Jordan

Appellant landowners filed an action against respondent public agencies claiming that respondents’ activities have increased the salinity of appellants’ groundwater, thereby causing them to suffer crop losses and reduced land value. They also claimed that discharge of effluents into the river by sewage treatment facilities operated by respondents City of Lompoc and Vandenberg Village Community Services District caused excessive growth of vegetation in the river channel which caused potential flood problems. After an eight-week trial, the trial court ruled against appellants on all issues.

Appellants claim the trial court erred in refusing to find that the vegetative blockage of the flood control channel was a nuisance and constituted inverse condemnation, and that respondents’ overpumping has increased the salinity and degraded the aquifers. They further challenge the court’s ruling that respondents’ use and diversion of water were reasonable and not contrary to law. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Procedural History

Appellants own approximately 2,500 acres of agricultural land in the Lompoc plain, some of which is riparian to the Santa Ynez River. Respondents…