United States v. Board of Directors, No. 12-15474 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseThis appeal involved litigation over how much water from the Truckee and Carson Rivers should be diverted to irrigation and how much should flow into Pyramid Lake for the benefit of the Tribe. At issue was the court's ruling in United States v. Bell, which concerned the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID). The court concluded that it's understanding of the scope of the gauge error claim - the margin of error with respect to the gauges that measured the flow of the diversions - in Bell was mistaken and the court should have ordered recalculation of the gauge error's impact in all the years potentially affected. Accordingly, the court withdrew its earlier mandate and clarified it by ordering the district court to recalculate the effect of gauge error, not only for the years, 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979, but for the years 1973, 1976, 1985, and 1986 as well, to determine the amount of any excess diversions.
Court Description: Water Rights. The panel dismissed appeals from Churchill County and the State of Nevada, withdrew the mandate in United States v. Bell, No. 05-16154+, 602 F.3d 1074 (9th Cir. 2010), and amended the opinion, and vacated the judgment of the district court on remand in an action concerning diversion of water from the Truckee and Carson Rivers to either irrigation use or for the benefit of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Tribe. In the Bell case, the panel held that in calculating the amount of excess water diversions, the district court had failed appropriately to account for the margin of error with respect to the gauges that measured the flow of the diversions. The panel held that it was mistaken in its understanding of the scope of the gauge error, and that it should not have limited recalculation to the four years in which the district court initially found excess diversions. The panel held that it should have ordered recalculation of the gauge error’s impact in all the years potentially affected. The panel withdrew the mandate, and ordered the district court to recalculate the effect of gauge error not only for the years 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979, but for the years 1973, 1976, 1985, and 1986 as well, to determine the amount of any excess diversions.
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