Federal Circuit

The US wins the latest round in the Casitas saga

In 2008, the Federal Circuit surprised a lot of legal academics by ruling that the Casitas Municipal Water District’s takings claim, which arose from a requirement that the district construct and operate a fish ladder to allow endangered steelhead to pass its diversion dam, should be analyzed using the physical takings test. That didn’t resolve …

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Federal Circuit rules for water contractors

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in Stockton East Water Dist. v. U.S. that the federal government must pay damages to two California water districts for its failure to deliver water they were contractually promised.  Plaintiff districts hold contracts for water delivery from the New Melones Reservoir, which is part of …

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Klamath takings litigation heads to the Oregon Supreme Court

As Dan Tarlock and I detailed in our book Water War in the Klamath Basin: Macho Law, Combat Biology, and Dirty Politics, the Klamath Basin has been a hotbed for litigation on a variety of fronts since irrigation deliveries from the Klamath Reclamation Project were temporarily curtailed in the critically dry summer of 2001.  Now …

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