<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: bold; ">Canal authority loses water rights case</span></div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.orland-press-register.com/articles/water-11486-authority-canal.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">http://www.orland-press-register.com/articles/water-11486-authority-canal.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN">Tuesday, Jul 9 2013, 6:54 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN"><a href="x-msg://83/" title="ShareThis via email, AIM, social bookmarking and networking sites, etc." style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; "><span class="stbuttontext1"><span style="color: blue; ">ShareThis</span></span></a>| <a href="http://www.orland-press-register.com/common/printer/view.php?db=opregister&id=11486" target="_blank" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">Print Story</a> | <a href="mailto:?subject=OPREGISTER:%20Canal%20authority%20loses%20water%20rights%20case&body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orland-press-register.com%2Farticles%2Fwater-11486-authority-canal.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">E-Mail Story</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN"><a href="mailto:jjohnson@tcnpress.com" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">By Julie R. Johnson/Tri-County Newspapers</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority has lost a critical court case heard by the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the area of origin water rights.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The TC authority was fighting for priority of water allocations in dry years over exports to Central Valley Project contractors located south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">A joint powers authority comprised of 17 water agency members headquartered in Willows, the canal authority initiated the action against federal and state water agencies, maintaining the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's operation of the Central Valley Project failed to comply with state law protections of the Sacramento Valley watershed by exporting water outside that watershed without first satisfying the needs within the area of origin.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">"The Bureau of Reclamation has broken its promise to protect first priority of water usage to our area of origin water storage," said Jeffrey Sutton, general manager of the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority. "We are very disappointed, and in fact, taken aback by this ruling."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The appeal came as a result of District Court Judge Oliver Wanger's ruling that northern service contractors of the Central Valley Project are not entitled to a priority of water allocations in drought years over southern contractors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">Wanger is based in Fresno.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">In its opinion filed July 1, the Court of Appeals agreed with Wanger, stating California's water code does not require the Bureau of Reclamation to provide Central Valley Project contractors priority water rights because the contract between the canal authority and the bureau "contained provisions that specifically addressed allocation of water during shortage periods."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The two drought years at issue in this case are 2008 and 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">In 2008, the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority and other north-of-Delta water service contractors received 100 percent of their contractual water allocations from the bureau. South-of-Delta contractors received 50 percent of their allocations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">In 2009, when the governor declared a state of emergency because of the drought, canal authority and other north-of-Delta contractors received 40 percent of their allocations, while south-of-Delta contractors received 10 percent, the Court of Appeals stated.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The appellate court declared that while it is undisputed that the bureau's appropriation of water for the Central Valley Project is subject to the area of origin statutes, there is an important distinction "that while the area of origin statutes help to determine the total quantity of water available to the Bureau for allocation, those statutes in no way control how the water is allocated by the Bureau once acquired."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">During a hearing before Wanger, the canal authority argued that a 2006 ruling of the California Court of Appeals gave its members a clear right to receive their Central Valley Project water supplies in dry years before any water is exported to Central Valley Project contractors south of the Delta.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The 2006 court case was the first ever on state laws intended to protect watersheds of origin from being drained by Central Valley Project exports.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">"The federal court failed to uphold California's historic area of origin protections, which the state courts and regulatory agency say should assure (Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority's) rights to be protected from exports of Central Valley Project water needed in our own area," said Sutton.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">He said the canal authority office and its board of directors are reviewing the ruling and considering available options.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">"The board will meet and decide what direction we will go from here," Sutton said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">He believes this outcome has caused a great disconnect between state and federal laws that apply to water allocations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">"I feel state laws have legal precedent and are firmly establish and very clear concerning area of origin water rights," Sutton said. "This ruling undermines that long standing."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">In 1933, the California Legislature passed a law specifically directed at the Central Valley Project that prohibits depriving any watershed of water that is required to adequately supply the beneficial needs of watershed users.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">According to the canal authority, the federal government has for years, and continues to ignore that legal obligation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span lang="EN">The canal authority's membership delivers Central Valley Project water to about 150,000 acres of farmland in Tehama, Glenn, Colusa and Yolo counties, which according to some studies, contribute about $1 billion in farm production to the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "># # #<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div></body></html>