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Belgian Hotels Grapple with VAT Reform and Dual Breakfast Rates
Financedh-les-sports1d ago

Belgian Hotels Grapple with VAT Reform and Dual Breakfast Rates

Belgian hotels are facing a 'headache' due to the upcoming VAT reform on March 1, 2026, which will increase rates for overnight stays and camping from 6% to 12%, creating confusion with two different VAT rates for breakfast and requiring transitional measures until June 30.

21 eerie photos show what happened to Sarajevo's Olympic venues after the 1984 Games
SportBusiness Insider4d ago

21 eerie photos show what happened to Sarajevo's Olympic venues after the 1984 Games

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA â" JANUARY 4: Snowfall blankets city as winter weather affects the capital Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on January 4, 2025. Samir Jordamovic/Anadolu/Getty Images Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984. Not even a decade later, the city was ground zero in the war for Bosnian independence. Four decades after the Games, many of the Olympic venues have remained abandoned. Over 40 years ago, the Yugoslavian city of Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. Many new structures were built, and the Games were seen as something of a reunion since many countries had boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. But six years later, the country would be thrown into turmoil during the Yugoslav Wars, which led to the fall of Yugoslavia. Sarajevo became the capital of a new country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1992, but the fighting didn't end until 2001. During the fighting, Olympic venues became battlegrounds, with ski slopes heavily mined and hotels turned into prisons. While Sarajevo's story is singular, it's not the only former Olympics host city where venues now resemble ghost towns. Olympics host countries famously pour millions of dollars into building new venues, which sometimes fall into disrepair after the crowds have gone home. Milan Cortina, the host of this year's Olympics, hopes to avoid this costly mistake. "The Games are capitalizing on existing infrastructure and local winter sports expertise, aiming to create lasting socio-economic benefits for the local population," said Marie Sallois, the IOC director for sustainability. Of the 13 venues being used across northern Italy, 11 either already exist or are set to be torn down after the games. The country only needed to construct two new permanent venues, per the IOC. Here's what the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic venues look like in 2026. The 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, from February 8 to 19. The medal podium at the ski jump venue. Ioanna Sakellaraki / Barcroft Im / Barcroft Media via Getty Images The 1984 Games were the first Winter Olympics to be held in a socialist state and the second consecutive Games to be held in a socialist country after the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The 1984 Games were seen as a grand reunion, since many Western countries had boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics, including the US. The Olympic rings are seen on the Jahorina mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina February 5, 2019. Picture is taken February 5, 2019. Dado Ruvic/Reuters The US boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. More than 60 nations refused to take part, according to the US State Department. In 1984, many of the events took place near Jahorina Mountain, seen here in 2019. But soon after the Olympics ended, Yugoslavia was thrust into turmoil, with the country formally collapsing in 1992. In this picture taken on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, graffiti by London creative collective The Lurkers "The Lurkers do Sarajevo" is written on a destroyed hotel at Mt. Igman. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned most of Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic venues into painful reminders of the city's golden times. The world came together in the former Yugoslavia in 1984 after the West had boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and Russia boycotted the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Just eight years later, the bobsleigh and luge track on Mount Trbevic was turned into an artillery position from which Bosnian Serbs pounded the city for almost four years. Today, the abandoned concrete construction looks like a skeleton littered with graffiti. Amel Emric/AP A destroyed hotel at Mount Igman, where events including ski jumping were held in 1984, is pictured in 2014. Sarajevo was almost immediately put under siege — just eight years after the Olympics ended, the bobsled track was turned into an artillery position by the Bosnian Serbs. The bobsleigh track originally built for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics lies unused on Mount Trebevic Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images This is what the bobsled track looked like in 2014 — it's been almost completely left to nature. Sylvia Hui at the Associated Press wrote that year, "Today, the abandoned concrete construction looks like a skeleton littered with graffiti." Sarajevo was under siege for almost four years, "the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare," NPR reported. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - FEBRUARY 20, 2014: Former Winter Olympic Venue now abandoned Giles Clarke/Getty Images NPR reported the Bosnian war led to 100,000 deaths and the "worst atrocities in Europe since World War II." This hotel, which was built as part of the Olympic Village, was turned into a prison during the war. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - FEBRUARY 20, 2014: The abandoned shell of a hotel constructed for the 1984 Winter Olympics and where competitors stayed. Ten years later, the hotel was turned into a prison and place of execution for Bosnian Muslims - all overseen by Serb Forces Giles Clarke/Getty Images According to Getty, 10 years after the Winter Olympics, "the hotel was turned into a prison and place of execution for Bosnian Muslims — all overseen by Serb Forces." Even the medal podium was turned into an execution site, Bloomberg reported. By the time the war ended in February 1996, thousands of civilians were dead, and the new country of Bosnia and Herzegovina had to decide how to move forward. Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics logo is seen on the tower near the Zetra hall in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 14, 2015. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Many of the Olympic venues had been damaged or destroyed by the constant bombing and warfare. Decades later, many of the tracks and venues are still empty and abandoned, like these ski jumps at Mount Igman. Abandoned Igman Olympic Jumps in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 14, 2015. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images According to Getty, "The area around the 90-meter hill was heavily mined during the Bosnian war." Here's what they look like from another angle. IGMAN, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - FEBRUARY 20, 2014: Children gather at foot of the 1984 Olympic Ski jump hill at Igman just 25km from downtown Sarajevo. The area around the 90m hill was heavily mined during the Bosnian war just 8 years after the 1984 Winter Olympics. Giles Clarke/Getty Images The mountains border the city. The ski jump was left to the elements. In this picture taken Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, the abandoned ski jumping facility is seen covered in moss at Mt. Igman near Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned most of Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic venues into painful reminders of the city's golden times. The world came together in the former Yugoslavia in 1984 after the West had boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and Russia boycotted the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Just eight years later, the bobsleigh and luge track on Mount Trbevic was turned into an artillery position from which Bosnian Serbs pounded the city for almost four years. Today, the abandoned concrete construction looks like a skeleton littered with graffiti. Amel Emric/AP Moss and debris cover the jumps. There are reminders of the Olympics scattered throughout the old venues. Destroyed Olympic rings on the abandoned Igman Olympic Ski Jump in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 14, 2015. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images These Olympic rings have fallen into disrepair. Here's where the judges sat during the ski-jumping competition. Judges tower on the Igman Olympic Jumps in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 14, 2015. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images East Germany's Jens Weißflog and Finland's Matti Nykänen each took home gold medals in ski jumping that year. The bobsled track was located on Mount Trebević, which was reachable by cable car from the city. It closed in 1989 and was destroyed during the war. picture taken on February 5, 2014 shows Sarajevo's abandoned Sarajevo's bob sleigh track near Sarajevo. Built and used as an Olympic venue during Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic Games, the track was heavily damaged during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. It was never rebuilt and it's large concrete fragments remain standing as a memento of past and training ground for young generations of graffiti artists ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP via Getty Images "The remains of destroyed restaurants, hotels, sports facilities and mountain huts were left to rot and the thousands of mines were cleared at a painstakingly slow pace" after the war ended, The Guardian wrote in 2018. After the war ended, the track gained two new uses: a place for graffiti artists to paint and a place for bikers to practice. Downhill bikers Kemal Mulic (C), Tarik Hadzic (L) and Kamer Kolar train on the disused bobsled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, August 8, 2015. Abandoned and left to crumble into oblivion, most of the 1984 Winter Olympic venues in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo have been reduced to rubble by neglect as much as the 1990s conflict that tore apart the former Yugoslavia. The bobsled and luge track at Mount Trebevic, the Mount Igman ski jumping course and accompanying infrastructure are now decomposing into obscurity. The bobsled and luge track, which was also used for World Cup competitions after the Olympics, became a Bosnian-Serb artillery stronghold during the war and is nowadays a target of frequent vandalism Dado Ruvic/Reuters A photo from 2015 shows downhill bikers using the bobsled tracks for training. There are hundreds of feet of concrete for artists to express themselves. The bobsleigh track originally built for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics lies unused on Mount Trebevic Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images The walls are covered in tags and street art. This is what it looked like in early 2018. The bobsleigh track is seen on Mount Trebevic in Sarajevo, January 16, 2018 Dado Ruvic/Reuters The track on Mount Trebević was covered in snow when it was photographed in January 2018. However, the cable car, which ferried people to the bobsled events on the mountain, triumphantly reopened in 2018. Sarajevo below the Mount Trebevic cable car in 2018. Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images The cable car follows the same route today as it did during the Olympics. People can now walk the old tracks without fear. People walk along the Sarajevo bobsleigh track on Mount Trebevi, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics and later repurposed by Bosnian Serb forces as an artillery position during The 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo on July 13, 2025 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, which established Bosnia and Herzegovina's current political structure Pierre Crom/Getty Images "The mountain has slowly returned to something like its former self," The Guardian wrote in 2018. "Hotels, restaurants and cafes have been rebuilt, mines swept away and hikers from all over Sarajevo visit en masse." Yet, the reminders of the war will always be part of Sarajevo's history, along with the Olympics. A picture taken on March 19, 2019 shows the Kosevo wartime cemetery in Sarajevo. - The cemetery was established on an auxiliary football pitch of the Sarajevo city stadium, next to the "Zetra" Olympic Hall (seen in the background). ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP via Getty Images A wartime cemetery was built right next to the Zetra Olympic Hall. Following the war, the Zetra Ice Hall was rebuilt in 1997 and reopened in 1999. It's still in use and is now known as the Juan Antonio Samaranch Olympic Hall. In 2024, Sarajevo marked the 40th anniversary of the Olympics. Olympic rings adorn ski slopes at Mount Jahorina, used as one of Alpine skiing Olympic venues during Sarajevo's XIV Winter Olympics in 1984, south of Sarajevo, on February 6, 2024 ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images In 2024, some of the slopes remain abandoned. Olympics branding, like these rings, was still visible. Even though it's been four decades, graffiti with the Olympic mascot Vucko is still seen on the streets of Sarajevo. Pedestrians walk past graffiti depicting the official olympic mascot "Vucko" from the XIV Winter Olympic Games held in Sarajevo in 1984, on a painted wall painted mural in a an alley, in Sarajevo city center, on February 7, 2024. ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images Unfortunately, Sarajevo isn't the only city that has to reckon with abandoned Olympic venues. There are empty stadiums all over the world. Read the original article on Business Insider

In Defense Of Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Opinionzerohedge6d ago

In Defense Of Sir Jim Ratcliffe

In Defense Of Sir Jim Ratcliffe Authored by Charles Johnson via TheCritic.co.uk, Far more energy has gone into condemning his phrasing than confronting the questions he raised... Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s statement that Britain has been “colonised by immigrants” has sparked a fierce reaction. From Starmer to Bluesky, to the Athletic and all the football social media pundits in between, the co-owner of  Manchester United has been bombarded with the same attack lines repeatedly. He has been called a tax dodging, racist immigrant hypocrite. Such an uproar has flared up in such a short space of time because Ratcliffe is radically different from those who have issued similar statements before. Ratcliffe is not a political figure: you do not see billionaires nor football club owners voicing discontent like this. The pushback has been fierce because Ratcliffe has no political incentive to say any of this. He isn’t running for office, seeking favour, or chasing votes — which makes his intervention harder to dismiss. Part of the backlash, too, reflects an unease that his diagnosis may be accurate. The remarks came from an initial conversation regarding the economic challenges Britain faces in general, not solely on immigration. The snippet that has been so widely shared is merely part of a wider statement of the economic problems Britain faces; Ratcliffe refers to the issues of “immigration” and “nine million people” on benefits simultaneously. Manchester United part-owner has told @EdConwaySky the UK has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, as he warns of the country facing profound political, social and economic challenges. 🔗 https://t.co/bie6uFZ1Tp pic.twitter.com/qFpiO0HkfO February 11, 2026 Colonised is a strong opening salvo for a figure such as Ratcliffe, who is not known for any previous anti-migration stance. This generated responses of tone policing from his critics – cries that his choice of words were “disgraceful and deeply divisive” and that “this language and leadership has no place in English football” from Kick It Out, a notable “Anti Racism” football pressure group. There was no attempt to argue or debate: this was no more than tone policing, of “mate mate mate, you can’t say that mate”. It did not engage with the substantive point. It was not an argument. The Prime Minister has pushed for Ratcliffe to apologise. Less than a year ago, Starmer was referring to Britain as an ”Island of Strangers”; he has little argument here. Sir Ed Davey has stated that Ratcliffe is “totally wrong” and is “out of step with British Values”. Once again this is weak tone policing, not an argument. Regardless, which British values are being violated in particular? What are British values precisely meant to mean here? The fact is that Ratcliffe’s vocabulary choice is nowhere near as divisive as the impacts of mass migration in the last quarter century. Mass migration is the most important issue in British political debate. It has bought sectarianism, Bengali and Palestinian politics swinging both local council and Parliamentary elections, a deepening of housing crisis, the rape and murder of British women from taxpayer funded hotels and programs which bloat the welfare state even further. It is undeniable mass migration has defined British politics of the 2010s onwards. It has been much more harmful and divisive than any comment made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. His words are nothing compared to the actions of Deng Chol Majek, or Hedash Kebatu, to name a couple of examples. Critics have also cried that Ratcliffe is “an immigrant himself, dodging tax in Monaco”. The difference between Ratcliffe and migration into Britain is so different they are almost incomparable. In the 2017/18 tax year Ratcliffe was the fifth highest taxpayer in the country, footing a bill of £110.5 million. With such an extraordinarily high bill, it is no wonder that he has since moved to Monaco. Meanwhile, the average salary of of a migrant entering Britain in 2023 (which has fallen by £10,000 since 2021) was £32,946, according to a report by the Centre for Migration Control. From this we can estimate a migrant would pay about £5,000 in income tax. That means it would take over 22,000 (statistically average) migrants to foot the tax bill that Ratcliffe paid in one year alone. Ratcliffe has been an exceptional cash cow to the British state. He has been taxed incredible amounts and contributed more to this country than almost anyone currently living; to call him hypocritical since he dared to criticise migration and its impact on the welfare state is simply not fair. Census data from the ONS in 2021 shows that migrants from four nations – Somalia, Nigeria, Jamaica and Bangladesh – head over 104,000 social homes in London alone. With such incredible numbers of subsidised housing going to foreign born nationals, it is absolutely correct to state that mass migration is costing the British economy a fortune. The same census states that over 70% of Somali born households are in social housing in England and Wales, whilst also being of lowest contributors to income tax in the nation – paying well under the £5,000 stated per head previously. The increase and sheer scale of benefit reliance for many immigrants in Britain is not sustainable, and it is a problem that is right to be addressed. Perhaps the most nonsensical argument presented by some is that as co-owner of Manchester United he employs a significant number of immigrant players. Bruno Fernandes is not living in social housing in Wythenshawe. Benjamin Sesko is not in a single bed council flat in Hulme. When he arrived in Manchester last year, the first thing Senne Lammens did was not register for Universal Credit. Not a single foreign player is a drain on the state. They are, as elite athletes in the most lucrative league in the world, very clearly exceptions to the norm of British migration. The difference between Bruno Fernandes, who earns a reported £300,000 a week, and the over 40% of Bangladeshi immigrants who are economically inactive should really not need spelling out. We are referring to just 17 foreign senior team players who all earn more in a week than the average migrant – or Brit – will earn in a year. It is ludicrous  to even attempt to compare the two. Regardless, employing or working with immigrants does not mean you waive your right to criticise the state of affairs in Britain. As an Englishman, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a given and inalienable right to comment on the affairs of his country. Ratcliffe’s critics have entirely focused on his choice of the word “colonised”, and how they consider it inflammatory. This choice of phrase was not entirely accurate or intentional by Ratcliffe – proved by the fact he issued an apology over his “choice of language”, rather than the substance and argument behind his critique of the broader economic challenge of Britain. The bottom line is, Ratcliffe was right to raise a perfectly reasonable concern. He is directionally correct, and close enough to the truth that the obsessive focus around his phrasing is both absurd and clearly no more than a tactic to dodge the substance of his argument entirely. His critics have been intentionally evasive around the underlying subject: it is a harsh, necessary truth they have no reply too. They avoid the debate because, despite his wording being wrong, Ratcliffe is right. Tyler Durden Tue, 02/17/2026 - 06:30

Israeli-Cypriot presents Gaza reconstruction plan to Trump peace board
Politicscyprus-mail16h ago

Israeli-Cypriot presents Gaza reconstruction plan to Trump peace board

A detailed reconstruction plan for Gaza was presented to members of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace by Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay at the group’s first meeting in Washington on Thursday. “The Gaza coastline is 26 miles long. It can be developed as a new Mediterranean Riviera with 200 hotels and potential islands. The […]

Josun Hotels & Resorts bets big on kimchi as 2025 sales surpass W54b
BusinessKorea Herald3d ago

Josun Hotels & Resorts bets big on kimchi as 2025 sales surpass W54b

Josun Hotels & Resorts is doubling down on its kimchi business, aiming to grow annual sales of its premium packaged kimchi brand to 100 billion won ($75 million) by 2030 as demand rises at home and abroad. The hotel group said its kimchi division saw 54 billion won in annual sales in 2025, after maintaining double-digit growth for five consecutive years. From 2021 to 2025, the brand recorded an average annual growth rate of 23.8 percent, buoyed in part by a decline in home kimchi making since th

How Kansas City wooed World Cup giants to its base camps: BBQ, padel, ‘KC Kind’
SportYahoo4d ago

How Kansas City wooed World Cup giants to its base camps: BBQ, padel, ‘KC Kind’

When four unassuming Argentines settled in for breakfast at the Hotel Kansas City on Dec. 10, no one — not even their hosts — knew that this, a low-key visit to America’s 38th-largest city, would incite a heavyweight battle for World Cup base camps. The Argentines — soccer administrators and fitness coaches — were there to tour hotels and facilities. They were searching for a temporary World Cup home, a place where Lionel Messi and the reigning champs could live and train this summer. But they’d

How A Water War Is Brewing Over A Drying Lake In Nevada
Environmentzerohedge4d ago

How A Water War Is Brewing Over A Drying Lake In Nevada

How A Water War Is Brewing Over A Drying Lake In Nevada Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times, A Nevada lawsuit trickling toward trial could determine how the nation’s most arid state balances the legal rights of upstream landowners to divert water from rivers for agricultural irrigation with the impacts those withdrawals have on downstream ecologies and economies. Water rights exceed water supply across much of the western United States. With many watersheds failing to deliver enough water for local needs, the suit is being watched by attorneys, state water managers, and federal agencies. It could potentially set a precedent in revising how states across the West regulate access to water. The Nevada case, filed by the Walker River Paiute Tribe and Mineral County, may also present an opportunity for a win-win solution, in which nonprofits and government entities purchase private water rights from willing upstream sellers and dedicate them to downstream public benefit. Without public-private intervention and the changes in state water law that the suit seeks, geologists and environmental experts agree the future is bleak for Walker Lake, a 13-mile long terminal lake about 75 miles southeast of Reno near the California state line in rural, sparsely populated Mineral County. The lake is completely dependent on diminishing Sierra Nevada snowmelt runoff into the Walker River—runoff that, for decades now, has been almost entirely diverted for irrigation by upstream farmers and ranchers. As a result, a desert oasis that once generated more than half of Mineral County’s economic activity through recreational pursuits such as fishing, migratory bird-watching, boating, and camping is now a lifeless “sludge pond,” while the town of Walker Lake faces an accelerating prospect of extinction. “The last fish was caught in 2013 or 2015, I believe. When the fish died, the fishing died; boating, recreation, that all just disappeared,” Mineral County Commissioner Tony Ruse said. “There were restaurants here. There were hotels here. There were businesses here. Now? All gone, just 300 residents struggling.” A Mineral County native, Ruse returned in 2020 after working 34 years as a Switzerland-trained chef in Europe and Asia, including 20 years in South Korea, to open The Big Horn Crossing, a restaurant and convenience store in a shuttered bait shop. It’s now Walker Lake’s only remaining retail business. “It was dead. There was nothing,” he told The Epoch Times. “We should be selling bait here. We should be selling fishing supplies. There should be boats parked in our driveway right now.” (Top) Mineral County Commissioner Tony Ruse fields a phone call at The Big Horn Crossing, a restaurant and convenience store that is the only remaining retail business in Walker Lake, Nev., in January 2026. (Bottom) Walker Lake, a town of fewer than 400 people, is anchored on the slopes of Mount Grant, but no longer supports a fishery, boat races, or the waterfront restaurants and hotels that once made it a desert oasis for tourists, anglers, and campers, in Mineral County, Nev., in January 2026. John Haughey/The Epoch Times Marlene Bunch and her husband Glenn lead the Walker Lake Working Group, created in 1991 to ensure water reaches the lake to sustain its recreational economy. “Upstream diversions have been our nemesis, and that’s what our legal case is for,” Bunch, a former Mineral County clerk and treasurer, told The Epoch Times. Bunch.has lived in Walker Lake since the 1960s. She recalls a 1991 discussion with Nevada Department of Wildlife fisheries biologist Mike Sevon about what would happen if water levels continued to drop. Diminishing Returns Walker Lake retains water flowing east 100 miles from California’s Bridgeport and Topaz reservoirs through Nevada’s Smith and Mason valleys and the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s reservation. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, its water levels have declined more than 160 feet since 1882. Nearly 30 miles long in 1850, the lake is only 12 miles long today. The runoff provided hydrological pressure that sustained area water wells, especially in Walker Lake, where Ruse said residents are seeing “very brackish” water coming from taps, a potential death knell for the town. “It’s getting harder and harder to keep the federal standards for potable water,” he said. “So there’s going to be a day—and I’m waiting for the call—that we need to put a reverse-osmosis system in, which we couldn’t afford to do.” Walker Lake and nearby Hawthorne, the Mineral County seat, struggle in the desert—Hawthorne has seen its population decline 60 percent from 10,000 in 1980 to just over 3,000 in 2020. Meanwhile, agriculture in the Smith and Mason valleys has thrived. (Top) Walker Lake has receded well beyond the sign on U.S. Route 95, in Mineral County, Nev., in January 2026. Decades ago, anglers could shorecast for fish that can no longer survive in the shrinking lake. (Bottom) Nevada’s Walker Lake, a 13-mile-long lake about 75 miles southeast of Reno near the California state line in rural Mineral County, was once more than 30 miles long and 160 feet higher than it is now, in Mineral County, Nev., in January 2026. John Haughey/The Epoch Times But with mountain runoff unreliable for decades now, when upstream users divert their share, little to no water makes it to Walker Lake, leaving once-bustling waterfront businesses marooned as hulking shells far from a distant, receding shore. The case, United States and Walker River Paiute Tribe v. Walker River Irrigation District, is not a new case, but ongoing litigation arising from a lawsuit filed in 1924. It’s part of a flood of litigation stemming from Walker River allocations, going back to 1902, when rancher Henry Miller sued Thomas Rickey over water rights on the river. A 1936 Walker River Decree issued by the Nevada U.S. District Court finalized water rights for more than 500 private landowners, primarily farmers and ranchers, within the Walker River Basin, including those in the Walker River Irrigation District, under a “first in time, first in right” policy that remains the standard almost a century later. Like Nevada, most western states allocate water by the policy, known as prior appropriation. Therefore, under the 1936 decree, upstream users have legal priority to Walker River water. But in 2015, Mineral County filed a lawsuit citing the public trust doctrine, the legal principle that certain natural and cultural resources be preserved for public use. The lawsuit claimed that under the public trust doctrine, it is the state’s duty to maintain minimum inflows into public waters, such as Walker Lake, to sustain environmental, wildlife, recreational, and economic resources. The U.S. District Court ruled in the county’s favor. The irrigation district appealed. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court overturned the ruling; the public trust doctrine, it held, was a state law issue that had not been decided in Nevada. That kicked the case back to the Nevada Supreme Court, which in 2020 determined all Nevada waters will now be allocated under the public trust doctrine—but that already-issued water rights would not be, and can never be, reallocated. The Supreme Court of Nevada building in Carson City, Nev., in this file photo. In 2020, the court determined that all Nevada waters will now be allocated under the public trust doctrine. Steven Frame/Shutterstock The court directed Mineral County to recommend ways to restore the lake without reallocating water rights, and to work with the Walker Basin Conservancy, a nonprofit created in 2014 with federal funding initially secured by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Walker Basin Restoration Program. In 2021, Mineral County amended its 2015 complaint to intervene in the decades’-long parallel suit by the Walker River Paiute Tribe seeking to boost Walker River flows into a reservation reservoir and secure water rights for 167,460 acres added to the reservation since 1936. The county’s complaint includes 24 “actions … necessary to restore and maintain Walker Lake’s public trust values.” After years of procedural delays, including a requirement to individually serve more than 1,000 watershed landowners across the country, the case is set to proceed into discovery. A potential trial looms. But an alternate “win-win” solution orchestrated by the Walker Basin Conservancy is gaining traction and could, perhaps, mitigate the need for a court-ordered resolution. ‘The Only Solution’ Since its creation, the conservancy has restored public access to 33 miles along the Walker River and purchased more than 13,700 acres of water rights, enough to restore about 60 percent of the river inflow biologists maintain is needed to restore the lake’s fishery. Conservancy CEO Peter Stanton and Water Program Director Carlie Henneman did not return emails and repeated phone requests for comment about the program from The Epoch Times. Nor did the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Walker River Irrigation District attorney Gordon DePaoli, or Walker Basin Working Group’s Oregon-based legal advisers, Jamie Saul of the Wild & Scenic Law Center and Kevin Cassidy of Lewis & Clark Law School’s Earthrise Law Center. Several attorneys representing different parties would only speak off-the-record, underscoring the contentious complexities of the case. A sign of the Walker River Paiute Tribe in Shurz, Nev., on Oct. 16, 2024. Walker Lake retains water flowing east 100 miles from California’s Bridgeport and Topaz reservoirs through Nevada’s Smith and Mason valleys and the Walker River Paiute Tribe's reservation. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images Roderick E. Walston, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger in Walnut Creek, Calif., told The Epoch Times his clients above the Bridgeport Reservoir in California are apprehensive about Mineral County’s suit, which he said essentially demands the federal court to reallocate existing water rights under the public trust doctrine. “Our response is basically that the Nevada Supreme Court resolved that issue four years ago,” he said. Walston was a California deputy attorney general in 1983 and argued the Mono Lake case before the California Supreme Court. In that case, the state’s public trust doctrine was used to thwart Los Angeles from purchasing Mono Lake water rights that would have devastated the lake’s ecology and Sierra Nevada economies. “So I argued both the case in California Supreme Court 40-something years ago and then also argued the case in the Nevada Supreme Court about four years ago,” he said. Walston said the case could have “great impact” on water disputes in states that uphold the prior allocation doctrine. “This is an absolutely large case,” he said. Meanwhile, Mineral County District Attorney Ryan McCormick, who assumed his post seven weeks ago, told The Epoch Times he’s playing catch-up in reading filings “from decades and decades of litigation.” A sign is pictured at Walker Lake in Hawthorne, Nev., on Oct. 16, 2024. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Walker Lake’s water levels have declined more than 160 feet since 1882. Nearly 30 miles long in 1850, the lake is only 12 miles long today. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images “In a perfect world, if we get some specific performance and find a way to divert water back into the lake and have the levels rising again, that would be absolutely ideal,” he said, adding he isn’t privy to the reasoning behind all of the 24 actions assembled by the Walker Lake Working Group. It’s a complicated case in a long-litigated watershed but the best resolution is simple, McCormick said. “With the best interests of Mineral County, Hawthorne, and Walker Lake in mind here, we would like the lake to be receiving fresh water again. It would be nice to see some economic development right now, right?” But Walston said odds are slim the court will cast aside the state’s Supreme Court determination that existing water rights cannot be reallocated. Working with the conservancy and other groups to purchase water rights from willing landowners at $3,000 to $4,000 per acre foot—an acre of one-foot deep water—is a win-win for all involved, he said. “It’s the only solution, really. The Nevada Supreme Court has said you can’t just take water rights that have been adjudicated and take that water and put it into Walker Lake,” Walston said. “But you can go to various water users and negotiate with them and buy their water rights. In that case, then you could reallocate.” Tyler Durden Wed, 02/18/2026 - 22:35