Smith v. Central Arizona Water Conservation District

John E. Smith, Mary Lou Smith, the Smith Family Trust, and the Pretzer Land and Cattle Company (“the landowners”) own land located within the Maricopa-Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District and the Central Arizona Irrigation and Drainage District (“the irrigation districts”), respectively. Through a master contract and related subcontracts with the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (“Conservation District”) and the United States Department of the Interior, the irrigation districts receive and distribute water reclaimed from the Central Arizona Project (“the project”).

In anticipation of a legal settlement, the terms of which would alter the amount of water the irrigation districts receive from the project each year for distribution to landowners and other users within their respective districts, the landowners filed this civil action in Arizona state court against the Conservation District. The landowners sought declaratory relief to prevent modification of the existing contracts, claiming vested water rights pursuant to state and federal law, and pursuant to the terms of the project contracts. The Conservation District removed the action to federal court. The…