California Water Impact Network v. Newhall County Water District

Appellant California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) appeals from a judgment entered upon the trial court’s order granting the respondents, the Newhall County Water District (the Water District) and real parties in interest, the City of Santa Clarita (the City) and GateKing Properties and Mark T. Gates, Jr.’s motion for judgment on the pleadings on C-WIN’s petition for a writ of mandate. C-WIN’s petition requested that the trial court set aside the water supply assessment (WSA) prepared by the Water District at the request of the City as a part of the City’s environmental impact report (EIR) and review process required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) for a large-scale industrial/business park development proposed by GateKing Properties. The Water District and the City filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, asserting among various arguments, that C-WIN’s action was premature, and that a WSA is not subject to direct judicial review in mandamus proceedings. The trial court agreed, noting that WSA’s are properly challenged as part of CEQA review.

On appeal, C-WIN asserts that it is entitled to directly challenge…