Tenth Circuit Rejects Individual Water Rights in Nambé-Pojoaque-Tesuque Basin General Stream Adjudication

Here are the materials in State of New Mexico v. United States:

CA10 Opinion

Briefs:

Joint Pueblo Brief

New Mexico Brief

New Mexico Jurisdiction Brief

Trujillo Brief

Trujillo Jurisdiction Brief

Trujillo Response to Pueblo Brief

Cert Opposition Briefs in Crow Water Settlement

Here:

Cert Opp Brief

US Cert Opp Brief TK

Cert petition in Crow Allottees v. United States here.

Lower court materials: briefs, Mont SCT Opinion.
Related federal court materials here.

 

Navajo Blame EPA Inaction for Suicides

From The Daily Beast:
“For most Americans, the third week of December is about wrapping up Christmas shopping and prepping for a whirlwind of family gatherings. But for the leaders of the Navajo Nation, it’s about something much heavier: suicide prevention.”

Article is HERE.

 

 

 

Montana SCT Affirms Approval of Crow Water Compact

Here is the opinion:

Montana SCT Decision

Briefs are here.

Ninth Circuit Briefs in San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority v. Jewell

Here:

Federal Opening Brief

Hoopa Opening Brief

Yurok Opening Brief

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority Opening Brief

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority Response Brief

California Amicus Brief

Federal Response Brief

Hoopa Response Brief

Fishermen’s Brief

Yurok Response Brief

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority Reply

Lower courts materials here.

Law Professor Comments Submitted on EPA Proposed Rule

Law Professor Comments regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Revision of Certain Water Quality Criteria Applicable to the State of Washington, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0174, published at 80 Fed. Reg. 55063 (Sept. 14, 2015):

Water quality standards (WQS) for Washington2 impact the rights, resources, and health and well-being of numerous tribes in the region. In fact, when the waters that support fish are allowed to be contaminated, tribes’ interests are profoundly affected and tribal people disproportionately among the most exposed. This context is significant, because it constrains rulemaking in important ways. Among other things, the adequacy of WQS for Washington must be considered in view of legal protections for tribes’ fishing rights, including treaties and other instruments.

Federal Court Issues Order in Penobscot River Dispute

Here is the opinion in Penobscot Nation v. Mills (D. Me.):

161 DCT Order

Briefs here.

Cert Petition (Yes, Another One) in Challenge to Crow Water Settlement

Here is the petition in Crow Allottees v. Dept. of Justice:

Crow Allottees Cert Petition

Question presented:

Can the water rights owned by individual Crow Indian allottees – which this Court in United States v. Powers, 305 U.S. 527 (1939) recognized as distinct individual rights, separate from water rights possessed by the Crow Tribe – be awarded to the Crow Tribe in negotiations between the United States, the tribe, and the State of Montana?
Further, do the Montana Courts have jurisdiction to decide these questions of federal law related to allottees’ rights?
Lower court materials: briefs, Mont SCT Opinion.
Related federal court materials here.

Maine’s Second Amended Complaint in State v. McCarthy

Doc. 30- Second Amended Complaint

Previous Turtle Talk coverage here.

Maine is suing the EPA over agency action concerning the State’s surface water quality standards.

Moapa Paiute Settlement Closes Coal Power Plant

Materials in The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians v. Nevada Power:

No. 114 – Order Granting Joint Motion to Approve Settlement

The settlement includes $4.3 million to the Tribe and requires defendants to shutdown the last Reid Gardner Plant by 2018.  Four power stations had been running since the 60s to power the Las Vegas Valley, but were considered the dirtiest in the country and fined heavily by regulators for spewing coal ash dust.  The last working plant is next to the Tribe’s reservation.