Somach Simmons & Dunn | Attorneys at Law
Please complete the form below to subscribe and recieve our monthly eAlerts via email.
On March 28, 2019, the United States Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior (collectively, “Federal Government”) filed lawsuits in both federal and state court challenging the State ... read more
In the month since Governor Newsom announced that he does not support a dual-tunnel Delta water supply conveyance, activity in the more than 20 state and federal lawsuits challenging California ... read more
On February 26, 2019, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a 67-page decision and order on a motion for summary judgment regarding two claims ... read more
Earlier this week the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that in order for a water right to be enforceable, the decree must contain specified elements that measure, limit and define the ... read more
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced several changes that will immediately impact California water policy. In the Governor’s State of the State address delivered to a joint session of the ... read more
A federal appellate court decision issued on January 25, 2019 will affect the relicensing of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River and efforts to accomplish dam removal under an existing ... read more
The ongoing partial government shutdown, the longest in the history of the United States, is now in its fifth week. In all, nine federal departments and agencies have had to ... read more
On December 11, 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released a pre-publication of the proposed revision to the “Waters of the United ... read more
On November 29, 2018, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in federal court for failing to act on the CBD’s petition to ... read more
This afternoon the Department of Water Resources (DWR) withdrew its Certification of Consistency for the California WaterFix from consideration by the Delta Stewardship Council (Council). Bowing to pressure from Council ... read more
On top of the traditional requirements of their livelihoods, farmers and ranchers must navigate a complex matrix of statutes, regulations, and case law pertaining to environmental protection and the multiple ... read more
Delta Stewardship Council (Council) staff has determined that the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) determination that the WaterFix project is consistent with the Delta Plan is not supported by ... read more
On October 19, 2018, President Trump issued a “Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West” in an effort to streamline the environmental review ... read more
On October 10, the Bureau of Reclamation and the seven Colorado River basin states each released final draft agreements to implement Colorado River Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin Drought ... read more
A broad-sweeping water infrastructure bill passed Congress with ease. After being introduced in June 2018, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (S. 3021) passed with bipartisan support in September 2018, ... read more
The Third District Court of Appeal issued a decision this week holding that Proposition 218 does not affect the authority of local governments to impose fees or charges to recover ... read more
The Third Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal (Third DCA) ruled last week that Siskiyou County (County) and the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) have public trust ... read more
On August 10, 2018, a federal district court judge in the Central District of California found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must regulate — either by permitting or prohibiting ... read more
The Water Report’s August 2018 issue includes an article by attorney Rich Deitchman titled “Oregon’s Klamath Basin Adjudication: The First Five Years of the Circuit Court Phase." The comprehensive, ten-page article ... read more
In a two-part decision favorable to Klamath Project irrigators, Judge William Orrick of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, denied the Klamath Tribes’ motion for ... read more
In a case on appeal from the water court, the Colorado Supreme Court held that Coors Brewing Company would have to adjudicate a new water right in order to add ... read more
On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision on the dispute over the apportionment of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin (ACF Basin). The Court ruled in ... read more
On June 6, 2018, the Delta Watermaster formally released a memorandum (Overlap Memo) drafted several months earlier, rejecting the theory of overlapping pre-1914 and riparian water rights in the Delta ... read more
Water districts providing drinking water that meets applicable drinking water quality standards are immune from nuisance claims, according to a recent decision from the California Fourth District Court of Appeals. ... read more
Today, the Fifth District Court of Appeal will hear oral argument in Restore Hetch Hetchy v. City and County of San Francisco. Although the lawsuit is based on the allegation ... read more
