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California Water Law & Policy Reporter

October 2021

Volume 32, Number 1 October 2021

CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS

South Fork Disconnected from Eel River—State’s Reservoirs Are All Down—Due to Record Setting Drought309

Santa Clara Valley Water Users Falling Short of Water Conservation

Goals310

LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

Bipartisan U.S. Senate Infrastructure Bill Includes $2.3 Billion to Improve or Remove Dams312

Climate Change Bill Passes California Legislature—The Sea Level Rise Mitigation and Adaptation Act of 2021313

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

California Fish and Game Commission Formalizes Schedule to Evaluate State ESA Petition to List the Southern California Steelhead as Endan-

gered316

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

San Joaquin Tributaries Authority Files Lawsuit Challenging State Water Board Diversion Curtailment Order for Sacramento-San Joaquin

Delta318

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Ninth Circuit Continues to Uphold the Significant Nexus Test for Navigable Waters Under the Federal Clean Water Act320

Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.4th___, Case No. 19-35469 (9th Cir. Aug. 16, 2021).

Ninth Circuit Upholds Army Corps Plan to Dredge Navigational Channels In San Francisco Bay under the Coastal Zone Management Act322

San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 8 F.4th 839 (9th Cir. 2021).

District Court:

District Court Vacates and Remands the Navigable Waters Protection Rule: Pre-2015 WOTUS Rules Spring Back into Effect324

Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. CV-20-00266-TUC-RM (D. Ariz. Aug. 30, 2021).

RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

District Court of Appeal:

Fifth District Court Finds Sufficiency of Water Supply Necessary for Eminent Domain Action Subject to CEQA327

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. County of Inyo, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. F081389 (5th Dist. Aug. 17, 2021).

Second District Court Upholds EIR Analyzing Improvement Project by the Watershed Conservation Authority in the Angeles National Forest329

Save Our Access-San Gabriel Mountains v. Watershed Conservation Authority, 68 Cal.App.5th 8 (2nd Dist. 2021).