[env-trinity] Sacramento Valley farmers lose area-of-origin lawsuit

[Tom Stokely]

Sacramento Valley farmers lose area-of-origin lawsuit

By HEATHER HACKING - Staff Writer
Posted: 08/02/2011 12:07:05 AM PDT
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_18599434 


FRESNO — A case for area-of-origin water rights in the Sacramento Valley was shot down Friday by a federal court judge.
The Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, with landowners in Tehama, Glenn, Colusa, and Yolo counties, made the case that its water users should have priority in dry years over federal water contractors south of the Delta.
In 10 of the past 33 years, Tehama-Colusa has received less than its full water contract, causing shortages on the 150,000 acres of land it services, water managers said.
The issue dates back to assurances made when water infrastructure was built to deliver water throughout the state, said water attorney Steve Saxton of the firm Downy Brand, and even further back than that, back to the 1920s.
At the crux of the argument is California Water Code 11460. It states that in an "area wherein water originates, or an area immediately adjacent thereto which can conveniently be supplied with water," the area "shall not be deprived by the department directly or indirectly of the prior right to all of the water reasonably required ..." for beneficial needs.
These are the state rules, and the Central Valley Project is federally operated by the Bureau of Reclamation.
However, there are also rules that require the federal government to follow state law, Saxton explained.
In 2006 a water case worked its way through the court system, providing what is called "the Roby decision." In this case, California appellate Judge Ronald Roby


ruled that the federal Bureau of Reclamation was required to follow those state rules, Saxton continued.
This provided some new case law for Tehama-Colusa to file the most recent lawsuit.
But the two cases were not identical, and last week U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger ruled against Tehama-Colusa's legal arguments.
After the loss of the case, Tehama-Colusa's board will meet and decide whether to appeal the decision, General Manager Jeff Sutton said.
Saxton said the basis for Wanger's decision was that offering area-of-origin priority to Tehama-Colusa would "interfere with the congressional direction of the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the (Central Valley Project) for the widest public benefit," Saxton said.
The judge's decision is 88 pages, and the attorney said he'll be reading through it very carefully.
Tehama-Colusa's argument was that before water is exported out of the Sacramento Valley, the local water authority should receive 100 percent of its water.
"The judge disagreed," Saxton said.
Sutton said now is a very critical time for water rights protection."With several state processes and congressional legislation coming out" there are attempts "to find more solutions to export more water out of the Sacramento Valley."
If laws and assurances given to water users "are rendered meaningless, it could have huge impacts to north state water supplies," Sutton, of Tehama-Colusa, said.
Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, based in Willows, is a joint powers authority that includes 17 water districts, and a system of canals covering 140 miles.
The Central Valley Project, operated by the federal government and including Shasta Dam, is separate from the State Water Project, which is operated by the state and includes Lake Oroville.

Staff writer Heather Hacking can be reached at 896-7758 or hhacking at chicoer.com.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20110802/97c1c735/attachment.html>