Maybe theres hope.

Posted on Fri, Jun. 24, 2005


Supreme Court rules against California farmers in water use case

JULIANA BARBASSA

Associated Press


FRESNO, Calif. - Individual farmers may not sue the federal government to enforce water contracts entered into by their irrigation districts, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in a decision that limits landowners' ability to seek compensation for reduced flows.

Justices concluded that the 1982 Reclamation Reform Act "does not permit a plaintiff to sue the United States alone," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court Thursday.

Two dozen farmers from California's Central Valley wanted the federal government to pay them about $32 million as compensation for water they were supposed to get under a federal contract. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation diverted the water to comply with Endangered Species Act requirements to protect two threatened fish.

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