Ninth Circuit blocks Idaho rule that threatened federal water rights

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision striking down Idaho’s recent stock-water forfeiture provisions, finding them unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause because they effectively aim to remove federal water rights. The panel, composed of Judges Jennifer Sung, John Owens and Holly Thomas, noted that the rules required water-right owners to demonstrate beneficial use for livestock, a condition the federal government cannot meet.

Consequently, the state’s scheme would force the United States to relinquish its water rights to private ranchers. The court also affirmed a lower-court judgment that a statute governing the transfer of grazing permits and stock-water rights is invalid. This ruling reverses parts of a 2024 district-court decision by Judge David Nye that had allowed the government five years to put its water to productive use before forfeiture could be applied. The case follows a 2022 Department of Justice lawsuit challenging the forfeiture process and references the earlier Snake River Basin Adjudication that confirmed federal water entitlements in Idaho.