As the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term, construction officials will be watching the cases that deal with water issues. Two cases on the court's docket focus on aspects of the Clean Water Act, and a third centers on whether timberland damaged by water releases from an Army Corps of Engineers dam are a federal "taking" of property.
First up is the takings case, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. U.S., on which the court scheduled an Oct. 3 oral argument. Timber on land the Arkansas commission owns was flooded by Corps water releases from Clearwater Dam every year from 1993 through 1998. The commission says that action constitutes a government "taking" of its property. A taking would require federal compensation.