Opinion ID: 6982219
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Continuing Jurisdiction

Text: We have consistently interpreted both the Alpine and Orr Ditch Decrees to provide for federal district court review of decisions of the State Engineer regarding applications to change the place of diversion or manner or place of use of water rights derived from the Alpine and Orr Ditch Decrees. The Alpine Decree expressly provides the district court with continuing jurisdiction over transfer applications: Applications for changes in the place of diversion, place of use or manner of use as to Nevada shall be directed to the State Engineer. Any person feeling himself aggrieved by any order or decision of the State Engineer on these matters may appeal that decision or order to this Court. (Emphasis added.) This jurisdictional arrangement has been repeatedly upheld. See United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co., 878 F.2d 1217, 1219 n. 2 (9th Cir.1989) (“Alpine II”) (“Pursuant to the Alpine decree, the federal district court acts as an appellate court for decisions of the state Engineer.”); Alpine I, 697 F.2d at 858; United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co., 919 F.Supp. 1470, 1474 (D.Nev.1996) (“Aqueduct I ”). We have also interpreted the Orr Ditch Decree as providing for continuing federal court jurisdiction over appeals from decisions of the State Engineer arising under that Decree. See Orr Water, 914 F.2d at 1308-09 & n. 8. For change applications, the Orr Ditch Decree instructs that [p]ersons whose rights are adjudicated hereby, their successors or assigns, shall be entitled to change in the manner provided by law the point of diversion and the place, means, manner or purpose of use of the waters to which they are so entitled or any part thereof, so far as they may do so without injury to the rights of other persons whose rights are fixed by this decree. (Emphasis added.) Although the Orr Ditch Decree does not expressly provide for federal district court review of the decisions of the State Engineer, we have interpreted Nevada law, which provides for jurisdiction of appeals from decisions of the State Engineer “in the court that entered the decree,” as providing for federal court review under the Orr Ditch Decree. Orr Water, 914 F.2d at 1309 n. 8 (quoting Nev.Rev.Stat. § 533.450(1)). “Nevada law thus supports the system adopted by the federal courts for appeals of Engineer decisions on federal-eourt-decreed water rights.” Id. We must determine whether the Fish and Wildlife Service’s transfer application comes within the ambit of the jurisdiction reserved in the Decrees. Churchill County argues that the transfer application does not because the jurisdiction retained by the Alpine Decree is “highly extraordinary” and limited to cases involving federal interests in the Newlands Reclamation Project. Even assuming, arguendo, that the transfer application at issue is unrelated to the United States’ interest in the Newlands Reclamation Project, 4 we reject Churchill County’s construction of the Decrees as too narrow in light of this circuit’s precedent. Churchill County’s belief that federal court jurisdiction must be based on the existence of a federal interest stems from language in Alpine I and Alpine II. In particular, in Alpine I, this court stated that “[t]he United States is not concerned with the routine change application, but with the possibility that federal interests will be ignored by the Nevada State Engineer.” Alpine I, 697 F.2d at 858. The Alpine I court found that district court appellate jurisdiction over transfer applications combined with the United States’ ability to participate in proceedings before the State Engineer would “provide full vindication of the admitted federal interests in the operation of federal reclamation projects.” Id.; see also Alpine II, 878 F.2d at 1219 n. 2 (quoting the same language). Reasons for providing federal court jurisdiction, however, are not the same as prerequisites for jurisdiction. The Alpine I court addressed a dispute over whether applications for change in the place of diversion or manner or place of use should be directed to the State Engineer at all. The language cited above responds to a concern that federal interests might be ignored. The Alpine I court did not say that federal court jurisdiction would lie only when a federal interest is implicated. See also Aqueduct I, 919 F.Supp. at 1474 (stating broadly that “this Court acts as an appellate court for decisions of the State Engineer with regard to federally decreed water rights”). Churchill County also points to this court’s statement in Alpine II that district court appellate jurisdiction over the decisions of the State Engineer “is highly extraordinary.” Alpine II, 878 F.2d at 1219 n. 2. This language, however, does not mean that the district court may exercise jurisdiction only in rare instances. As evidenced by Alpine II’s citations to the cases that gave rise to the Rooker-Feld-man doctrine, District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983), and Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923), the Alpine II court was referring to the extraordinary nature of the district court’s appellate jurisdiction under the Alpine Decree in relation to the doctrine that district courts may not exercise appellate jurisdiction over state court rulings. The Alpine II court expressly noted that, in spite of its extraordinary nature, “[w]e specifically approved of this jurisdictional arrangement in [Alpine I ].” Alpine II, 878 F.2d at 1219 n. 2. Thus, we find that the transfer application at issue comes within the scope of jurisdiction intended by the Alpine and Orr Ditch Decrees. 5