April 21, 2023 Weekly Round Up

Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news the past couple of weeks.

Photo by Janice Carriger

*North Dakota court issues injunction against Biden WOTUS rule in 24 states.  The judge hearing a WOTUS lawsuit filed by 24 states in North Dakota issued an injunction against the rule in each of those states.  [Read article here.]  In addition to the 24 states impacted by this injunction, remember that a Texas judge previously issued an injunction prohibiting the rule from going into effect in Texas and Idaho.  [Read article here.]  This leaves the nation in a situation similar to that after the Obama WOTUS rule was passed and then enjoined, with the Biden WOTUS rule being in place in about half of the states and enjoined in the other half.

*Waco Court of Appeals changes outcome of adverse possession case on motion to reconsider 5 years after initial ruling.  The Waco Court of Appeals recently issued a new opinion in an adverse possession case involving ranchland in Weber v. Parker.  The new opinion reaches the opposite result–this time finding adverse possession was adequately proven in the case.  [Read blog post on prior opinion here and new opinion here.]  It remains to be seen whether the parties will appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

*Biden administration issues environmental analysis in Colorado River dispute.  The Biden administration issued an environmental report looking at water shortage issues along the Colorado River.  While the report did not indicate whether the administration is going to side with the proposed solutions from California or those from Arizona, the Department of the Interior did indicate it may be willing to step in if the states cannot reach a solution.  [Read article here.]

*Article discusses digital assets and estate planning.  Rivkin Radler LLP recently published an interesting article discussing how to deal with digital assets in an estate plan.  It’s a different world we live in now, and people should not overlook this importance of this issue.  [Read article here.]

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