water-rights

20 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-523 United Water Conservation District v. United States Federal Circuit 2025-10-29 Pending Amici (7) fifth-amendment government-appropriation physical-taking property-rights regulatory-taking water-rights Whether the government's appropriation of water that a person had a property right to use is analyzed as a physical taking, rather than a regulatory t…
25-266 City of Fresno, California, et al. v. United States, et al. Federal Circuit 2025-09-09 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived drought-impact fifth-amendment property-rights reclamation-act takings-clause water-rights 1. Whether in accordance with Section 8 of the Reclamation Act, 28 U.S.C. § 372, the beneficial users of Reclamation Project irrigation water have com…
23-308 Paul Steelman, Individually and as Trustee of the Steelman Asset Protection Trust, et al. v. Ernest Bock LLC Ninth Circuit 2023-09-26 Denied circuit-split civil-procedure colorado-river colorado-river-doctrine federal-abstention federal-proceedings judicial-proceedings parallel-state-proceedings procedural-stay state-court-litigation stay water-rights Whether a stay of federal proceedings under Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States is permissible
23-216 Klamath Irrigation District v. United States Bureau of Reclamation, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-09-07 Denied Response Waived comprehensive-adjudication federal-obligations federal-removal in-rem-jurisdiction judicial-review mccarran-amendment prior-exclusive-jurisdiction state-adjudication water-rights Whether the federal government can avoid the doctrine of prior exclusive jurisdiction in an ongoing, comprehensive water adjudication under the McCarr…
22-1116 Klamath Irrigation District v. United States Bureau of Reclamation, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-05-15 Denied civil-procedure federal-agency federal-government native-american-tribes sovereign-immunity state-adjudication water-rights Whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 requires dismissal of an action challenging a federal agency's use of water subject to state-adjudicated wa…
22-969 City of Santa Maria, California, et al. v. San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-04-06 Denied Response Waived agency-authority agency-discretion cooperative-federalism federal-statute nondelegation-doctrine separation-of-powers state-water-rights statutory-interpretation water-rights Whether the nondelegation doctrine and separation of powers prevent courts from interpreting a federal statute's 'and other purposes' clause to invest…
22-655 Dan Sulgrove, et al. v. Spokane Indian Tribe, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-01-13 Denied Response Waived article-iii article-three-standing district-court-order federal-enforcement final-judgment government-agreement judgment-amendment standing tribal-reserved-rights tribal-rights water-rights Whether landowners have standing to appeal a district court order approving a government agreement to amend a final judgment decreeing tribal reserved…
22-410 Chama Troutstalkers, LLC, et al. v. Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico, et al. New Mexico 2022-11-01 Denied Response Waived equal-footing-doctrine ideal-opportunity property-title public-easement recreational-access recreational-activities state-supreme-court-conflict takings territorial-lands water-rights Under the equal-footing doctrine, was the United States' title subject to a public easement for recreational activities?
22-51 Department of the Interior, et al. v. Navajo Nation, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-07-19 Judgment Issued Relisted (2) federal-fiduciary-duty federal-government-duty fiduciary-duty judicial-enforcement native-american-law native-american-rights navajo-nation sovereign-obligations treaty-interpretation treaty-rights water-rights Whether the federal government owes the Navajo Nation an affirmative, judicially enforceable fiduciary duty to assess and address the Navajo Nation's …
21-1484 Arizona, et al. v. Navajo Nation, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-05-25 Judgment Issued Response WaivedRelisted (2) arizona-v-california breach-of-trust colorado-river federal-jurisdiction federal-trust-responsibility indian-reservation indian-reservations water-rights winters-doctrine Whether the Ninth Circuit Opinion infringes upon the Supreme Court's retained and exclusive jurisdiction over the allocation of water from the Lower B…
21-520 Gerald H. Hawkins, Individually and as a Trustee of the CN Hawkins Trust and Gerald H. Hawkins and Carol H. Hawkins Trust, et al. v. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, et al. District of Columbia 2021-10-08 Denied Amici (1) federal-authority federal-government-authority federal-indian-trust-relationship indian-tribes indian-trust-assets klamath-indian-tribes land-management protocol-agreement standing trust-assets water-rights Does the federal government possess final decision-making authority over the management of water rights held in trust for an Indian tribe?
20-1376 Michael Abatti, et al. v. Imperial Irrigation District California 2021-04-01 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) bryant-v-yellen due-process federal-law federal-reclamation imperial-valley prior-appropriation property-rights reclamation-act standing water-law water-rights Whether the District may abrogate the farmers' water rights that it previously conceded, and that this Court recognized, in Bryant
20-890 Stanford Vina Ranch Irrigation Company v. California, et al. California 2021-01-05 Denied Amici (2)Response Waived compensation constitutional-rights due-process emergency-authority property-rights public-trust-doctrine quasi-legislative takings water-rights Whether government may avoid constitutional rights to due process and compensation by crafting quasi-legislative regulations that eliminate the proper…
19-1134 Lonny E. Baley, et al. v. United States, et al. Federal Circuit 2020-03-17 Denied Amici (6) endangered-species-act federal-agency federal-reserved-water-rights fifth-amendment mccarran-amendment reclamation-act state-law state-water-law tribal-rights water-rights Whether federal agency regulatory action under the Endangered Species Act can constitute the adjudication and administration of water rights for triba…
19-113 William F. Holdner v. Katy Coba, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-07-23 Denied Response Waived agricultural-operation agriculture-operation-permit civil-rights due-process environmental-law environmental-regulation federal-environmental-regulations habeas-corpus patent patent-rights property-rights stormwater-permit water-pollution water-rights Whether a person engaged in an agricultural operation can be charged and convicted for failure to possess a stormwater permit
18A1271 Nathan Boyd Estate, et al. 2019-06-05 Presumed Complete federal-claimants interstate-dispute intervention original-jurisdiction supreme-court water-rights Whether the Supreme Court should grant intervention to pre-federal claimants in an original jurisdiction water rights dispute between Texas, New Mexic…
18-1110 Cecil Daughtrey, et ux. v. Luis E. Rivera Eleventh Circuit 2019-02-26 Denied Response Waived army-corps-of-engineers bankruptcy-code-conversion bankruptcy-procedure bankruptcy-trustee bankruptcy-trustee-duties chapter-11-conversion debtor-interests department-of-interior department-of-justice due-process environmental-protection environmental-protection-agency government-agencies national-defense property-dispute property-rights trustee-actions us-government water-resource water-rights Denial of Chapter 11 conversion to hide unique global drinking water and energy resource
18-7398 Kerry Kruskal v. Peter Sprunt New Mexico 2019-01-14 Denied IFP amended-complaint association-ditch-fees civil-procedure constitutional-rights contested-issues due-process issue-preclusion motion-to-reconsider pro-se-litigant pro-se-representation property-dispute property-rights sanctions standing stored-water-rights summary-judgment surface-water-rights warranty-deed water-rights Was the district court correct to adversely rule on Sprunt's summary judgment motion when there were so many legitimate contested issues?
18-571 James Lee Williams v. United States Federal Circuit 2018-10-31 Denied Response Waived 11th-amendment 14th-amendment 1964-supreme-court-decree civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process federal-agencies fraud sovereign-immunity statute-of-limitations water-rights yuma-reclamation-project Whether valid claims of constitutional rights violations containing elements of fraud should be dismissed as frivolous due to the statute of limitatio…
18-205 Northern California Water Association, et al. v. California State Water Resources Control Board, et al. California 2018-08-16 Denied Response Waived central-valley-project federal-property intergovernmental-immunity preemption property-rights sovereign-immunity state-taxation state-water-board supremacy-clause tax-assessment taxation water-contractors water-contracts water-rights Is a California statute imposing a direct tax on the United States' property interest in water constitutional if it is applied in a manner that passes…