In a concerted effort to fairly and efficiently resolve a landmark water rights case, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) on Tuesday issued the below letter to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
The letter references ongoing litigation that BBID and other petitioners are engaged in against the SWRCB in Santa Clara County.
Read more about the case here. More coverage is here. The full letter is below.
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Superior Court issued its final statement of decision in phase one of a landmark water rights trial. The judge ruled that the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) lacks jurisdiction to enforce priority of rights between pre-1914 and riparian water rights.
Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) filed the action, challenging unlawful curtailment notices issued by the SWRCB in June 2015 to pre-1914 water rights holders, including BBID. Judge Brian Walsh also determined that the curtailment notices violated BBID’s due process rights.
Read the final Statement of Decision from Judge Brian Walsh below.
The Santa Clara County Superior Court issued a landmark decision in an action brought by Byron-Bethany Irrigation District. The ruling protects senior water rights in California.
Read the full Statement of Decision from Judge Brian Walsh below.
In the below video from its 10 p.m. newscast on January 17th, CBS Sacramento details new allegations that state agencies illegally met behind closed doors, in an attempt to get the California WaterFix approved.
Sacramento, CA (January 10, 2018) – A familiar face is rejoining the Sonoma County Water Agency. Grant Davis will return as general manager, the agency’s Board of Directors announced Wednesday. Davis returns after his appointment nearly five months ago by Governor Brown to serve as the Director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
DWR announced Karla Nemeth was appointed as the new DWR Director. Nemeth was previously the deputy secretary and senior advisor for water policy at the California Natural Resources Agency.
Full news releases are below.
Sacramento, CA (January 8, 2018) – Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) is calling on Governor Brown to explain why a state agency missed a critical deadline to make recommendations for improved water rights fairness. In a letter delivered to Governor Brown, Asm. Gray said, “To a community that already feels attacked and abandoned, [the missed deadline] sends entirely the wrong message.”
Asm. Gray authored Assembly Bill 313, bipartisan legislation vetoed last session by Governor Brown. Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) provided technical support in crafting the bill.
AB 313 would have ensured that neutral, administrative law judges presided over all water rights matters – providing basic fairness and due process currently lacking for California’s water rights holders. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) writes regulations, initiates enforcement actions, and conducts hearings in its own courtroom with its staff members as acting as the prosecution team and its board members acting as the judge.
Assemblymember Adam Gray represents the 21st Assembly District.
In the Governor’s veto message, he directed the California Environmental Protection Agency to make recommendations to improve the State Water Resources Control Board’s hearing process. However, a January 1st deadline to provide those recommendations has passed. Assemblyman Gray is now requesting to meet with the Governor and CalEPA to “…understand why CalEPA has failed to meet the deadline and discuss the ramifications this disregard has for my district and our ability to engage in settlement discussions with the administration.”
The full letter is below.
A milestone case that will impact the oldest water rights in California took a significant step forward Thursday. In Santa Clara County Superior Court, the final joint brief on was filed on behalf of Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID), West Side Irrigation District (WSID) and other water agencies.
The case will decide the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) claim that during drought, it can curtail riparian and pre-1914 water rights holders under Water Code Section 1052 based on priority of rights. BBID’s legal team argues that the SWRCB does not have such authority. The outcome of this legal battle has far-reaching ramifications for every riparian and pre-1914 water rights holder in the State.
The full brief is posted below.
From Western Growers: “In the final hours to sign or veto bills sent to him by the California Legislature, Governor Brown vetoed AB 313 by Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Western Growers-supported bill that would have inserted much-needed balance into the state’s water rights enforcement activities…”
Late Sunday night, Governor Jerry Brown issued the following veto message for Assembly Bill 313, water rights fairness legislation that Byron-Bethany Irrigation District strongly supported.
Byron-Bethany Irrigation District on Monday issued a letter to the San Jose Mercury News, responding to the newspaper’s critical editorial on Assembly Bill 313, a BBID-backed water bill that restores fairness for the state’s water rights holders.
The Mercury News limits its Letters to the Editor to 150 words, so BBID chose to post its full response here. The original editorial is posted below BBID’s letter.