168 results for 'cat:"Water"'.
J. Sung finds that the district court improperly dismissed a matter for failure to state a claim in a Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation complaint against Idaho state officials concerning the interpretation of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Bridger between the United States and several bands of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes. Under the treaty, the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes ceded most of their territory to the United States. At the same time, the Tribes expressly reserved their right to hunt on unoccupied lands of the United States. The 1868 Treaty does not make maintenance of the Tribes’ reserved hunting rights contingent on permanent residence. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Sung, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 22-35140, Categories: Property, Native Americans, water
J. Rickman finds that the trial court improperly upheld the administrative law judge's decision in favor of the agency in an action brought by the water works arising from a dispute over a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The permit imposed new limits for fecal coliform bacteria and total residual chlorine in discharges into a river. Genuine issues of fact exist as to whether the water works' combined sewer overflows have a reasonable potential to cause an excursion above the applicable water quality standard. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Rickman, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: A23A0857, Categories: Environment, water
J. Cassel finds the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources properly dismissed the resources district and a citizens group’s objections to the Platte to Republican Basin High Flow Diversion Project’s application seeking to divert surface water from an over-appropriated river. The groups’ allegations do not demonstrate that they have or will suffer an injury in fact, and so they fail to establish standing. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: S-23-028, Categories: Environment, water, Agency
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J. Oliver finds that the lower court should not have granted partial summary judgment to the owners of lots in a subdivision who are unhappy with their allotted water usage and say they are owed a secondary water system in addition to private wells. The county code does not require this. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 20220556-CA, Categories: Property, water
J. Renner finds the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the California Department of Water Resources in this suit seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief for the department’s release of water from Lake Oroville down the dam’s spillways. A cited statute authorizes penalties against any person who has deposited harmful materials into California waters. There is no triable issue of fact, as the context of the water release was a declared emergency from flooding. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Renner, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: C093600, Categories: Environment, water, Injunction
J. Lie finds the trial court improperly granted the water district’s petition for a writ of mandate challenging the county’s approval of California-American Water Company’s application for a permit to construct the desalination plant and other facilities in an unincorporated part of Monterey County as part of its Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. The county’s statement of overriding considerations justifying the project was supported by substantial evidence and any remaining deficiency in the statement as an informational document was not prejudicial. The water district does not dispute that the California Public Utilities Commission’s environmental impact report identified remedial mitigation measures, or that the county adopted them, and the water district has shown no basis for continuing concern with the project’s consistency with the policies. Reversed and remanded.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lie, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: H049146, Categories: Construction, Environment, water
J. Goodwin grants in part the respective motions for summary judgment in the environmental groups’ suit against the mining company for its violation of Clean Water and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation acts through the discharge of pollutants without a permit in Kanawha County. The court declares the company violated the acts by discharging pollutants without a permit from Nov. 26, 2021, to April 14 at Rush Creek Surface Mine No. 2, and failing to satisfy the reporting requirements of its permit at Rush Creek Surface Mine from November 2021 through November 2022. Since the company is currently in compliance with all of its permits, the groups' motion for injunctive relief to halt mining operations is denied, while a determination on the extent of the company's violations is held in abeyance.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Goodwin, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv367, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, water
J. Collins finds that the district court properly granted summary judgment to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Tulalip Tribes and Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in a long-running case regarding Indian fishing rights in certain waters in Washington state. The Swinomish Tribe met their burden to show that there was no evidence in the record of historical fishing by the Lummi Nation in the disputed waters. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Collins, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 21-35812, Categories: Evidence, Native Americans, water
J. Kane finds the district court properly affirmed the state water board’s final order granting a permit to Oklahoma City to divert stream water from the Kiamichi River. The board has followed the appropriations system since 1993. The statutes are within the state’s police powers, constitution and the administrative system’s authority to determine water rights of Oklahomans and issue permits. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court, Judge: Kane, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 118892, Categories: Constitution, Municipal Law, water
J. Drozd refuses to dismiss Endangered Species Act claims filed by an irrigation company against the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which the company says refuses to maintain its fish ladders and screens at a diversion dam, causing harm to salmon and steelhead, in retaliation for the company’s failure to sign-off on a proposed agreement. It has stated plausible claims for violations of due process and the Endangered Species Act.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Drozd, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1961, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Environment, water, Due Process
J. Oliver grants the black homeowners' motion for class certification, ruling that while there are not specific numbers in the water shutoff class, the numbers provided for the lien class allow the court to make common sense assumptions about its size, which meets numerosity requirements. Additionally, all of the claims center on one of three actions - the filing of a lien by the city, the shutoff of water service or excessively high billing - and, therefore, commonality requirements are satisfied.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv2911, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, water, Class Action
J. Jarbou declines to dismiss class claims brought against the mayor and two other defendants after residents allegedly consumed water containing lead, bacteria, and other contaminants because claims were supported by repeated false statements defendants made to the public about the safety of the city’s water.
Court: USDC Western District of Michigan, Judge: Jarbou, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv960, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, water, Negligence
J. Riggs finds that no occupying country or government, including Mexico, Spain, or the U.S., ever extinguished the aboriginal water rights of the Pueblo Indians because none of the countries took actions to intervene or reduce the tribe's use of the Jemez Valley River Basin.
Court: USDC New Mexico, Judge: Riggs, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 6:83cv1041, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Native Americans, water
J. Jarbou dismisses class claims contending plaintiffs consumed water containing lead, bacteria, and other contaminants for lack of subject matter jurisdiction over U.S. and EPA defendants covered by sovereign immunity.
Court: USDC Western District of Michigan, Judge: Jarbou, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv186, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: water, Immunity, Class Action
J. Jarbou dismisses class claims as brought against the city of Benton Harbor in which plaintiffs contend they drank water containing lead, bacteria, and other contaminants because plaintiffs failed to establish state or city defendants engaged in “conscience-shocking conduct” to support violation of bodily integrity claims.
Court: USDC Western District of Michigan, Judge: Jarbou, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv475, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: water, Negligence, Class Action
J. Renner finds that the trial court applied the wrong standard to deny a utility's challenge to a water district's eminent domain action seeking to take over part of the utility's electrical distribution system. The utility was not required to show that the water district grossly abused its discretion or that it lacked substantial evidence to support its resolution of necessity. Instead, the utility must simply show that one of the resolution's condemnation for public necessity elements or one of the condemnation for a more necessary public use elements is not supported by the preponderance of evidence. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Renner, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: C097529, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property, water
J. Fleming grants the Ohio EPA's motion to dismiss, ruling the property owners' 2021 lawsuit is time-barred, as they were aware of any alleged conspiracy to prevent them from developing wetlands by 2017 at the latest. The owners claim the conspiracy is ongoing but failed to provide any evidence to support their argument, although the EPA officers would be entitled to immunity even if the claims were not time-barred.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Fleming, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv1848, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Property, water
J. Moritz finds that the lower court improperly ruled in favor of land developers after a water company sued to stop the city from granting them water service to a proposed land development. A local statute does not allow cities to encroach on areas already serviced by federally indebted water associations, as long as the associations made water services available to the area. The lower court, however, did not properly determine if those water services were made available before ruling in favor of the developers. Reversed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Moritz, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 21-6155 , Categories: Municipal Law, water
J. Davila declines to dismiss an environmental group's lawsuit accusing Sunnyvale and Mountain View of unlawfully discharging pollution into their sewer systems. The cities moved for dismissal on the ground that a 2022 permit issued to them by the regional water quality board changed the landscape enough that the suit is moot. While the permit does change a few things, it does not rescind a prior 2015 permit or change the language of the local discharge rules. The new permit, as a result, does not moot the claims and allows the court to retain jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Davila, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv824, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, water, Jurisdiction
J. Anello grants an irrigation district's motion to dismiss a group of farmers' claims alleging violation of federal laws governing the use of Colorado River water. The same claims were already litigated in state court and the farmers have not shown that they have suffered any new injuries or any new violations by the district. Furthermore, the addition of new farmer, landowner and business plaintiffs in this case does not derail the application of res judicata.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Anello, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1323, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, water
J. Collins finds that the district court properly granted summary judgment to a number of Indian communities in a long-running case regarding Indian fishing rights in certain waters of Washington state. The dispute involved fishing places in which the Lummi Nation have fishing rights under a 1974 decree over the waters east of Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. The district court correctly held that the Indian communities, the Swinomish, Tulalip, and Upper Skagit carried their burden to warrant a ruling under the decree that the Lummi’s usual and accustomed fishing grounds and stations did not extend to the disputed waters at issue. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Collins, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 21-35812, Categories: Native Americans, water
J. Clarke finds in favor of the federal government for its claim that the county government office's 1943 contract and 1977 water permit do not allow it to make unauthorized water diversions from Klamath River, and that the water diversion limits the available habitat of the shortnose sucker and other local endangered species. Although the 1943 contract allows the county government office to take a maximum of 27,500 acre-feet of water per year under normal circumstances, there is a valid and legal exception during times of drought, such as what happened in 2022, meaning the county government office violated the terms of the contract.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Clarke, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv962, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Environment, water, Contract
J. Levy denies a water company's motion to exclude expert testimony in anticipation of a trial regarding the Flint water crisis because the expert has a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering and more than 40 years experience in water quality assessments, corrosion mitigation, and the behavior of materials exposed to drinking water, which supported conclusions that copper pipes contributed to the crisis.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Michigan, Judge: Levy, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 5:16cv10444, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: water, Negligence, Experts