United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co.

697 F.2d 851 UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. ALPINE LAND & RESERVOIR CO.; Truckee-Carson Irrigation District; Sierra-Pacific Power Co.; State of Nevada; and Certain Upper Carson River Water Users, Appellees. No. 81-4084. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted May 14, 1982. Decided Jan. 24, 1983. Harry Swainston, Carson City, Nev., Dirk D. Snel, Washington, D.C., for appellant. James W. Johnson, Jr., George Folsom, Woodburn, Forman, Wedge, Blakey & Jeppson, Reno, Nev., for appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Before KENNEDY, ALARCON and NELSON, Circuit Judges. KENNEDY, Circuit Judge: 1 The Carson River runs eastward from the Sierra Nevada range in California, through a part of Toiyabe National Forest, and then to Lahontan Reservoir in central Nevada, where it joins with water from the Truckee River Diversion Canal. See United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co., 431 F.2d 763, 765-66 (9th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 909 , 91 S.Ct. 869 , 27 L.Ed.2d 807 (1971). Downstream from Lahontan Reservoir lies the Carson Division of the Newlands Project, whose farmers are mostly members of…