Posts

Supreme Court Water Ruling Deals Blow to Navajo Nation

/in , , /by /E & E Newsby Pamela King and Jennifer Yachnin

The largest Native American reservation in the United States has lost a key legal battle to protect access to a waterway that is critical to its citizens’ spiritual practices — and their survival.

All but one member of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled Thursday against the Navajo Nation in its fight to ensure that the federal government is legally obligated to address the tribe’s need for water from the dwindling flows of the Colorado River.

Full Story

What Will the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on a Navajo Nation Water Rights Case Mean for Other Tribes?

/in , /by /The Colorado Sunby Shannon Mullane

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on a case that focuses on water access for the Navajo Nation but could impact battles for the resource across the West.

For 20 years, the Navajo Nation’s fight for water has been circulating through lower courts. The foundation of the case reaches back more than 150 years, involving the treaties that established the reservation, decades of court decisions and the United States’ legal responsibilities to the Navajo Nation.

Full Story

Supreme Court Hears Lively Debate on Protecting Wetlands, Led in Part by Justice Jackson

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby David G. Savage Quoted: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-10-03/supreme-court-hears-lively-debate-protecting-wetlands

The Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday by hearing a property rights appeal that calls for limiting the government’s power to protect millions of acres of wetlands from development.

At issue is whether the Clean Water Act forbids polluting wetlands and marshes that are near — but not strictly part of — waterways.

Supreme Court Hands Win to Tennessee in Water Resource Fight

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Bobby Magill

The U.S. Supreme Court found that Tennessee didn’t steal groundwater from Mississippi, in a dispute with wide-ranging implications for how states manage natural resources.

The justices in Mississippi v. Tennessee said in a unanimous decision that interstate groundwater is covered by equitable apportionment, which is the standard process by which water resources are shared.

It’s the high court’s first use of the equitable apportionment doctrine related to interstate groundwater.

Full Story

U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Michael Abatti’s Colorado River Water Case Challenging IID

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday unanimously declined a petition by Imperial Valley farmer Michael Abatti claiming he and a handful of other agricultural landowners, not the Imperial Irrigation District, held senior rights to Colorado River water that nearly 40 million people across the West depend on.

The decision likely is the last stop for a torturous legal battle that dates back to 2013. As the law stands, farmers have a guaranteed right to water delivery but not a special claim above other users like homes and geothermal plants.

Full Story

Abatti Responds to IID’s Supreme Court Filing

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Elizabeth Varin

Imperial Valley grower, landowner and former elected official Michael Abatti has responded to the Imperial Irrigation District’s official filing in his U.S. Supreme Court petition. The official response was filed sometime Monday, June 7. In March, Abatti filed for a “writ of certiorari” with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District’s decision in Abatti v. Imperial Irrigation District, to which the district was ordered by the High Court to provide a formal response last month.

Full Story

Imperial Valley Farmer Michael Abatti Hoping to Take IID to the U.S. Supreme Court

/in , /by /Desert Sunby Mark Olalde

The fight between Imperial Valley farmer Michael Abatti and the Imperial Irrigation District over control of the district’s massive allotment of Colorado River water could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court if Abatti gets his way.

He and his lawyers have announced that they have petitioned the nation’s highest court to take up the litigation that has dragged on since 2013.

Full Story

IID Considers Giving Outside Contracts Exclusively to Unions

/in , /by /The Desert Review

The Imperial Irrigation District held a special closed session meeting Friday, November 20, as a discussion to institute Project Labor Agreements for all hired general construction capital projects and outside line work. Trade Councils and IBEW Local 47 are the unions negotiating with the IID. The subject of PLAs has been a contentious one since the October 2019 was voted on and pro-labor directors Norma Galindo and Eric Ortega were chosen as the negotiators with the union and the district.

Full Story