Allegretti & Co. v. County of Imperial

Allegretti & Company (Allegretti) appeals a judgment entered under Code of Civil Procedure section 631.8 in favor of the County of Imperial (County) on Allegretti’s inverse condemnation action seeking just compensation for County’s alleged taking of Allegretti’s right to use groundwater underlying its property. County had approved Allegretti’s application for a conditional use permit to activate a well on its property on the condition, imposed under a County ordinance, that Allegretti extract no more than 12,000 acre-feet per year of water from the aquifer underlying its property. At the close of Allegretti’s liability case, the trial court ruled there was no compensable taking and entered judgment on specific findings, inter alia, that County’s restriction did not deprive Allegretti of all economically viable use of its property, and Allegretti had not shown County’s regulation did not advance a legitimate state interest.

On appeal, Allegretti contends County’s action was without jurisdiction and constituted a physical taking of its water rights, mandating just compensation under the federal and state Constitutions. Allegretti further contends that assuming County’s…