Opinion ID: 413181
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: A Water Duty for Recreation at Lahontan Reservation

Text: 39 The district court in its opinion took judicial notice of the fact that fishing and public recreation have taken place on Lahontan Reservoir virtually since the construction of the dam. Thus, the water has been beneficially used and the United States has not abandoned or forfeited these rights. 503 F.Supp. at 883. The district court thus awarded a water duty of 30,000 acre-feet for such activities, finding that the evidence indicated this was the minimum amount of water that must be retained in the reservoir to support the fish habitat and provide swimming and boating areas. Id. at 889. It is not clear to us what evidence the court relied upon in this respect. Certainly no party presented evidence to establish a specific, public recreational right. The United States did not seek this water duty, and on appeal argues that it is erroneous, as do amici and TCID. 40 We are unwilling to accept as determinative the agreement of the parties that no such water duty is proper. Those taking advantage of these recreational opportunities were not parties, or at most, were represented most grudgingly and inadequately by the United States. 41 While the district court found that the public could gain rights to a reclamation project reservoir by continuous beneficial use under state law, 503 F.Supp. at 883, whether water rights for public recreation are permissible under the Reclamation Act has not been briefed or discussed. We are also unsure of the necessity for the nonconsumptive water duty awarded by the district court. Fishing and recreation have been consistently enjoyed, notwithstanding the absence of any formally awarded water duty; since the waters of the Carson are fully appropriated, we do not foresee how the public's recreational benefits can be threatened by any new use. In this respect, the water duty awarded the public for instream use resembles the guarantee of instream flow the United States unsuccessfully sought for Toiyabe National Forest. Assuming for the moment that such a water duty is proper in principle, we are not sure the district court had an adequate factual basis for awarding the precise water duty chosen. We therefore vacate the portions of the district court's order pertaining to a water duty for public recreation. 42 The district court maintains jurisdiction over this matter. See Hamilton v. Nakai, 453 F.2d 152, 155-58 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 945, 92 S.Ct. 2044, 32 L.Ed.2d 332 (1972). A district court's equitable discretion is characterized by flexibility, the need for practicality, and the duty to reconcile the public interest with private needs. Harjo v. Andrus, 581 F.2d 949, 952 (D.C.Cir.1978). We therefore leave it to the determination of the district court to state an orderly resolution of the legal propriety (and if necessary, the factual extent) of a water duty for public recreation. The district court need not allow the issue to lie unresolved; if the United States is unwilling to represent the public, anyone with standing who can adequately represent the public's interest may be allowed to do so. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 501, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2206, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). 43 We do hold that, contrary to the final decree of the district court, any water duty for public recreation that is awarded must be subordinate to the agricultural needs of the Newlands Project farmers. The Lahontan Reservoir, as a project built under the federal Reclamation Act, was intended for the primary benefit of the farmers who would use its waters for irrigation, and any beneficial use of the reservoir by way of recreation could only be incidental to that purpose. See Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. United States, 657 F.2d 1126, 1138 (10th Cir.1981).