FEATURE ARTICLE
Congressional Field Hearing Highlights Challenges and Opportunities In Managing California’s Water Supplies by Michele A. Staples, Esq., Jackson DeMarco Tidus Peckenpaugh, Irvine, California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS
The National Academy of Sciences Committee Convenes Its Review of the Delta in a Five-Day Meeting at UC Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Geothermal Project to Receive 800 Acre-Feet of Water from Imperial Irrigation District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Engineering and Planning Work Resume on Project to Remove San Clemente Dam and Reroute Carmel River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
NOAA Sets ‘Policy Precedent’ by Proposing 70,000 Miles of Critical Leatherback Turtle Habitat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
California Department of Water Resources Releases Draft State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
State Board Proposes Rules to Protect Fish and Limit Direct Irrigation Diversions for Vineyard Frost Protection in Russian River Watershed . . . . . . . 177
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
Delta Salmon/Smelt Consolidated Cases: Salmon TRO Granted, Delta Smelt TRO Denied, Preliminary Injunction Hearing Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Tenth Circuit Affirms Judgment for Remediation Costs under CERCLA Section 107(A) for TCE Groundwater Contamination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Raytheon Aircraft Company v. U.S, ___F.3d___, Case No. 08-3237 (10th Cir. 2009).
District Court:
District Court Denies EPA and Corps’ Motion for Transfer of Venue in CwA Dispute over Designation of ‘Traditional Navigable Waters’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 09-0548 (RMU) (D. D.C. 2009).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
District Court of Appeal:
First District Finds Minimum Base Rate Water Charge Per Parcel Doesn’t Require Proposition 218 Ballot Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Paland v. Brooktrails Township Community Services Board of Directors, 179 Cal.App.4th 1358 (1st Dist. 2009).
Second District Finds a Prescriptive Easement in Water Pipeline from a Gravity-Fed Spring . . . . . 189
Brezina v. Cooper, Unpub. Op., Case No. B210125 (2nd Dist. Jan. 22, 2010.)
