Blog: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal remands Walker River decree public trust claims for determination of alternative remedies
On January 28, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal (Ninth Circuit) issued a decision addressing issues related to the extent to which the public trust doctrine may be used to safeguard water resources covered under the 1936 Walker River Decree (Decree). The litigation arose from contested water rights in the Walker River Basin, which originates in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California and ends at Walker Lake in Mineral County, Nevada. I