August and September, 2015

On August 5, 2015, Utah's Fourth District Court issues a third partial ruling (Memorandum Decision 4) in support of USAC’s positions in its Constitutional Rights (Provo River) lawsuit, ruling, in significant part:

1. Whether the Coalition can meet its burden to show that the PWAA – on its face or as applied – substantially impaired the public’s interest in the lands and waters remaining is an issue of fact which must be resolved at trial.

2. The ruling of another Court determining that a one-mile stretch of the Weber River was navigable was relevant to this action, but not necessarily outcome determinative.

3. The Utah Supreme Court did not repudiate legal tests which require intensive fact-finding in Edridge v. Johndrow (2015)

August 26-28, and September 2-4, 2015: Trial in Provo Courthouse of the Fourth District Court for the Constitutional Rights (Provo River) case.  The question presented at trial:  Did the PWAA violate Article XX, Section 1 of the Utah Constitution?  “To answer this question, the Court must determine whether the Act substantially impaired the public’s interest in the lands and waters remaining – a factual dispute that required a trial.”