Westlands Water District v. United States

This action arises out of water allocations during water year 1994 in the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project, a federal water management project. Plaintiffs-appellants Westlands Water District (‘Westlands”) and San Benito County Water District (“San Benito”) appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants and defendant-intervenors concerning the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation’s allocation of Central Valley Project water during periods of shortage. Plaintiffs-appellants allege that granting priority to a group of contrac *1095 tors, intervenor-defendants San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors (“Exchange Contractors”), violated contracts between the water districts and the United States. Plaintiffs-Appellants seek injunctive and declaratory relief to prohibit distribution of water in contravention of their contracts. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Summary

A. Central Valley Project

The Central Valley Project (“CVP”) is “the largest federal water management project in the United States.” Central Delta Water Agency v. United States, 306 F.3d…