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Western Water Law & Policy Reporter

April 2022

Volume 26, Number 6 April 2022

WESTERN WATER NEWS

Eel River Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project Future in Limbo in Wake of PG&E Announcement to Bring Project Back to Fully Operational

Status145

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Idaho Governor Signs Landmark Irrigation Infrastructure Funding

Bill147

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Issues Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Decommissioning of Four Klamath River Dams149

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Declares Central Valley Project Initial 2022 Allocation of Zero Percent for Irrigation—California Department of Water Resources Reduces State Water Project Allocations to Five Percent151

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

District Court Upholds EPA’s ‘Reasonable Availability’ Analysis in the Establishment of Washington State Clean Water Act ‘No Discharge

Zone’153

American Waterways Operators v. Regan, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 18-CV-2933 (APM) (D. D.C. Feb. 14, 2022).

District Court Rejects Preliminary Injunction Against Hydroelectric Dams on the Kennebec River under the Federal Endangered Species Act155

Atlantic Salmon Federation U.S., et al. v. Merimil Limited Partnership, et al., ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 21-CV-00257-JDL (D. Me. Feb. 24, 2022).

District Court Finds Clean Water Act’s Partial Waiver of Sovereign Immunity Did Not Impliedly Repeal Federal District Court’s Jurisdiction157

United States v. Bayley, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 3:20-cv-05867-DGE (W.D. Wash. Mar. 14, 2022).

District Court Denies Motion for Certification of Interlocutory Appeal on the Meaning of ‘Waters of The United States’159

United States v. Mashni, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 2:18-CV-2288-DCN (D. S.C. Jan. 19, 2022).

State:

California Court of Appeal Upholds EIR for Kern Water Bank Authority’s Water Bank Recharge Project160

Buena Vista Water Storage District v. Kern Water Bank, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. B309764 (2nd Dist. Feb. 23, 2022).

California Court of Appeal Upholds EIR For Irrigation District’s Water Transmission Pipeline Pro-

ject162

Save the El Dorado Canal v. El Dorado Irrigation District, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. C092086 (3rd Dist. Feb. 16, 2022).

Colorado Court of Appeals Allows ‘Freedom to Wade’ Case to Advance to Trial on the Merits165

Hill v. Warsewa, 20CA1780 (Colo.App. 2022).