By Alex Breitler Record Staff Writer Posted Feb 21, 2018 at 6:43 PM Updated Feb 21, 2018 at 6:43 PM Thousands of water-right holders who were told to cease diversions during the last drought were deprived of due process, a judge found Wednesday, raising questions about how the state will handle future shortages. Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Brian Walsh ruled that the water users,…
RecordNet.com May 12, 2016 Probably the lofty State Water Resources Control Board thought it had picked an easy mark when it singled out two obscure local irrigation districts for allegedly taking water illegally. The state board menaced the Byron-Bethany and Westside water districts with a cease and desist order and, in Byron-Bethany’s case, a staggering…
Tracy Press March 25, 2016 The opening statements by the two lead attorneys launched what could turn out to be as many 11 days of legal and technical testimony over the charges filed against the two irrigation districts last summer. The joint hearing will determine if the charges of what the state considers unauthorized pumping…
Modesto Bee October 16, 2015 Ceres officials have pointed out a flaw in the Measure I initiative in Modesto, and it has raised new questions about whether the city could defend the initiative in court if it’s approved by voters next month. The southern boundary for Measure I’s urban limit includes a portion of Ceres,…
Stockton Record October 5, 2015 Janelle Krattiger has joined the Stockton law firm of Herum Crabtree Suntag as an associate attorney, where she will focus primarily on water rights, environmental law and public agency law. Most recently she was a legal fellow at the California Environmental Law & Policy Center at the University of California,…
Stockton Record October 4, 2015 The agencies that work together to push water through Stockton taps have had, at times, an antagonistic relationship. And that relationship has once more turned for the worse, with the water district that sells treated water to Stockton recently accusing its two biggest customers — the California Water Service Co….
Recordnet.com July 10, 2015 An effort by state officials to stop some Delta farmers from diverting water during the drought amounts to a taking of private property rights without due process, a judge ruled Friday. The decision cast doubt on the legality of thousands of similar cuts, or “curtailments,” that the State Water Resources Control…
Los Angeles Times July 10, 2015 A Superior Court order issued Friday raises questions about the state’s process of curtailing water rights during the drought. The West Side Irrigation District, which has junior rights to some flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, challenged notices in which state regulators ordered the agency to stop drawing supplies…
Los Angeles Times June 29, 2015 The lawsuits hit the courts within days of the state mailing notices to some Central Valley irrigation districts: They were to stop diverting from rivers and streams because there wasn’t enough water to go around. Unsurprising as the move may be in this fourth year of drought, to the…
SF Gate June 25, 2015 A pump that sends water to 160 farmers in the delta was shut off Wednesday. The Byron Bethany Irrigation District in eastern Contra Costa County was directed by the state to stop diverting water earlier this month because of the drought. A handful of Central Valley water agencies that have…
