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Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

January 2016

Volume 20, Number 3 January 2016

FEATURE ARTICLE

Colorado Issues Its First-Ever Statewide Water Plan by Kevin Patrick, Esq., Paul Noto, Esq. and Jason Groves, Esq., Patrick, Miller 67

WESTERN WATER NEWS

Interstate Battle for Rights to Mississippi Delta Groundwater Brews Before the U.S. Supreme Court73

California Governor Brown Continues to Focus On Drought Issues in New Executive Order74

University of California Scientists Look to On-Farm Recharge as a Way to Capture El Nino Rains and Replenish Groundwater Supplies75

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Federal Approval of the Gila River Diversion Project Raises Controversy as New Mexico Users Await the Water77

Idaho Department of Water Resources Releases Updated Enforcement Policy for Illegal Water Use78

New Water Quality Trading Rules Adopted by Oregon Environmental Quality Commission80

Tucson Arizona Submits It’s Active Management Area Plan to the Groundwater Users Advisory Council82

Did Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board Decision Muddy the Waters on ‘Water Availability’?84

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

U.S. Supreme Court Will Rule on Reviewability of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jurisdictional Wetlands Determinations to Resolve a Split in the Circuit Courts of Appeals88

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

District Court Finds a Generator that Disposes of its Own Waste ‘Benefitted from the Disposal’ and Thereby is a CERCLA Arranger90

MEMC Pasadena, Inc., v. Goodgames Industrial Solutions, LLC, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 4:13-CV-599 (S.D. Tx. 2015).

State:

California Court of Appeal Finds Groundwater Extraction Fees Are for Water Service and Subject to Proposition 21892

Great Oaks Water Company v. Santa Clara Valley Water District, ___Cal.App.4th ___, Case No. H035260, (Cal.App.. Dec. 8, 2015).