Westlands Water District v. Firebaugh Canal

Westlands Water District (Westlands) and San Benito County Water District (San Benito) appeal a district court order dismissing their claims against the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau), arising out of water allocations made by the Bureau during the 1992 California drought. While we do not find ourselves in complete agreement with all of the district court’s analysis, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a massive water reclamation project authorized by various acts of Congress, and serving the needs of central California. Prior to the construction of the Friant Dam across the San Joaquin River, an early CVP project, the Bureau entered into contracts with holders of downstream water rights. The first such contract, known as the Exchange Contract, was signed in 1939. The currently effective second amended Exchange Contract was executed in 1968, by the Bureau and four Exchange contractors, 1 all of whom are parties or successors in interest to the original Exchange Contract. Under the terms of the Exchange Contract, the Exchange contractors gave up their rights to San Joaquin waters in exchange for the agreement of the…