Colorado River Water Conservation District et al. v. United States

Decided March 24, 1976. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-940 · 424 U.S. 800 (1976) · Cited 6,491 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Princess Lida of Thurn and Taxis v. Thompson · 305 U.S. 456 (1939)
• Burford v. Sun Oil Co. · 319 U.S. 315 (1943)
• Donovan v. City of Dallas · 377 U.S. 408 (1964)
• United States v. Bank of New York & Trust Co. · 296 U.S. 463 (1936)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Hawks v. Hamill · 288 U.S. 52 (1933)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Meredith v. Winter Haven · 320 U.S. 228 (1943)
• Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. City of Thibodaux · 360 U.S. 25 (1959)
• Alabama Public Service Commission v. Southern Railway Co. · 341 U.S. 341 (1951)
• Markham v. Allen · 326 U.S. 490 (1946)
• Leiter Minerals, Inc. v. United States · 352 U.S. 220 (1957)
• Pacific Live Stock Co. v. Lewis · 241 U.S. 440 (1916)
• United States v. Klein · 303 U.S. 276 (1938)
• Landis v. North American Co. · 299 U.S. 248 (1936)
• Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert · 330 U.S. 501 (1947)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Cohens v. Virginia · 19 U.S. 264 (1821)
• Brillhart v. Excess Insurance Co. of America · 316 U.S. 491 (1942)
• Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd. · 420 U.S. 592 (1975)
• Baggett v. Bullitt · 377 U.S. 360 (1964)
• SAMUELS Et Al. v. MACKELL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF QUEENS COUNTY, Et Al. · 401 U.S. 66 (1971)
• Kline v. Burke Construction Co. · 260 U.S. 226 (1922)
• Kerotest Manufacturing Co. v. C-O-Two Fire Equipment Co. · 342 U.S. 180 (1952)
• Douglas v. City of Jeannette · 319 U.S. 157 (1943)
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
• County of Allegheny v. Frank Mashuda Co. · 360 U.S. 185 (1959)
• Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. v. Huffman · 319 U.S. 293 (1943)
• Harman v. Forssenius · 380 U.S. 528 (1965)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Arizona v. San Carlos Apache Tribe of Ariz. · 463 U.S. 545 (1983)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Will v. Calvert Fire Insurance · 437 U.S. 655 (1978)
• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Wilton v. Seven Falls Co. · 515 U.S. 277 (1995)
• New Orleans Public Service, Inc. v. Council of City of New Orleans · 491 U.S. 350 (1989)
• Ankenbrandt Ex Rel. L. R. v. Richards · 504 U.S. 689 (1992)
• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp. · 485 U.S. 271 (1988)
• Deakins v. Monaghan · 484 U.S. 193 (1988)
• Iowa Mutual Insurance v. LaPlante · 480 U.S. 9 (1987)
• Cappaert v. United States · 426 U.S. 128 (1976)
• Murray v. Carrier · 477 U.S. 478 (1986)
• Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. · 572 U.S. 118 (2014)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Reyes Mata v. Lynch · 576 U.S. 143 (2015)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. City of New York · 590 U.S. 336 (2020)
• Arizona v. California · 460 U.S. 605 (1983)
• FBI v. Fikre · 601 U.S. 234 (2024)
• United States v. Zubaydah · 595 U.S. 195 (2022)
• Heck v. Humphrey · 512 U.S. 477 (1994)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. · 544 U.S. 280 (2005)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez · 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• Babbitt v. United Farm Workers National Union · 442 U.S. 289 (1979)
• McCarthy v. Madigan · 503 U.S. 140 (1992)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Zablocki v. Redhail · 434 U.S. 374 (1978)
• Kuhlmann v. Wilson · 477 U.S. 436 (1986)
• Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff · 467 U.S. 229 (1984)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 428 U.S. 132 (1976)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).