CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS
Delta-Mendota Moves Back from the Brink: California Staff Finds Revised Groundwater Plan Sufficient to Avoid Probation149
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
Department of Water Resources Releases Final Land Subsidence Best Management Practices: Key Regulatory Shifts and Liability Expansions for Groundwater Sustainability Agencies152
State Water Resources Control Board to Consider Exempting Pumpers of Less than 20 Acre-Feet per Year in Probationary Basins from Reporting and
Fees153
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
Environmental Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Implementation of ‘Action 5’ Plan for the Central Valley Project156
Conservationists and Tire Manufactures Argue Sufficiency of Evidence That 6PPD From Tires Results in Toxic Runoff into Surface Waters157
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Ninth Circuit Court Invalidates 2016 EPA Cadmium Recommendation for Violation of Federal Endangered Species Act159
Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.4th___, Case No. 23-2946 (9th Cir. Mar. 3, 2026).
District Court:
U.S. District Court Affirms CWA Notice of Violation Letters Need Only Be ‘Reasonably Specific’ to Sufficiently Allert Violator of Unlawful
Discharge161
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics v. Travis Moreda Dairy, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 24-CV-06632-SI (N.D. Cal. Jan. 27, 2026).
RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS
Supreme Court:
California Supreme Court Declines Review of
Challenge to SWRCB’s Probationary Determination for the Tulare Lake Subbasin163
State Water Resources Control Board v. Superior Court Kings County, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. F088909 (5th Dist. Oct. 29, 2025).
District Court of Appeal:
Fourth District Court Finds Complaint in Enforcement Action Adequately Alleged Claims under
California’s Safe Drinking Water Act165
Environmental Health Advocates, Inc. v. Pancho Villa’s, Inc., ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. D084705 (4th Dist. Feb. 20, 2026).
Las Posas Groundwater Adjudication Affirmed:
Second District Court Endorses Comprehensive
Basin Management Framework167
Las Posas Valley Water Rights Coalition v. Ventura County Waterworks District No. 1 et al., ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. B330837(2nd Dist. Mar. 5, 2026).
‘Water, No Invite’? Fifth District Court Finds City of Fresno May Be Liable for Property Damage Caused by Switch to Alternate Water Source169
Micheli v. City of Fresno, Unpub., Case No. F085599 (5th Dist. Feb. 13, 2026).
