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Water, Property, And The Clean Water Act, Janis Snoey

Washington Law Review

In PUD No. I of Pend Oreille County v. Department of Ecology, the Supreme Court of Washington held that Washington State has authority under the Clean Water Act to impose a minimum stream flow requirement on a hydroelectric project seeking to amend its federal license, regardless of whether the flow requirement affects an existing water right. A water right is property protected by the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on taking without just compensation. If a state's imposition of a minimum flow requirement under the Clean Water Act restrains a project from diverting the full quantity of an existing water right, …