Marin Municipal Water District v. KG Land California Corp.

—The Marin Municipal Water District (the District) declared a water shortage emergency in its service area in 1989 and imposed a moratorium on new service connections, pending the development of new water supplies. Before imposing the moratorium, the District issued an environmental impact report (EIR) concluding that the proposed restriction would have no significant adverse environmental effects. Developers KG Land California Corporation (KG Land), Perini Land and Development Company (Perini) and others who opposed the moratorium challenged the EIR in the trial court, claiming among other arguments that it failed to analyze adequately the adverse environmental consequences of the moratorium or to consider several purportedly feasible alternatives. The trial court concluded that the report was invalid under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) The District has appealed; we reverse the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

The District is a public utility which provides water to approximately 167,000 people in a 147-square-mile area of Marin County. The District’s service area extends north along the east side of…