ELR Citation: ELR 20064
No(s). 04-2072 (8th Cir. Mar 25, 2005)

The Eighth Circuit held that a dispute concerning who will supply water to certain property owners in Missouri is not ripe for review. Property owners filed suit in state court seeking to detach their property from the water district area so that it could obtain water from a city instead of from the local water district. The water district filed suit, arguing that federal law preempts any state law that would allow the city to sell water to the owners of these properties even if the properties are detached. The federal court dismissed the district's case, and the district appealed. The case, however, is not ripe. The district wants a declaration that the city cannot sell water to the property owners if the property they own is detached from the district. But the injury facing the district—water sales by the city to the owners of the formerly attached properties—is not "certainly impending." The properties have not been detached. Rather, all of the detachment proceedings are currently pending before Missouri State trial courts.