Whittaker v. Idaho Department of Water Resources

Summary

The Idaho Supreme Court reversed the district court and reinstated the agency's approval of the McConnells' water-right transfer application. It held that the West Springs Ditch is an unauthorized diversion rather than a lawful alteration of Stroud Creek, so the historic confluence—not the present confluence—controls the injury analysis. Because the historic confluence is upstream of the McConnells' diversion, the transfer would not injure Whittaker's water right.