Rock Creek Limited Partnership, a California Limited Partnership v. State Water Resources Control Board

The California Water Resources Control Board (Board) imposed minimum flow conditions on a hydroelectric project inconsistent with those contained in .the project license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The position of the Board was rejected by this court in affirming a FERC declaratory order in State of California, ex rel. State Water Resources Board v. FERC, 877 F.2d 743 (9th Cir.1989), and by the United States Supreme Court in California v. FERC, 495 U.S. 490 , 110 S.Ct. 2024 , 109 L.Ed.2d 474 (1990). The project sponsor here appeals the district court’s denial of an award of attorneys fees in its 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action filed shortly after the Board issued its order. We vacate the order and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Rock Creek Limited Partnership (Rock Creek) is the project sponsor of a small hydroelectric project on Rock Creek, which is a tributary of the South Fork of the American River near Placerville, California. In April, 1983, Rock Creek received a FERC license, which established minimum flows past the project diversion of eleven cubic feet per second (cfs) May to September, and fifteen cfs October through April. The license…