Wrd v. Southern California Water Co.
| Decision Date | 12 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. B155143.,B155143. |
| Citation | 109 Cal.App.4th 891,135 Cal.Rptr.2d 486 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | CENTRAL AND WEST BASIN WTER REPLENISHMENT DISTRICT, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER COMPANY, et al. Defendants and Appellants. |
Hatch & Parent, Robert J. Saperstein, Santa Barbara, and Russell M. McGlothlin for Defendant and Appellant.
Rockard J. Delgadillo, City Attorney, Richard M. Helgeson, Senior Assistant City Attorney for Water and Power, Edward Schlotman, Assistant City Attorney and Julie A. Conboy, Deputy City Attorney, for Amicus Curiae City of Los Angeles, acting by and through the Los Angels Department of Water and Power.
Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & Maccuish, Edward J. Casey and Paeter E. Garcia for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Lemieux & O'Neill and Steven P. O'Neill, Westlake Vg., for Amicus Curiae Central Basin Municipal Water District. Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliot, Frederic A. Fudacz and Alfred E. Smith, Los Angeles, for Amicus Curiae Upper Los Angeles River Area Watermaster and Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster.
This appeal presents two principal issues: who has the right to utilize unused storage space in the Central Basin, a groundwater basin, and who has the right to manage the subsurface storage space.1 These issues arise in the context of a motion that sought to allocate all of the usable storage space to the 148 public entities and private persons with the adjudicated right to extract water from the basin. The trial court denied the motion. It concluded that the unused storage space is a public resource, and that the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) is authorized to manage it. We affirm.
Appellants—the Cities of Long Beach, Downey, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera, and Paramount, Southern California Water Company, California Water Service Company, Montebello Land and Water Company, South Montebello Irrigation District, and Tract 349 Mutual Water Company—are several of the entities with the adjudicated right to extract water from the Central Basin. Appellants describe themselves as "providing] potable water services to more than one million businesses and residents in western Los Angeles County." According to Appellants, collectively they control about 50 percent of the total permissible annual pumping allocation from the Central Basin.
Respondent WRD was formed in accordance with and is governed by legislation. (Water Code2 §§ 60000 et seq.) The five members of WRD's board are elected and serve staggered four-year terms. (§§ 60080 et seq., 60135 et seq.) With the exception of powers related to groundwater contaminants, WRD's power may be exercised only for replenishment purposes. (§§ 60221, 60224, 60230.) Appellants and the other entities with the right to pump water from the Central Basin are charged an assessment to finance WRD's activities. (§ 60317.)
In Appellants' view, the core issue in this case is the pressing need for expanded conjunctive use of the Central Basin. Conjunctive use describes a management technique which involves the coordinated use of both surface water and groundwater resources. (Todd, Groundwater Hydrology (John Wiley & Sons 2nd ed.1980) p 371.) It is the method currently favored by the Legislature (§ 1011.5) and supported by all parties to this litigation. Benefits of conjunctive use include conservation, reduction in surface storage facilities, and storage of water for periods of draught.3 (State of California Department of Water Resources Bulletin No. 118, California's Groundwater (1975) p. 14.)
In lieu and artificial recharge are two types of conjunctive use projects. In lieu projects involve using surface water in lieu of pumping water from a basin. (Association of Groundwater Agencies, A Guide To Conjunctive Use in Southern California (2000) pp. 6-7.) Artificial recharge requires forcing surface water into available storage space in an underground basin through percolation ponds or injection wells. (Id. at p. 8.)
In WRD's view, it already implements conjunctive use projects and litigation is not necessary to further develop the storage space in the Central Basin.
The Central Basin extends approximately 277 square miles, underneath mostly urban or suburban land. (State of California Department of Water Resources (October 2000) WaterMaster Service in the Central Basin, p. 9.) Currently, 148 entities, including Appellants, have the right to extract water from the Central Basin (collectively Pumpers or Water Rights Holders). These entities include cities, municipalities, water companies, school districts, individuals, family trusts, landowners, businesses, religious institutions, cemeteries, nurseries, country clubs, and golf courses.
On January 2,1962, WRD's predecessor, the Central & West Basin Water Replenishment District filed a complaint against over 500 parties for adjudication of water rights and injunctive relief. It was alleged that each defendant extracted water from the Central Basin and that collectively defendants took too much water. According to the complaint, if the extractions continued at their then-current rate, the groundwater level would be lowered, deeper wells would be necessary, and the Central Basin would be flooded with sea water. The principal relief requested was "[t]hat each Defendant who establishes the right to produce ground waters from the Central Basin be permanently enjoined from extracting annually ground waters from the Central Basin in an amount exceeding that quantity of water in acre feet determined by applying its pro-rata percentage of all the rights to produce groundwater in the Central Basin as determined by this Court, to the safe yield of the said basin as determined by this Court...."4 No relief was requested with respect to the use of the storage space in the Central Basin.
The court entered the parties' stipulated agreement as its judgment. The inter se adjudication awarded water rights to 508 parties (which have since been consolidated in 148 entities). Each party's annual pumping allocation was described and each party was enjoined from overpumping absent specified conditions.
The judgment created a "carryover right" as follows: "In order to add flexibility to the judgment and assist in the physical solution to the problems of Central Basin, each party adjudged to have a Total Water Right or water rights and who, during a particular water year, does not extract from Central Basin a total quantity equal to such party's Allowed Pumping Allocation for the particular water year, less any allocated subscription by such party for purchase of Exchange Pool ... is permitted to carry over from such water year the right to extract from Central Basin in the next succeeding water year so much of said total quantity as it did not extract in the particular water year, not to exceed ten (10% percent of such party's Allowed Pumping Allocation, or ten acre feet, whichever of said ten percent or ten acre feet is the larger)."
The numerous findings of facts listed in the judgment include two related to the storage of water. First, "[groundwater extractions from Central Basin are, and at all times have been affected by common problems of storage, replenishment, quality and supply among all persons extracting groundwater therefrom." Second, the court found that extraction of 80 percent of a party's water right would "permit economical utilization of the Central Basin and its preservation as a storage and reservoir facility."
The court appointed a Watermaster to assist the court in the administration and enforcement of the judgment. The Watermaster's duties included implementing measures to assure compliance with the judgment and preparing an annual report for the court.
The court reserved jurisdiction and amended the judgment twice. The second amendment modified the carryover provision to permit Pumpers to carry over 20 percent of their allocated pumping allowance from year to year. The Second Amended Judgment (Judgment), the operative judgment, reserves continuing jurisdiction unto the court "[t]o provide for such other matters as are not contemplated by the judgment and which might occur in the future and which if not provided for would defeat any or all of the purposes of this judgment to assure a balanced Central Basin subject to the requirements of Central Basin Area for water required for its needs, growth and development."
Based on the reserved jurisdiction, on August 22, 2001, Appellants moved to amend the Judgment to "more fully quantify[ ] and allocate] the rights of adjudicated water rights holders to use underground storage space in the Central Basin" (Motion). Appellants estimated that approximately 645,700 acre feet5 of storage space is available in the Central Basin.
The Motion proposed a single allocation of the unused storage space: the division of the total usable storage space among the 148 Pumpers in direct proportion to each extractor's annual pumping allocation. Under the terms of the Motion, "[e]ach Pumper would be allocated the right to use a portion of the total available unused storage space in the Basin in direct proportion to that Pumper's pro rata share of the total water rights in the Basin." "[I]f a Pumper holds 5% of the rights to extract water from the Basin, that Pumper would also hold 5% of the available storage space in the Basin." Appellants argued that they were entitled to full use of the "available storage because they collectively are entitled to all of its groundwater...."
The amended judgment as proposed by Appellants included the following three provisions:
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