Metropolitan Water District v. Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), a public agency founded in 1928, supplies water to six Southern California counties. In 1997, MWD brought an eminent domain action to condemn a portion of land in San Bernardino County owned by Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc., and Del Rosa Mutual Water Company (collectively, Campus Crusade) to construct a segment of a 43-mile water pipeline to channel water from the inland areas to the coastal plains of Southern California. Prior to trial on the issue of just compensation, MWD persuaded the trial court to exclude valuation evidence offered by Campus Crusade’s experts to the extent such valuation was based on the property’s potential use as a planned residential development and resort area, which differed from its current use and which was not permitted under the zoning in effect at the time of the taking. The trial court also granted MWD’s request to exclude evidence of severance damages to the fair market value of the remainder of Campus Crusade’s property (i.e., the property not taken) to the extent the damages were based on fear that the pipeline (which crosses the San Andreas Fault on Campus Crusade’s…