Central & West Basin Water Replenishment District v. Southern California Water Co.

This appeal presents two principal issues: who has the right to utilize unused storage space in the Central Basin, a groundwater basin, and who has the right to manage the subsurface storage space. These issues arise in the context of a motion that sought to allocate all of the usable storage space to the 148 public entities and private persons with the adjudicated right to extract water from the basin. The trial court denied the motion. It concluded that the unused storage space is a public resource, and that the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) is authorized to manage it. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The Parties

Appellants—the Cities of Long Beach, Downey, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera, and Paramount, Southern California Water Company, California Water Service Company, Montebello Land and Water Company, South Montebello Irrigation District, and Tract 349 Mutual Water Company—are several of the entities with the adjudicated right to extract water from the Central Basin. Appellants describe themselves as “provid[ing] potable water services to more than one million businesses and residents in western Los…