-00958 SI (N.D. Cal. 2011).

RECENT STATE DECISIONS

California Supreme Court Ruling Requires Dissolution of State Redevelopment Agencies158

California Redevelopment Association v. Matosantos, ___Cal.4th___, Case No. S194861 (Dec. 29, 2011).