Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

FEATURE ARTICLE

Washington Supreme Court Jettisons ‘Overriding Considerations of the Public Interest’ Policy in Water Right Permitting by Sarah Mack, Esq., Tupper|Mack|Wells PLLC, Seattle, Washington3

WESTERN WATER NEWS

Innovative Interstate Water Transfer and Banking Agreement Struck Between Large Water Suppliers in Nevada and California9

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

California State Water Resources Control Board Finds State Meets Water Conservation Goals for the Third Straight Month11

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

California Governor Brown Signs AB 1390 and SB 226 for Comprehensive Groundwater Adjudication13

With the Nevada Legislature’s Session Completed, Efforts Are Already Underway to Study Nevada’s Water Resources in Preparation for the Next Session15

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

At the Intersection of Flood Control and Beneficial Use in Idaho.17

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

Eighth Circuit Reverses Class Certification Finding Insufficient Injury from Oil and Gas Contamination to Support a Nuisance Claim20

Smith v. Conoco Phillips Pipe Line Co., ___F.3d___, Case No. 14-2191, (8th Cir. Sept. 15, 2015).

District Court Addresses when a Defendant’s Discharge under its Clean Water Act NPDES Permit Counts as ‘Occasional’ or ‘Constant’22

Sierra Club v. Louisville Gas & Electric Co., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 3:14-cv-391-DJH (W.D. Ky. 2015).

District Court Addresses whether EPA Letters to State Officials Set New Burdensome Clean Water Act Testing Procedures24

Southern California Alliance of Publically Owned Treatment Works and Central Valley Clean Water Association, v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 2:14-cv-01513-MCE-DAD (E.D. Cal. Sept. 15, 2015).

District Court Grants Motion to Dismiss Environmental Group’s ESA Procedural Claim Concluding the Section 7(a)(2) Substantive Claim against U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Is Justiciable25

WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 1:14-cv000666-RHS-SCY (D. N.M. Sept. 23, 2015).

State:

Colorado Supreme Court Rules Prior Water Stipulation’s Language Does Not Prohibit a Claim for Return Flow Credit for Aquifer Recharge28

Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Cherokee Metro. Dist., 2015 CO 47, 351 P.3d 408 (Colo. 2015).

Texas Supreme Court Grants Review in Case Involving whether Water-Rights Holder Must Accommodate Surface Landowner30

City of Lubbock v. Coyote Lake Ranch, LLC, 440 S.W.3d 267 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 2014), review granted (Case No. 14-0572, Sept. 4, 2015).