Maximum Utilization Rates for Artificially Stored Groundwater Did Not Violate Fifth Amendment Clause: Fid-Bau Portal

Maximum Utilization Rates for Artificially Stored Groundwater Did Not Violate Fifth Amendment Clause

Landowners in eastern Washington brought a class action suit challenging charges assessed by the US Department of the Interior for the use of artificially stored groundwater. The water at issue was drawn from the Columbia River and placed on more than 1 million acres of arid lands. In travelling to the southern portion of the project, the water flowed through a region in which the farmers owned land. A higher water table resulted from the project. In 1973, the state of Washington began management of this groundwater. After litigation, the state's department of ecology accepted the claim of the United States in the amount of 3.5 million acre‐ft of stored water. Under state law, the farmers entered into licensing agreements with the United States to withdraw groundwater. The farmers claimed that the charges created by the licensing agreements were invalid in that they were unreasonable and unconscionable. They further asserted that the charges violated the Fifth Amendment. The trial court ruled against the farmers, as did the appellate court.