JPML Asked to Create Federal Docket for Klamath Water Project Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Oregon water utility company has asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to create a federal docket for lawsuits arising from a decades-long dispute concerning the right to use water in relation to the federal Klamath Project in the Klamath River Basin.

In a July 29 motion, the Klamath Irrigation District argues the cases share common and interrelated issues of fact concerning the obligations and rights of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in connection with its operation of the Klamath Project, including its obligations under Sections 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act, the Reclamation …