1998 Work Plan of the Western States Water Council

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Subco mittee: Dee Hansen (Chair), Larry Anderson, Charles DuMars. Gordon Fassett. John Hatch, ave Kennedy, Tom McDonald, Martha Pagel, Steve Sanders, Francis Schwindt, Roland Wester ard. Work i o date: Most Council member states have pending general adjudication proceedings. These 1 irge, complicated lawsuits typically involve thousands of water rights holders. Several issues of importance to the region have arisen in these proceedings, including how to finance them. n 1994, a General Adjudication Fee Subcommittee was established under the Legal Comm ee of the Council, to explore ways to finance general adjudications, including compe sation for processing federal claims. In 1996, the Subcommittee was expanded to covera a of all general adjudications issues and federal reserved water rights. One ke issue is who should pay the filing fees for general adjudications. The U.S. Supreme Court h as held that the United States is not subject to filing fees in state general adjudications procee ings. United States v. Idaho, 113 S.Ct. 1893 (1993). The State of Idaho in 1994 publish d a comprehensive reform of its water code attempting to require federal claimants to file dirt ctly with the court, give notice to other parties, and prove the validity of any water rights they ch 'm, averting the hardship of the Supreme Court's ruling. A subsequent state supreme court rt ling on the amendments specifically avoided deciding whether the comprehensive amendr ients removed the adjudication from the McCarran Amendment. An attempt by Oregon to requi re the United States to pay filing fees in the state's general adjudication was defeated by a Ninth Circuit ruling that the McCarran Amendment prohibited assessing such costs to the United States. United States v. Oregon, 1994 WL 715102 (9th Cir. 1994). The U.S. Supreme Court denied ertiorari. In response to these rulings, the Council in 1995 adopted a resolution (Positi n No. 208) supporting the United States' payment of fees incurred in general adjudic tions proceedings. Congre sman Robert Smith of the Oregon is preparing a bill concerning the payment of general adjudic ition fees by the federal government. This legislation may take the form of an amench ient to the McCarran Amendment or a stand -alone bill. Although support for the proposition that the federal government should help shoulder the costly burden of adjudications is univ rsal among western states, various views have been expressed as to how to accomplish it. 1998: Yhe Committee will track issues related to general adjudications and provide the Council opportt nity to lend support to initiatives that further state interests. Primary areas of concern include the federal government's responsibility to pay filing fees for state court adjudications under f ie McCarran Amendment or otherwise; and legislative and administrative efforts to streamline and expedite the adjudications process. The Committee will receive reports from membefs regarding developments in the general adjudications arena as they occur throughout the 2