Mission Springs Water Dist. v. Desert Water Agency

320 Cal.Rptr.3d 126

MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.DESERT WATER AGENCY et al., Defendants and Respondents.

D081984

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1.

Filed March 20, 2024

West Codenotes

Limitation Recognized

Cal. Water App. § 100-49

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Randall D. White ^*and Ronald L. Johnson,^** Judges. Affirmed. (Super. Ct. No. PSC1600676)

Slovak, Baron, Empey, Murphy & Pinkney, Shaun M. Murphy and John O. Pinkney, Palm Springs, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Best Best & Krieger, Piero C. Dallarda, Riverside, Wendy Y. Wang, Los Angeles, and Miles B. H. Krieger, Riverside, for Defendant and Respondent Desert Water Agency.

Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Robert W. Byrne, Assistant Attorney General, Eric M. Katz and Noah Golden-Krasner, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendant and Respondent California Department of Water Resources.

CASTILLO, J.

I.

Desert Water Agency (Desert Water) and Mission Springs Water District (Mission Springs) are both local agencies responsible for certain water management functions in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County. The agencies dispute who should be the regional groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) responsible for managing groundwater pursuant to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Water Code sections 10720 to 10738 (the Act). Specifically, Mission Springs challenges Desert Water’s claim to being the exclusive GSA within its statutory boundaries, which subsume most of Mission Springs’ boundaries. It also seeks resolution of competing claims to GSA authority for an additional three-square-mile area outside of Desert Water’s statutory boundaries (the Three-Square-Mile Area).

Mission Springs first argues Desert Water violated Water Code Appendix section 100-49 (section 100-49) by impairing Mission Springs’ powers. As explained below, Mission Springs has not shown Desert Water impaired its powers simply by becoming a GSA. Even assuming it had, we conclude the Act impliedly abrogates section 100-49 to the extent the statutes conflict. Desert Water was expressly designated the exclusive local agency to enforce the Act within its statutory boundaries, reflecting the intent of the Legislature to put Desert Water in charge of GSA powers.

Mission Springs also claims Desert Water violated Water Code section 30065 when becoming a GSA. We find, however, Desert Water did not "form" a public corporation or public agency within Mission Springs’ jurisdiction by becoming a GSA and therefore did not violate section 30065.

Next, Mission Springs contends the California Department of Water Resources (the Department) erred by posting Desert Water’s notice of intent to become a GSA because Desert Water failed to comply with the notice requirements of the Act. We find Desert Water strictly or substantially complied with all notice requirements, and thus there was no error or abuse of discretion by the Department.

Finally, Mission Springs claims the Department should resolve the overlapping claims to the Three-Square-Mile Area in favor of Mission Springs. The Act requires the agencies to resolve this dispute between themselves and provides no role for the Department. We therefore find no error or abuse of discretion.

Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment denying Mission Springs’ petition for writ of mandamus.

II.

A.

In 2014, the Legislature passed the Act to, among other things, "provide for the sustainable management of groundwater basins," "enhance local management of groundwater consistent with rights to use or store groundwater," and "provide local groundwater agencies with the authority and the technical and financial assistance necessary to sustainably manage ground-water." (§ 10720.1, subds. (a), (b), & (d).) To facilitate these goals, the Act calls for the creation of "groundwater sustainability agencies" (GSAs), providing that "any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin may decide to become a [GSA] for that basin." (§ 10723, subd. (a).) The Act requires the Department to classify groundwater basins by management priority (§§ 10720.7, 10933) and mandates the creation of GSAs, or a specified alternative, for medium-and high-priority basins (§ 10722.4, subd. (d)(1)).

The Act names certain local agencies that were "created by statute to manage groundwater" and are "deemed the exclusive local agencies within their respective statutory boundaries with powers to comply with" the Act. (§ 10723, subd. (c)(1).) Desert Water is one of these "exclusive local agencies." (Id., subd. (c)(1)(C).)

In 2015, when Desert Water submitted its notice of intent to become a GSA, the Act included two notice provisions. The first, in former section 10723, subdivision (d) (repealed Jan. 1, 2016), provided: "A local agency or combination of local agencies that elects to be the [GSA] shall submit a notice of intent to the [D]epartment, which shall be posted pursuant to Section 10733.3. The notice of intent shall include a description of the proposed boundaries of the basin or portion of the basin that the local agency or combination of local agencies intends to manage pursuant to this part." (Stats. 2015, ch. 255, § 6.)

Separately, former section 10723.8 (amended Jan. 1, 2016) provided:

(a) Within 30 days of electing to be or forming a [GSA], the [GSA] shall inform the [D]epartment of its election or formation and its intent to undertake sustainable groundwater management. The notification shall include the following information, as applicable:

(1) The service area boundaries, the basin the agency is managing, and the other [GSAs] operating within the basin.

(2) A copy of the resolution forming the new agency.

(3) A copy of any new bylaws, ordinances, or new authorities adopted by the local agency.

(4) A list of interested parties developed pursuant to Section 10723.2 and an explanation of how their interests will be considered in the development and operation of the [GSA] and the development and implementation of the agency’s sustainability plan.

This provision further stated, "90 days following the posting of the notice pursuant to this section, the [GSA] shall be presumed the exclusive [GSA] within the area of the basin the agency is managing as described in the notice, provided that no other notice was submitted." (Stats. 2015, ch. 255, § 8.) Former section 10733.3 directed that the Department "shall post all notices it receives pursuant to Section 10723 or 10723.8 on its Internet Web site within 15 days of receipt." (Stats. 2015, ch. 255, § 14.)

Effective January 1, 2016, the Legislature amended these notice provisions, eliminating section 10733.3 entirely and removing the notice requirement of prior section 10723, subdivision (d). Section 10723.8, subdivision (c), was amended to provide: "The decision to become a [GSA] shall take effect 90 days after the [D]epartment posts notice under subdivision (b) if no other local agency submits a notification under subdivision (a) of its intent to undertake groundwater management in all or a portion of the same area. If another notification is filed within the 90-day period, the decision shall not take effect unless the other notification is withdrawn or modified to eliminate any overlap in the areas proposed to be managed. The local agencies shall seek to reach agreement to allow prompt designation of a [GSA.]" Section 10723.8, subdivision (b), was amended to provide, "The [D]epartment shall post all complete notices re- ceived under this section on its Internet Web site within 15 days of receipt." (Stats. 2015, ch. 255, §§ 6, 8, & 14.)

B.

Mission Springs and Desert Water both provide water services in the Coachella Valley, in and around Palm Springs. Mission Springs is a county water district that provides retail water and wastewater services to residents in its jurisdiction. Desert Water is an agency created by special legislative act to ensure adequate water supply in the region through natural and artificial replenishment. (See Wat. Code, appen. 100.) Long ago, Mission Springs agreed to be annexed into Desert Water's jurisdiction to benefit from Desert Water’s groundwater replenishment and other services. Mission Springs is now almost entirely subsumed within Desert Water’s jurisdiction, although the two provide retail water services in different areas:

Fig. 1 - Map of Overlapping Jurisdictions

320 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.bmp

Fig. 2 - Map of Service Areas

320 Cal.Rptr.3d 133.bmp

In November 2015, following a public hearing and a vote by its board of directors, Desert Water filed a notice of intent to become the GSA for its statutory boundaries and the Three-Square-Mile Area which also overlies one of the basins in Desert Water’s boundaries. The Department posted this notice.

Fig. 3 - Dessert Water’s Proposed Map of GSA Boundaries

320 Cal.Rptr.3d 134.bmp

Mission Springs filed a notice of its intent to become a GSA on February 3, 2016, within 90 days of Desert Water’s notice. Mission Springs’ notice proposed GSA boundaries that significantly overlapped with those in Desert Water’s notice, including areas in Desert Water’s statutory boundaries and the Three-Square-Mile Area. The Department rejected Mission Springs’ notice as incomplete because it sought to become a GSA for areas within Desert Water’s statutory boundaries for which Desert Water is designated the exclusive GSA under section 10723, subdivision (c)(1)(C).

On September 27, 2016, Mission Springs filed an amended notice, eliminating the overlap with Desert Water’s notice except for the Three-Square-Mile Area. The Department posted the amended notice, noting the overlap in the Three-Square-Mile Area.

C.

Mission Springs filed a petition for writ of mandamus against Desert Water and the Department, seeking to invalidate Desert Water’s status as a GSA on various grounds. Mission Springs seeks a court order removing its statutory boundaries, which include the Three-Square-Mile Area,...