California court of appeal rules for double regulation of water rights

Today the California Court of Appeal issued an adverse ruling in Siskiyou County Farm Bureau v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a decision that will likely subject all water rights in California to onerous and duplicative regulation. The case is about whether the owner of a water right which has already been approved by the State Water Resources Control Board, or even adjudicated by the state courts, must then seek the permission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to exercise that right.

PLF’s amicus brief on behalf of the California Cattlemen’s Association, and in support of the Siskiyou County Farm Bureau, argued that such double regulation unnecessarily interferes with the use of property and with farming operations, and that on the facts of this case is also prohibited by a prior court decree.

Unfortunately, the Court of Appeal reversed a favorable trial court ruling, and held that the exercise of any significant water right does require the Department’s permission. Sadly, this is increasingly par for the course in California, which has two state university systems, two energy agencies, two tax agencies, and, now, two water rights regulators.

The California Department of Contrivances and Duplicative Water Right Regulation, Standing By to Act on Your Request for Permission to Irrigate Your Crops