Appellate Court Upholds Major Central California Groundwater Plant

摘要

In a decision that increases the reliability of local water supplies for residents of cities in California, a state appellate court upheld a court-ordered groundwater management plan that ensures a water supply for a large portion of the Central Coast. The opinion reached in City of Santa Maria v. Richard E. Adam by the 6th District Court of Appeal in Santa Clara was published, meaning it can be cited by other courts. Adam and other farmers and landowners had filed the appeal in 2008 after a lower court upheld Santa Maria's right to pump water from the local aquifer. The lower court also approved a court-supervised management plan guiding the future use of a groundwater basin that underlies 163,700 acres in northern Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo County and is the principal source of water for thousands of residents and landowners.