Carson-Truckee Water Conservancy District v. Clark
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
741 F.2d 257 (1984)
Water agencies and Nevada (plaintiffs) sued the Secretary of the Interior (defendant) for refusing, under a discretionary provision of the Washoe Project Act, to sell water from a federal reservoir for municipal and industrial use, arguing the Secretary's conservation duties toward two endangered fish species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) improperly overrode his water-sale authority; the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe intervened supporting the Secretary. The district court ruled for the Secretary, and the plaintiffs appealed.
Whether Section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act independently requires the Secretary of the Interior to use programs under his administration to further species conservation, separate from the Act's jeopardy-avoidance provision.