FEATURE ARTICLE
In Defense of Irrigated Agriculture: The New Face of Agricultural to Municipal Water Transfers In Colorado—The Arkansas River Example by Mark Pifher, Peter Nichols, and Paul Noto, Colorado95
WESTERN WATER NEWS
U.S. and Mexico Agree to Temporarily Store Mexico’s Colorado River Water in Lake Mead100
Navajo Nation Water Rights Settlement Paves Way for Additional Diversions from Major Colorado River Tributary101
Oregon Advisory Group Issues White Paper in Ongoing Effort to Define Mandated Peak and Ecological Flows for Certain Storage Projects102
LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
Claims Resolution Act Secures Funding for Settlement Agreements Reached in Some of the West’s Thorniest and Most Protracted Water Rights Adjudications106
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
California State Water Resources Control Board Moves Forward with Environmental Review for ‘Wetland Area Protection Policy and Dredge and Fill Regulations’108
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
U.S. District Court Judge Wanger Declares 2008 Smelt Biological Opinion Unlawful in California’s Consolidated Delta Smelt Cases110
Spokane Riverkeeper Seeks to Intervene in Idaho CWA Permittee-Initiated Suit over Washington State-Based TMDL112
JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Federal:
Ninth Circuit Affirms Expansion of Mine with Selenium Pollution in the Face of Clean Water Act, NEPA and National Forest Management Act Claims115
Greater Yellowstone Coalition v. Lewis, ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-35729 (9th Cir. Dec 23, 2010).
D.C. Circuit Defers to FERC’s Refusal to Impose Water Flow Conditions on PacifiCorp’s Operation of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project117
Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-1134, (D.C. Cir. Dec. 28, 2010).
U.S. District Court in Washington State Orders Defendants to Withdraw Water Rights Applica-
tions119
Glacier Water Co., LLC v. Earl, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C08-1705RSL (W.D. Wash. Dec. 7, 2010).
State:
Nevada Supreme Court Rejects Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Federal Reserved Water Rights Claim120
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe v. Nevada State Engineer, 126 Nev. ___ (Adv.Op.. 48, Dec. 16, 2010).
