On June 26, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) filed a petition for writ of mandate in Contra Costa County Superior Court requesting that the Court set aside the State Water Resources Control Board’s June 12, 2015 “notice of curtailment,” requiring hundreds of senior water rights-holders to cease diverting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The BBID website states that BBID is “ a multi-county special district serving parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties. The District serves a total area of 47 miles and 30,000 acres.” BBID’s service area includes the community of Mountain House, which relies exclusively on BBID for its water supply.
The Petition alleges that the State Board lacks jurisdiction to curtail pre-1914 water rights, that the curtailment notice violates the California Constitution with regard to beneficial use of water, and that BBID was denied constitutional due process.
“Enough is enough,” said BBID Board President Russell Kagehiro in the District’s press release. He went on to refer to the State Board’s action as “irresponsible and unnecessary.”
Meanwhile, also on June 26, the State Board issued a second curtailment notice to senior rights-holders, including the City and County of San Francisco.
--Kathryn Oehlschlager
For more information, contact Kathryn Oehlschlager at klo@bcltlaw.com or (415) 228-5458.
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