United States v. Orr Water Ditch Company

914 F.2d 1302 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ORR WATER DITCH COMPANY, et al., Defendant, and State of Nevada; Sierra Pacific Power Company; Truckee-Carson Irrigation District; Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Indians, Defendants-Appellees, and City of Reno; City of Sparks, Defendants-Appellants. No. 89-15179. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 20, 1990. Decided Sept. 18, 1990. As Amended Dec. 13, 1990. Laura B. Ahearn, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellants. Dirk D. Snel, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee. John W. Hoffman, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen., Reno, Nev., Robert Pelcyger, Fredericks & Pelcyger, Boulder, Colo., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Before LIVELY, * FLETCHER and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge: 1 Central to this appeal is the question of who has jurisdiction in the first instance over proposed actions of the cities of Reno and Sparks ("Cities") to change sewage treatment methods, thereby diverting effluent from the Truckee River system to land irrigation. The…