Department of Ecology v. United States Bureau of Reclamation

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Department) granted to J.M. Hanson a permit to appropriate water from a stream running across his property. Hanson's property is located within the boundaries of a federal irrigation project and the stream carries, at least in part, water that the project diverted from the Columbia River pursuant to the federal government's own rights of appropriation.

A federal agency and three irrigation districts appealed the Department's action to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB), arguing that the permit interfered with the federal government's prior…