Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

WESTERN WATER NEWS

Texas v. New Mexico Lawsuit to Proceed—U.S. Supreme Court Grants Texas’ Motion for Leave to File Bill of Complaint against New Mexico over Alleged Rio Grande Compact Violations131

Arizona Begins Farmland Fallowing Project133

Competing Water Bond Bills Introduced in California Legislature134

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

NOAA Fisheries Releases New Supplemental Biological Opinion for the Federal Columbia River Power System136

California State Water Resources Control Board Begins Compliance with Governor’s Declaration of Drought Emergency137

California State Water Resources Control Board Submits Request for New Authority, Funds to Regulate Groundwater139

Idaho Department of Water Resources Decides Delivery Call and Orders Curtailment of Junior Groundwater RightsThreatening 157,00 Irrigated

Acres141

Nevada State Engineer Denies All Pending Applications to Pump Water from Regional Carbonate Aquifer System143

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

Seventh Circuit Rejects Class Certification In Benzene Contaminated Groundwater Suit145

Parko v. Shell Oil, et al., ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 13-8023 and 13-8024 (7th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014).

District Court Rules that NMFS Violated the ESA and NEPA in Approving Oregon Fish Hatchery Operations146

Native Fish Society v. National Marine Fisheries Service, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 3:12-cv-00431 (D. Or. Jan. 16, 2014).

District Court Finds that Waters of Golden Gate National Recreation Area May Be Closed to Commercial Herring Fishing149

San Francisco Herring Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior¸ ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 13-CV-01750-JST (N.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2014).

State:

California Court of Appeal Finds Los Angeles County’s Clean Water Act MS4 Permit Requirements Are ‘Federal Mandates’ Not Refundable by State152

California Department of Finance v. Commission on State Mandates, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B237153 (Cal.App. 2013).

California Superior Court Dismisses Challenge to State’s Authorization of Hydraulic Fracturing Operations154

Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Case No. RG12-652054 (Alameda Super. Ct. Jan. 29, 2014).

Colorado Supreme Court Finds State Engineer Properly Exercised Authority to Administer Nontributary Groundwater on an Indian Reservation155

Pawnee Well Users, Inc. v. Wolfe, ___P.3d___, 2013 CO 67 (Colo. 2013).

Montana Supreme Court Holds Public Recreational Use of Streambed Not a Compensable Constitutional ‘Taking’ of Private Property157

Public Lands Access Association v. Board of County Commissioners, 2014 Mont. 10 (Mt. Jan. 16, 2014).