Hawthorne, Nevada, May 22, 2018:
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which presides over federal cases in Nevada and eight other western states, issued a set of related rulings today on issues of crucial importance to Walker Lake and the WalkerRiver basin. Among the Ninth Circuit’s rulings, which overturned three decisions of U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, the court held that Mineral County has standing to pursue its Public Trust claim to restore Walker Lake and ordered that federally funded Walker Lake restoration efforts can move forward without further delay. The court certified the merits of the Public Trust claim to the Nevada Supreme Court for determination because the application of the Public Trust Doctrine involves aquestion of Nevada state law. In addition, the Ninth Circuit reversed Judge Jones’s dismissal of the Walker River PaiuteTribe’s claims for previously unrecognized water rights, holding that the Tribe could pursue those claims in court rather than being dismissed without being addressed.
“All people who cherish Walker Lake and value the long term health of Nevada’s precious water resources should celebrate the Court of Appeals’ decisions today,” declared Glenn Bunch, President of the Walker Lake Working Group. “Wehave been fighting for decades to protect and restore Walker Lake – a unique and beautiful environmental, recreational, andeconomic resource for not just local communities, but for the State of Nevada and the entire nation,” Mr. Bunch added.
“With these decisions, the Court of Appeals has laid to rest any doubt about Mineral County’s standing to pursue itsPublic Trust claim for Walker Lake or about the Lake being properly considered as part of the Walker River basin under thefederal Walker River Decree,” said Sean Rowe, Mineral County’s District Attorney. Rowe continued by pointing out that“Mineral County, its residents, and the broader public all have a stake in seeing Walker Lake’s economic, recreational, and aesthetic values restored for the long term benefit of current and future generations.”
“We believe there can be no serious doubt that the Public Trust Doctrine under Nevada law requires the restoration and protection of minimum flows from the Walker River system into Walker Lake sufficient to maintain a basic state of ecological health in the Lake, and look forward to getting a final resolution of that fundamental question from the Nevada Supreme Court,” said Simeon Herskovits, of Advocates for Community and Environment, the attorneys for Mineral County and the Walker Lake Working Group. “The Ninth Circuit’s rulings on all of the interrelated issues in this case onlystrengthen our confidence that Nevada law requires Walker Lake’s long term health be protected,” Herskovits observed.
As a result of the Ninth Circuit’s rulings, permanent transfers and temporary leases of water rights to Walker Lake now can move forward under the federally funded Walker Basin Restoration Program, and the Nevada Supreme Court has been called on to finally resolve the issue of how the Public Trust Doctrine protects Walker Lake in particular and Nevada’s scarcewater resources generally. Further, the Walker River Paiute Tribe will have the opportunity to have its claims for additional water rights heard in court, rather than dismissed without any hearing.
For further information contact:
Glenn Bunch,
President of the Walker Lake Working Group Phone: (775) 945-2289
Email: glen-mar@thebunch.hawthorne.nv.us
Sean Rowe
Mineral County District Attorney Phone: (775) 945-3636, extension 0 Email: srowe@mineralcountynv.org
P.O. Box 867
Hawthorne, NV 89415 775-945-2289 savewalkerlake.org facebook.com/WLWG.NV