On July 5, Desert Water Agency and Coachella Valley Water District filed petitions requesting US Supreme Court review on the water rights lawsuit brought by the Agua Caliente. In the Coachella Valley, groundwater has always been a shared public resource. This case stands to change that and upset groundwater basins overlying federal land in other parts of the country. Click here to read the petition.
The agencies announced their decision to request Supreme Court review earlier this year. In October, the Supreme Court will announce their caseload for the coming term. We will know at that point if this case was selected. If it was, the ruling on the case would likely come in late spring/early summer 2018. If the agencies prevail, the case would be over. If they do not, the case would move forward likely over the course of many years leading to a basin adjudication (legal process determining rights for various parties).
For background on the lawsuit, visit our Water Rights Lawsuit page.