Babbitt

The battle over water in the West continues in this suit by local Nevada governments challenging the Department of the Interior’s implementation of a water rights acquisition program prior to producing a programmatic environmental impact statement on the interaction of the program with other related programs. The first issue in this consolidated appeal is whether the local governments have standing to bring this suit against the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and other defendants. We find that they do, and reverse the district court on that issue. The second issue is whether a local power utility has the right to intervene in the merits phase of the governments’ action. We find that it does not, and affirm the district court on that issue.

I. Background

The Newlands Reclamation Project, an early federal reclamation project, has supplied water to irrigate a vast area of western Nevada for most of this century, creating a thriving agricultural community. It has also had unforeseen adverse environmental side-effects in its two divisions, the Truekee Division and the Carson Division. In particular, the Newlands Project diverted water away from wetlands in the Lahontan…