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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted oral argument on the dispute about who should be a party in the lawsuit between South Carolina and North Carolina. This is an indication that the Supreme Court is interested in the case because most procedural issues are decided without oral argument.

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The battle about who gets to participate in a U.S. Supreme Court case over the Catawba River’s water supply is heading to — the U.S Supreme Court.

The court said in an order Monday that it will hear oral arguments from South Carolina in its legal fight to keep the city of Charlotte, Duke Energy Corp. and a local water utility out of its lawsuit against North Carolina.



South Carolina’s complaint, filed in October 2007, contends North Carolina takes more than its fair share of water out of the Catawba. The case is expected to sort out how the river’s limited resources should be divvied up among competing interests.

No date has been set for when the oral arguments will be held. The calendar for the Supreme Court’s current term shows that all available days for oral arguments have been scheduled with other cases. The Supreme Court’s next term starts in October.

For Charlotte -– the largest municipality and water supplier on the Catawba -– participating in the Supreme Court suit is essential to securing control over the city’s future development.

South Carolina v. North Carolina cites Charlotte’s increasing demand for water as a concern. It also notes the city’s right to move water out of the river basin to other parts of the state, and away from South Carolina.

Charlotte City Council approved last August up to $1.8 million in attorney fees for its part in the case.

Duke (NYSE:DUK) says it should be a party to the case because neither state will adequately represent its interests since the company’s hydroelectric operations are in both states.

And the case threatens Duke’s pending federal relicensing agreement that was hashed out over three years with 70 groups that have a stake in the river.

The energy giant is in the process of renewing its 50-year license with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its 11 reservoirs and 13 hydroelectric facilities on the river.

Duke says it will “face conflicting federal mandates” if the Supreme Court’s decision differs from its FERC license.

Also filing to intervene in the case is the Catawba River Water Supply Project, a bi-state utility that distributes water from a plant in Lancaster County to 100,000 people in both states, including Union County.

All three parties have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an allotment of 10 minutes each to make their respective cases.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has filed in support of all three of the intervenors.

Siding with South Carolina is the U.S. solicitor general, who represents the federal government’s interests in all litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler warns in his filing that allowing the three groups to participate “raises the specter of wide-scale intervention by individual water users.”

Kneedler also has asked the court to allow time for him to make oral arguments.
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