FEATURE ARTICLE
Nevada Supreme Court Expressly Adopts Public Trust Doctrine by Jessica C. Prunty, Dyer, Lawrence, Penrose, Donaldson, and Prunty, Carson City,
Nevada3
WESTERN WATER LAW NEWS
U.S. Congressional Leaders from California McNerney, Matsui, and Thompson Send Letter to Interior Secretary Salazar Opposing The Bay Delta Conservation Plan7
Junior Groundwater Pumpers in Idaho Move Forward with Buyout of Senior Spring Water Aquaculture Facilities8
FLOOD CONTROL DEVELOPMENTS
Flood Control Management and Liability Update10
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
International Boundary and Water Commission Considers Order that Could Allow Mexico to Store Colorado River Water in Lake Mead12
EPA to Begin Issuing Permits to Cover Pesticide Applications under the Clean Water Act13
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Designates Unoccupied Habitat as Critical for Tidewater Goby in California14
NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau Proffer Pilot Project to Reintroduce Winter-Run Chinook Salmon to California’s McCloud River16
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
U.S. Supreme Court Poised to Hear Arguments on Montana Streambed Ownership17
JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Federal:
District Court Finds Army Corps’ Arbitrary Issuance of Reservoir Construction Permit Entitled Plaintiffs to an Award of Attorney’s Fees19
Alliance to Save the Mattaponi, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 06-01268 (D. D.C. Sept. 13, 2011).
District Court Finds State Cleanup Obligations Involving Ongoing Groundwater Pollution Are Never Dischargeable In Bankruptcy20
Mark IV Industries, Inc. v. New Mexico Environment Department, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 11 CIV 648 (S.D. N.Y. Sep. 28, 2011).
District Court Denies Motion to Halt Permitting of In-Stream Gravel Mining Impacting Salmon in Oregon River22
Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. CV 10-1129-AC (D. Or. Sept. 19, 2011).
State:
California Supreme Court Defines Relationship between Clean Water Act and Energy Commission Jurisdiction for Thermal Power Plant Projects25
Voices of the Wetlands v. State Water Resources Control Board, et al, ___Cal.4th___, Case No. S160211 (Cal. 2011).
Colorado Supreme Court Sets Standard for Making Absolute Conditional Water Rights for Reservoir Storage27
Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District v. Wolfe, 255 P.3d 1108 (2011)
Montana Supreme Court Reverses Water Court—Remands the Matter Back to the Water Court to Hear Conservation Group’s Objections29
Montana Trout Unlimited v. Beaverhead Water Company, 211 Mt. 151, 255 P.3d 179 (Mont. 2011).
