Water Supply

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By Katherine J. Hart

On September 30, 2010, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1284 (Ducheny) into law (Chapter 645). Ever since their adoption, Mandatory Minimum Penalties or MMPs have created serious economic hardship for local wastewater agencies. While concerns remain about MMPs, the California Legislature and Governor granted some much needed relief to these local agencies.
Continue Reading Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Bill to Relieve POTWs of Some MMPs

An appellate court sets aside a newly adopted general plan on grounds of incompatibility with the State Aeronautics Act, and on the basis of failure to consider a lower growth alternative in the EIR.

It has long been said that the general plan is the constitution for development and growth. In reality, the general plan has, on a selected basis, been subverted to other special planning purposes such as coastal planning, preservation of San Francisco Bay and Lake Tahoe and, as in the subject to this article, airport planning.
Continue Reading City’s New General Plan is not Cleared for Take-off, Returns to Base and is Grounded: Court Sets Aside Watsonville General Plan for Non Compliance with State Aeronautical Act and CEQA Requirements

By Leslie Z. Walker

In Planning and Conservation League v. Castaic Lake Water Agency (2009) 180 Cal.App.4th 210, the Castaic Water Agency (“Castaic”) succeeded in extracting its agreement with Kern County Water Agency (“Kern”), if only for a moment, from the tangles of the Department of Water Resources’ (“DWR”) Monterey Agreement.
Continue Reading Evaluation of Individual Water Transfer Not Considered Improper Piecemealing Under CEQA

From the quick fix solutions for the Delta to CEQA analysis on mitigation deferral, impact fees and the feasibility of alternatives, to the scope of the Corps permitting authority, the following legislation, regulations, and cases from 2009 (listed first by type of document, then in chronological order) will have the most impact on water supply, water quality, and land use and entitlement practice (e.g., development) in California in the coming years. And remember, you read it here first!
Continue Reading 2009’s Top 10: Legislation, Regulations, & Cases

By William W. Abbott

Some people look at a water glass and see it half full, others see it half empty. It all turns on one’s perspective. Differing perspectives can also apply to water charges during periods in which the utility user elects to not take service: are those charges to be treated as standby charges, subject to voter approval by Proposition 218 (Cal. Constitution Art. XIII D), or are they fees for service, exempt from voter approval?
Continue Reading Proposition 218, Water Charges and Voter Approval

By Glen Hansen

In Hauselt v. County of Butte (March 23, 2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 550, the California Court of Appeal for the Third District reaffirmed the rule established in Locklin v. City of Lafayette (1994) 7 Cal.4th 327, that the rule of reasonableness, and not the rule of strict liability, applies to an inverse condemnation action involving a flood control project. Hauselt applied the reasonableness rule despite the plaintiff’s argument that the government agency activities converted the watercourse into a public work.
Continue Reading The Rule of Reasonableness Applies to Public Agency Liability for Flood Control Projects, Even if the Watercourse has Been Converted into a Public Work

By Glen Hansen

On February 3, 2009, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted its long-awaited Recycled Water Policy. The new policy is intended to support the Water Board’s strategic plan to increase sustainable local water supplies. The purpose of the new policy is to increase the beneficial use of recycled water from municipal wastewater sources in a manner that fully implements state and federal water quality laws. Pursuant to Water Code sections 13550 et seq., the Water Board declared: “[I]t is a waste and unreasonable use of water for water agencies not to use recycled water when recycled water of adequate quality is available and is not being put to beneficial use…”Continue Reading State Water Board Issues New Recycled Water Policy

By Cori Badgley and Kate J. Hart

Water supply issues continue to plague California, and adequate water supply and analysis has become one of the main litigated issues when challenges are brought to development projects. The courts have already shown that water supply is not an issue to be ignored, whether it’s short-term supply or long-term. (See “California Supreme Court Weighs in Once Again on CEQA Compliance” for an analysis of the leading Supreme Court case on water supply.) More recently, petitioners have started to focus on the required water supply assessment under SB 610 (Water Code, §§ 10910, 10912), instead of only challenging the environmental impact report under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).
Continue Reading Court Upholds City’s Water Supply Assessment