Legal Alert: Court Affirms SWRCB’s Power to Determine Validity of Pre-1914 and Riparian Water Rights as Part of Enforcement Proceeding
From a Somach Simmons & Dunn Environmental Law & Policy Alert by Daniel Kelly:
“On September 4, 2013, California’s Third Appellate District issued an opinion holding, among other things, that the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has the statutory authority, in the context of an enforcement proceeding, to determine the validity of riparian and pre-1914 appropriative water rights. Young, et al. v. SWRCB, No. C068559, 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 707 (Cal. 3d App. Dist. Sept. 4, 2013).
“The dispute arose from an enforcement action brought by the SWRCB against the Woods Irrigation Company (Woods) alleging the unlawful diversion of water from Middle River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta).”
Read more from the Somach Simmons & Dunn alert