Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

FEATURE ARTICLE

The Ninth Circuit Restricts the Scope of the ‘Diligent Prosecution’ Bar to Federal Clean Water Act Citizen Suits by Meline MacCurdy, Esq., Marten Law, Portland, Oregon287

WESTERN WATER NEWS

San Antonio Water System Settles with EPA and DOJ—Agrees to $1.1 Billion Upgrade Sewer Systems to Comply with the Federal Clean Water

Act292

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reinstates Eligibility for Federal Funds for California’s Central Valley Levees294

New Mexico ESA Update: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes to Designate over 14,561 Acres as Critical Habitat for Threatened Mouse295

Coalition Petitions EPA to use ‘Residual Designation Authority’ to Require Permits for Sites Discharging Stormwater to Impaired Waterways298

City of Scottsdale/Harquahala Valley Brief Update—Approval of Amendments to Water Contract300

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

U.S. Supreme Court Places Significant Limitations on the Imposition of Monetary Exactions as a Condition of Issuing Land Use Permits301

Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, 570 U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 2586 (June 25, 2013).

Ninth Circuit Holds Clean Water Act Citizen Suits Allowed where the Government Has Not Taken Action at the Time of the Citizen Suit’s Filing303

California Sportfishing Protection Alliance v. Chico Scrap Metal Inc., ___F.3d___, Case No. 11-16959 (9th Cir. July 22, 2013).

Fifth Circuit Finds $6 Million Clean Water Act Penalty Imposed Did Not ‘Reasonably Approximate’ Citgo’s Economic Benefit305

U.S. (on behalf of Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency) v. Citgo Petroleum Corporation, ___F.3d___, Case No. 11-31117 (5th Cir. July 17, 2013).

State:

California Superior Court Issues Final Decision in the Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases308

Quantification Settlement Agreement Coordinated Cases Special Proceeding, Case No. JCCP 4353 (Sacramento Super. Ct. July 31, 2013).

Colorado Supreme Court Rules that Denver May Use Properly Quantified Transmountain Lawn Irrigation Return Flows in a Senior Exchange on the South Platte River311

Concerning Application for Water Rights of City & County of Denver, ___P.3d___, 2013 CO 50 (Colo. July 1, 2013).

Washington Supreme Court Affirms Summary Judgment Against Cattle Rancher for ‘Substantial Potential’ to Violate Water Quality Laws313

Joseph Lemire v. Washington Department of Ecology, et al., Case No. 87703-3 (Wash. Aug. 15, 2013).