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California Water Law & Policy Reporter

October 2013

Volume 24, Number 1 October 2013

FEATURE ARTICLE

Learning From Failure: California’s 30 Years’ War in the Delta (Part II-Conclusion) by Joseph L. Sax, U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley,

California3

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Food and Drug Administration Proposes New Water Quality Standards for Agricultural Water7

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reinstates Eligibility for Federal Funds for California’s Central Valley Levees9

California Office of Administrative Law Approves Regulations for Consistency with Regulatory Policies in the Delta Plan10

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Indian Tribe Files Suit in U.S. District Court in California Asserting Paramount Aboriginal Rights to Water in the Coachella Valley13

California Department of Water Resources Adopts Negative Declaration Supporting Area of Origin Pending Litigation Settlement with Contractors14

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Ninth Circuit Finds NPDES Permit Compliance Monitoring Establishes Appellees’ Clean Water Act Liability17

Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, ___F.3d___, Case No. 10-56017 (9th Cir. Aug. 8, 2013).

District Court:

U.S. District Court Allows Partial Flow Augmentation Releases from Trinity Reservoir19

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, et al. v. Jewell, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 1:13-CV-01232-LJO-GSA (E.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2013).

RECENT STATE DECISIONS

District Court of Appeal:

Fourth District Finds Initiative to Roll Back Water Rates Protected Speech but Invalid under the California Water Code22

Mission Springs Water District v. Verjil, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. E055176 (4th Dist. Aug. 7, 2013).

Third District Holds the State Board Has Jurisdiction to Issue Cease and Desist Order for Illegal Diversions When Diverter Claims Riparian or Pre-1914 Appropriative Rights24

Young v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. C068559 (3rd Dist. Sept. 4, 2013).

Superior Court:

On Remand Superior Court Invalidates Fees Imposed by State Water Resources Control Board26

California Farm Bureau Federation, et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board, Case No. 03CS0177, Consolidated with 04CS00473 (Sacramento Super. Ct. Sept. 6, 2013).

Superior Court Rejects Claim of Department of Water Resources Responsibility for Channel Sedimentation Due to State Water Project Operations28

Cortopassi v. State of California, Case No. CV 034843 (San Joaquin Super. Ct. 2013).