Judge in major water lawsuit delays ‘pulling the ripcord’
The judge in the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper case has ordered a further six-month stay in the litigation so that structured mediation can continue. … Eleven major parties involved in the mediation process, including newcomers to the negotiations the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, had jointly asked the court to continue the stay to Jan. 31, “to allow the structured mediation a realistic period of time to reach its conclusion.” … The case dates back to 2014, when Santa Barbara Channelkeeper sued the city of Ventura and the State Water Resources Control Board for taking too much water from the Ventura River, in turn harming endangered Southern California steelhead trout.
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