Concerned McCloud Citizens v. McCloud Community Services District

This case concerns an agreement for a contingent proposal for the sale and purchase of spring water, between McCloud Community Services District (District) and Nestle Waters North America, Inc. (Nestle). Concerned McCloud Citizens (Citizens), an unincorporated association formed for the purpose of protecting natural and cultural resources in the area of the town of McCloud in Siskiyou County, filed a petition for writ of mandate challenging the District’s approval of the agreement with Nestle because the District failed to conduct any environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to its approval of the agreement. The trial court concluded the District’s approval of the agreement without prior CEQA review was a prejudicial abuse of discretion and entered a judgment granting the requested writ of mandate requiring the agreement to be vacated, set aside, and voided.

The District and Nestle appeal, primarily contending the District’s execution of the agreement was not an “approval” of a “project” within the meaning of CEQA because the agreement was expressly conditioned on later CEQA compliance. The District and Nestle contend the…