Strawberry Water Users Ass'n v. Bureau of Reclamation

AMENDED OPINION

McIFF, District Judge:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 This appeal probes whether jurisdiction should lie in the federal district court or in the courts of the State of Utah. The dispute centers around competitive applications filed by the Strawberry Water Users1 and the United States with respect to water imported from the upper reaches of the Duchesne River, a Colorado River tributary, into the Great Basin. The water is collected in the Strawberry Reservoir as part of the Strawberry Valley Project2 and delivered through a transbasin diversion tunnel for use primarily in the southern end of…