Water Districts Urge Supreme Court to Reign in ESA and Protect Water Rights

Washington, DC— Seventeen water districts in California and Oregon today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. Supreme Court case, Environmental Protection Agency v. Defenders of Wildlife, et al., No. 06-549. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, Wheeler-Ridge Maricopa Water Storage District, Lost Hills Water District, and Kern County Water Agency are water districts located in the Central Valley of California. Enterprise Irrigation District, Klamath Basin Improvement District, Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Hills District Improvement Company, Klamath Irrigation District, Malin Irrigation District, Midland District Improvement Company, Pine Grove Irrigation District, Poe Valley Improvement District, Shasta View Irrigation District, Sunnyside Irrigation District, Tulelake Irrigation District, and Westside Improvement District No. 4 are water districts in Oregon. This case involves the proper interpretation of Section 7 of the federal Endangered Species Act. All of the amici curiae, have a vested interest in insuring that the federal Endangered Species Act not be interpreted to trump State-based water rights.

“A decision by this Court in favor of Respondent and upholding the Ninth Circuit’s ruling would unhinge the intricate legal machinery which has so far governed the allocation of limited supplies of fresh water, and possibly implicate constitutional issues of federalism as well,” explained Roger J. Marzulla, counsel for amici curiae. “These amici are already struggling to provide supplies to their water users in the face of limitations imposed under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. A holding that the Endangered Species Act can further disrupt States’ long-recognized statutory authority to allocate the water flowing within their borders would make the water shortages problems out West only worse.”

Argument in this case will be heard by the Supreme Court on April 17, 2007. A decision in this case is expected by June 25th.

Marzulla & Marzulla is a Washington, D.C.-based law firm with extensive experience handling water rights litigation. To obtain a copy of the brief amici curiae filed in this case, call (202) 822-6760, or click here.

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