Ruling invalidates Klamath irrigators’ injunction
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has thrown out a lawsuit in which Klamath Basin irrigators won an injunction against federally authorized releases of stored water from Upper Klamath Lake. The court ruled the lawsuit shouldn’t have been allowed to proceed because the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which is under court orders to protect tribal water rights and comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), wasn’t named as a defendant and can’t be compelled to participate in state court litigation. The complaint was filed against the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) for failing to protect the irrigators’ water rights.