Planning & Conservation League v. Castaic Lake Water Agency

Planning and Conservation League (PCL) and California Water Impact Network (CWIN) sought administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) in actions involving Castaic Lake Water Agency (Castaic). Their petitions challenged an environmental impact report (EIR) certified by Castaic pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) concerning a transfer of water from Kern County Water Agency (Kern) and Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District (Wheeler Ridge) to Castaic. Although the trial court rejected PCL’s and CWIN’s key contentions, it found that the EIR contained a defect, and issued a writ of mandate directing Castaic to decertify the EIR. PCL and CWIN appealed, challenging the trial court’s rejection of their contentions; Castaic, Wheeler Ridge, and Kern cross-appealed, challenging the issuance of the writ. We conclude that the trial court correctly rejected PCL and CWIN’s principal contentions, but erred in issuing the writ. We thus reverse.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The underlying actions culminate long-standing disputes concerning the water transfer in question, which arises within…