Central Basin Municipal Water District v. Water Replenishment District

This appeal follows the declaration by the respondent Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) of a “water emergency” in the Central Basin, a groundwater basin. Under the terms of a judgment governing the Central Basin, a water emergency may be declared when the Central Basin resources risk degradation. The judgment empowers WRD to declare the water emergency. The judgment governed not only a declared water emergency but also provided a comprehensive framework for *946 water use in the Central Basin. It imposed a “ ‘physical solution,’ ” best described as “ ‘an equitable remedy designed to alleviate overdrafts and the consequential depletion of water resources in a particular area, consistent with the constitutional mandate to prevent waste and unreasonable water use and to maximize the beneficial use of this state’s limited resource.’ [Citation.]” (Hillside Memorial Park & Mortuary v. Golden State Water Co. (2011) 205 Cal.App.4th 534, 538, fn. 2 [ 131 Cal.Rptr.3d 146 ] (Hillside).)

Notwithstanding the comprehensive nature of the judgment, this appeal concerns only the declared water emergency. In a petition for writ of mandate, appellant Central Basin…