ONRC ACTION v. U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

No. 12-35831.

798 F.3d 933 (2015)

ONRC ACTION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, Defendant-Appellee, Klamath Basin Water Users Association; Oregon Water Resources Congress; Klamath Drainage District, Intervenor-Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Decided August 21, 2015.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

William Charles Carpenter, Jr. , Eugene, OR, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David C. Shilton (argued), Katherine J. Barton , Kent E. Hanson , Austin David Saylor , and Robert G. Dreher , United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C., for Defendant-Appellee United States Bureau of Reclamation.

Nicholas A. Jacobs (argued) and Paul Scott Simmons , Somach Simmons & Dunn, Sacramento, CA, for Intervenor-Defendant-Appellee Klamath Basin Water Users Association.

Sarah Stauffer Curtiss and David E. Filippi , Stoel Rives LLP, Portland, OR, for Intervenor-Defendant-Appellee Oregon Water Resources Congress.

Justin E. Throne , Klamath Falls , OR, for Intervenor-Defendant-Appellee Klamath Drainage District.

Charlene Koski , Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC, Seattle, WA, and Thomas P. Schlosser , Morisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak & Somerville, Seattle, WA, for Amicus Curiae Hoopa Valley Tribe.

David G. Guest and Monica Reimer , Earthjustice, Tallahassee, FL; Yinet Pino , Law Offices of Bernardo Roman III, Miami, FL, for Amici Curiae Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, Friends of the Everglades, and Florida Wildlife Federation.

Philip Bein , Brian Sutherland , Richard Dearing , and Barbara Underwood , Office of the New York Attorney General, Albany, N.Y.; Eric Schneiderman , Attorney General of New York, New York, N.Y., for Amici Curiae States of New York, Delaware, Maine, Missouri, Washington, and Province of Manitoba, Canada.

Roderick E. Walston , Best Best & Krieger, LLP, Walnut Creek, CA, for Amici Curiae Westlands Water District and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

William Jenkins , Gavin G. McCabe , Robert W. Byrne , and Kamala D. Harris , Office of the California Attorney General, San Francisco, CA, for Amicus Curiae State of California.

Annette Quill , Daniel Domenico , and John Suthers , Colorado Department of Law, Denver, CO; Catherine Cortez Masto , Attorney General, Carson City, NV, for Amici Curiae States of Colorado, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Peter D. Nichols , Berg Hill Greenleaf & Ruscitti LLP, Boulder, CO; Don Baur and Paul Smyth , Perkins Coie LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Western Urban Water Coalition; National Water Resources Association; The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; The San Diego County Water Authority; The City and County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; The [California] State Water Contractors; The Eldorado Irrigation District; The Central Arizona Water Conservation District; the [Arizona] Salt River Project; The Metropolitan Water District, of Salt Lake & Sandy [Utah]; The Las Vegas Valley Water District; The Idaho Water Users Association; The City of Aurora [Colorado]; The City of Boulder [Colorado]; The City of Colorado Springs, acting by and through its enterprise Colorado Springs Utilities; The City and County of Denver, acting by and through its Board of Water Commissioners; The Lower Arkansas Valley [Colorado] Water Conservancy District; The Central Utah Water Conservancy District; The Washington County [Utah] Water District; The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District; The Kane County [Utah] Water Conservancy District; The Imperial Irrigation District [California]; The Rio Grande Water Conservation District; and The Republican River Water Conservation District.

Before: RICHARD R. CLIFTON, MILAN D. SMITH, JR., and ANDREW D. HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.


OPINION

This appeal presents the question of whether the Bureau of Reclamation has violated the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants from the Klamath Straits Drain into the Klamath River without a permit. The Klamath Straits Drain is part of the Klamath Irrigation Project operated by the Bureau in parts of...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases