CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS
Competing Water Bond Bills Introduced in California Legislature155
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
How Will the Bureau of Reclamation Respond to California’s Drought?157
SWRCB Begins Compliance with Governor’s Declaration of Drought Emergency by Issuing Notices of Possible Curtailment of Water Right Diversions and Orders to Streamline Water Transfers and Exchanges159
State Water Resources Control Board Submits Request for New Authority, Funds to Regulate Groundwater161
State Agencies Release Five-Year California Water Action Plan162
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
Two Separate Lawsuits Filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court Challenge Issuance of Well Drilling Permits164
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Seventh Circuit Rejects Class Certification in Benzene Contaminated Groundwater Suit166
Parko v. Shell Oil, et al., ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 13-8023 and 13-8024 (7th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014).
District Court:
District Court Rules that NMFS Violated the ESA and NEPA in Approving Oregon Fish Hatchery Operations167
Native Fish Society v. National Marine Fisheries Service, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 3:12-cv-00431 (D. Or. Jan. 16, 2014).
District Court Rejects Mining Defendants’ Clean Water Act Permit Shield Defense in the Face of Allegations of Watershed Runoff Contamination171
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Elk Run Coal Company, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 3:12-0758 (S.D. W.Vir. Jan. 3, 2014).
District Court Finds that Waters of Golden Gate National Recreation Area May Be Closed to Commercial Herring Fishing173
San Francisco Herring Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior¸ ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 13-CV-01750-JST (N.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2014).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
District Court of Appeal:
Second District Court Finds Los Angeles County’s Clean Water Act MS4 Permit Requirements Are ‘Federal Mandates’ Not Refundable by State175
California Department of Finance v. Commission on State Mandates, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B237153 (2nd Dist. 2013).
Fourth District Court Upholds Irrigation District’s Proposition 218 Single Protest Election for Multiple Water Rate Classes177
Morgan v. Imperial Irrigation District, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. D060146 (4th Dist. Feb. 4, 2014).
