A district court granted in part and denied in part gasoline companies' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the state of Maryland seeking to redress alleged contamination of its waters with methyl tertiary butyl ether. Maryland brought various common law claims and statutory claims u...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a Native American tribe's breach of trust claim in a lawsuit concerning water rights to the Colorado River. The tribe initially sued DOI, arguing the Department violated NEPA and breached its trust obligations based on its management of the ...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning reserved water rights in the Klamath River Basin. Ranchers sued to prevent Native American tribes from exercising reserved water rights in the basin that interfered with the ranchers' ability to irrigate their land. The district court dismi...

The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in a lawsuit concerning President Barack Obama's 2016 proclamation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument off the New England coast. Commercial fishing groups had petitioned the Court to overturn the D.C. Circuit's 2019 decision uphol...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in an ongoing dispute between Florida and Georgia over the apportionment of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin's waters, agreed unanimously with a special master's latest recommendation on remand that Florida's request for a cap on Georgia's consumption of water...

The Montana Supreme Court reversed, 5-2, a lower court decision reversing the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's (DNRC's) issuance of a beneficial water use permit for a proposed silver and copper mine beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The mining company and DNRC appe...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court order staying state law claims in a lawsuit concerning the California Water Resources Board's amendments to its water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta system. The U.S. government brought the suit, arguing the ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court's dismissal of a county's complaint in long-standing litigation over appropriation of water in the Walker River Basin. The county argued the public interest and maintenance of the public trust required that water flows reach Wal...

The U.S. Supreme Court denied, 8-0, Texas' motion to review a river master's final determination in a long-running dispute over how Texas and New Mexico share water. Texas challenged the river master's determination that New Mexico was entitled to delivery credit for water that evaporated while it w...

The Illinois Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit concerning the city of Chicago's replacement of water meters and water main pipes as well as the partial replacement of lead service lines that run between water mains and residences throughout the city. City residents brought a negligence claim against...