County of Imperial v. Superior Court

*18 Opinion

As Mark Twain is said to have observed: “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” California and water are inextricably linked in a battle royal waged over distribution of this precious resource among competing interests. No other resource is as vital to California’s cities, agriculture, industry, and environment as this liquid gold. Predictably, no other resource generates such heated controversy as this commodity sometimes referred to as the “oil of the 21st century.”

Here, real parties in interest Imperial Irrigation District (Imperial) and San Diego County Water Authority (San Diego) sought to enter into an agreement to transfer 300,000 acre-feet of water per year (afy) from Imperial to San Diego. Ultimately, the parties agreed to transfer 200,000 afy and conserve 100,000 afy for possible future acquisition by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) and Coachella Valley Water District (Coachella).

Real party in interest State Water Resources Control Board (Board) approved the transfer. Petitioner County of Imperial (County) filed two separate mandamus petitions challenging various aspects of the Board’s decision under…