Some recent legal developments have caught the attention of this blog. The Oregon Supreme Court recently answered a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the
Klamath Irrigation District litigation. In this litigation, users of a federal reclamation project sued for breach of contract and uncompensated takings claims when the Bureau of Reclamation temporarily reduced their irrigation water. The certified questions answered by the Oregon Supreme Court pertained to issues of the users and the irrigation district being able to acquire an equitable property interest in a water right acquired by the United States. The court only decided that the users and district were not were not precluded under Oregon law from acquiring an equitable property right in the water.
Click here to view the court's opinion in this case.
Click here to view an article by Jeff Bernard of the AP and in the San Jose Mercury News.
The other decision in Texas, plaintiffs claimed that rain caused manure from the defendant's dairy to wash onto their property. The plaintiffs sued in trespass and nuisance and the dairy pleaded Texas's right-to-farm law as a defense. The court of appeals found that trespass was included in the right-to-farm's defense for nuisance actions.
Click here, to view the decision of the Court of Appeals for the 8th District of Texas.
Posted: 03/30/10
