DWR sues Delta landowners for “temporary entry” to study peripheral canal routes

From Somach, Simmons & Dunn, this from Brian D. Poulson:

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has filed as many as 36 petitions for orders permitting entry and investigation of real property (Petitions) in the Superior Courts of the five counties covering the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Estuary (Delta). The Petitions seek more than two and one-half years of access to thousands of acres of private property in the Delta in order to conduct surveys and studies purportedly related to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). Landowners have resisted DWR’s efforts and many have filed official opposition to these Petitions with the courts. Landowner opposition could create a significant hurdle to DWR as it rolls toward BDCP’s call for the construction of a new isolated conveyance facility.

Background

The BDCP is a multispecies habitat conservation plan currently under development that, if implemented, will allow certain federal, state, and local agencies to conduct activities in the Delta, including operation of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, that might otherwise conflict with current laws pertaining to endangered and threatened species. DWR is one of the principle state agencies developing the BDCP. As part of its proposed suite of actions intended to improve ecological conditions in the Delta and shore up the reliability of Delta water supplies available to southern and central California, the BDCP calls for the construction of an “isolated conveyance” facility, or peripheral canal. DWR is currently studying and developing plans for the canal. Accordingly, it has identified thousands of acres of property in the Delta which are strategically located in the proposed canal planning areas, and therefore seeks entry to those properties to conduct its studies.

Read more of Brian’s discussion and analysis by clicking here.

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