Districts lob more lawsuits at Friant Water Authority, now point finger at feds
The legal tug of war between Friant Water Authority and three small Tulare County irrigation districts continues to expand, after the districts filed two more lawsuits in the last week. That brings the lawsuit tally from the Porterville, Terra Bella, and Saucelito irrigation districts against Friant to three filed in the last three months. The latest two lawsuits include one filed in federal court seeking relief from Friant’s demand the districts pay $95 million to help pay to fix the sinking Friant-Kern Canal; and another filed in Tulare County Superior Court alleging Friant failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it approved the fees, stating it’s a “new project” under that law.
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