CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS
Governor Brown Continues to Focus on Drought Issues in New Executive Order95
Environmental Groups Notify EPA of Their Intent to File Suit for Violations of the Clean Water Act Relating to California’s Bay-Delta Plan96
Improvement Program to Upgrade and Replace the Aging Calaveras Dam is Underway as Part of the Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Pro-
gram98
University of California Scientists Look to On-Farm Recharge as a Way to Capture El Nino Rains and Replenish Groundwater Supplies99
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
Bureau of Reclamation Releases Environmental Document for the Upper Sacramento River Anadromous Fish Habitat Restoration Project101
EPA Seeks Comments on Clean Water Act Regulation of Stormwater Discharges on Forest Roads102
LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
Proposed Initiatives Submitted to Amend Constitution to Establish Water Use Priorities and to Divert High-Speed Rail Funds to Water Storage Facilities105
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
U.S. Supreme Court Will Rule on Reviewability of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jurisdictional Wetlands Determinations to Resolve a Split in the Circuit Courts of Appeals108
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
District Court:
District Court Holds that Stormwater Is a Pollutant Subject to Regulation under the Clean Water
Act110
Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Whitley Manufacturing Co., Inc., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. C13-1690RSL (W.D. Wash. 2015).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
Supreme Court:
California Supreme Court Rejects Newhall Ranch Project’s CEQA Mitigation Measures to Protect Aquatic Species; Finds Greenhouse Gas Analysis Flawed112
Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife, ___Cal.4th___, Case No. S217763 (Cal. Nov. 30, 2015).
District Court of Appeal:
Sixth District Court Finds Groundwater Extraction Fees Are for Water Service and Subject to Proposition 218114
Great Oaks Water Company v. Santa Clara Valley Water District, ___Cal.App.4th ___, Case No. H035260, (6th Dist. Dec. 8, 2015).
Shifting Sands: First District Court Addresses the Public Trust Doctrine and CEQA in the Context of Mineral Extraction Leases in San Francisco
Bay117
San Francisco Baykeeper, Inc. v. California State Lands Commission, 242 Cal.App.4th 202 (1st Dist. 2015).
