Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

FEATURE ARTICLE

Colorado Supreme Court Reaffirms Principles of Imported Water Use—Once Imported, It May Be Reused to Extinction by John Sittler, Esq. and Paul Noto, Esq., Patrick Miller Noto, Aspen, Colorado245

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

California Department of Water Resources Increases State Water Project Water Deliveries to 20 Percent—U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Increases Water Allocations from the Central Valley Project249

New Water Right Applications Filed with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, on the Payette River Implicate the Unsettled Reservoir ‘Refill’ Question in the Basin250

Nevada State Engineer Engages in Major Rulemaking Effort252

Washington Department of Ecology Adopts New Instream Flow Rule for the Northwestern Most Corner of the State254

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions256

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Federal Water Contracts in California Approved under Water Infrastructure Improvements Act Challenged by Environmental Groups in Recent Law-

suit260

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

Ninth Circuit Requires U.S. Forest Service to Prepare EIS After it finds Environmental Assessment Prepared for Restoration Project Severely Lack-

ing261 

Bark v. United States Forest Service, 958 F.3d 865 (9th Cir. 2020).

Second Circuit Holds Accumulation of Perfluorooctanoic Acid in Blood from Discharges into Groundwater May Meet Personal Injury Threshold in New York263

Benoit, et al. v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., et al., ___F.3d___, Case No. 17-3941 (2nd Cir. May 18, 2020).

District Court Holds EPA Has an Ongoing Nondiscretionary Duty under the Clean Water Act to Update the National Contingency Plan265

Earth Island Institute, et al., v. Andrew R. Wheeler, et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 20-CV-00670-WHO (N.D. Cal. June 2, 2020).

District Court Finds Basic Allegations of Fact within a ‘Zone of Interest’ to Justify Standing under the Federal Clean Water Act266

Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. JKB-19-106 (D. MD 2020).

State:

California Court of Appeal Finds Delta Plan Valid Despite Lack of Enforceable Numeric Compliance Targets268

Delta Stewardship Council Cases, 48 Cal.App.5th 1014 (3rd Dist. 2020).

Oregon Court of Appeals Rules Leasing Hydropower Water Right Is a “Use” that Forestalls Statutory Conversion to In-Stream Right269

WaterWatch of Oregon v. Water Resources Department, 304 Or.App. 617 (Or.App. June 10, 2020).