ELR Citation: ELR 20168
No(s). 04-2204 (8th Cir. Aug 16, 2005)

The court upholds the dismissal of North Dakota's suit to enjoin the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from releasing water from Lake Sakakawea to support downstream navigation on the Missouri River pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944. North Dakota alleged that the releases violate state-law water quality standards established under the Clean Water Act (CWA). CWA §511(a), however, exempts the Corps from complying with the CWA when its authority to maintain navigation would be affected. Here, North Dakota is attempting to use its state water quality standards to affect the Corps' authority to release water from Lake Sakakawea to support navigation, and there are no exceptional circumstances to indicate that Congress would not have intended the §511(a) "navigation exception" to the waiver of sovereign immunity to apply in this case. Moreover, allowing individual states to use their water quality standards to control how the Corps balances water use interests would frustrate the design of the Flood Control Act. Thus, it preempts the enforcement of state water quality standards against the Corps' release of water from Lake Sakakawea.