Source: https://m.openjurist.org/449/f3d/965/central-delta-water-agency
Timestamp: 2020-07-04 19:42:57
Document Index: 790634926

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3402', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406', '§ 3406']

449 F3d 965 Central Delta Water Agency | OpenJurist
449 F. 3d 965 - Central Delta Water Agency
449 F3d 965 Central Delta Water Agency
449 F.3d 965
CENTRAL DELTA WATER AGENCY; South Delta Water Agency; Alexander Hildebrand; R.C. Farms, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellants, and
Save San Francisco Bay Association; Natural Resources Defense Council; Environmental Defense Fund; Bay Institute of San Francisco; Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations; United Anglers of California, Intervenors,
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, United States Department of Interior; Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior; Michael J. Spears, Regional Director, U.S. Dept. of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1; Kirk Rodgers, Acting Regional Director, Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region; Department of Fish and Game, State of California; Robert C. Hight, Defendants-Appellees,
San Joaquin River Group Authority; Oakdale Irrigation District; South San Joaquin Irrigation District; Merced Irrigation District; Modesto
Irrigation District (Mid); Turlock Irrigation District; San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees,
Stockton East Water District, Plaintiff-Intervenor.
No. 04-16632.
Argued and Submitted April 3, 2006.
Filed May 22, 2006.
CVPIA § 3402, Title XXXIV of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992, Pub.L. 102-575, 106 Stat. 4600, 4706 (1992).
CVPIA § 3406(b)(2). In addition, the CVPIA requires the Secretary of the Interior to "develop and implement a program . . . for the acquisition of a water supply to supplement the quantity of water dedicated to fish and wildlife purposes under" § 3406(b)(2). CVPIA § 3406(b)(3).
The Act states that the Secretary of the Interior "immediately upon the enactment of this title, shall operate the Central Valley Project to meet all obligations under State and Federal law," including the decisions of the State Board. CVPIA § 3406(b). "In short, the Act demands that the Project implement a significant fish habitat protection program, but that it do so in accordance with the applicable state water use permits." Cent. Delta Water Agency v. United States (Central Delta I), 306 F.3d 938, 945 (9th Cir.2002).
The Bureau periodically releases water from the New Melones Unit, pursuant to § 3406(b)(2) of the Act, to create flows sufficient to maintain wildlife habitats. While nothing in the Act requires that the Bureau use New Melones water for its § 3406(b)(2) releases, the State Board exercised its discretion to use that water. Central Delta I, 306 F.3d at 945. In 1997, the Bureau adopted the New Melones Interim Operations Plan ("Plan"). The Plan provides for (b)(2) water releases from New Melones, as well as the purchase of water, under § 3406(b)(3), from other water users. The Plan was initially intended to be temporary, but, for lack of a better program, the Bureau has continued to operate the CVP under the Plan since its adoption.
The Delta parties sued the Bureau for injunctive relief, claiming that the Bureau may not release any water from New Melones under § 3406(b)(2) or purchase water under § 3406(b)(3) unless it first dedicates a sufficient amount of water to ensure that the Vernalis Salinity Standard is satisfied. The Delta parties asserted that the (b)(2) releases and the (b)(3) purchases decrease the amount of water that will flow down to Vernalis during irrigation months, thus resulting in a higher salinity content of the water. The Delta parties alleged that a higher salinity content will injure the crops irrigated by the water. Relying on the Bureau's modeling, the Delta parties contended that the Bureau's operation of the Project under the Plan threatened a violation of the Vernalis Salinity Standard.
On remand, the Delta parties and the Bureau moved for summary judgment. The district court denied the Delta parties' motion and granted the Bureau's motion. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Among other grounds, the district court held that the Delta parties could not show, "within reasonable scientific certainty," that the Bureau would violate the Vernalis Salinity Standard in the future. Cent. Valley Water Agency v. United States, 327 F.Supp.2d 1180, 1218 (E.D.Cal.2004).
We review de novo a district court's decision on cross-motions for summary judgment. Magana v. Northern Mariana Islands, 107 F.3d 1436, 1438 (9th Cir.1997). "We must determine, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to . . . the non-moving party, whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court correctly applied the substantive law." Olsen v. Idaho State Bd. of Med., 363 F.3d 916, 922 (9th Cir.2004).
As an initial matter, the Delta parties argue that they need not show an actual violation of the CVPIA because our prior decision in Central Delta I is the "law of the case." There is no such law of the case, however, because our decision on standing does not obviate the need to address the merits of the litigation. See Cardenas v. Anzai, 311 F.3d 929, 933 (9th Cir.2002) (meaning of statute is a question of law that does not affect standing); Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 239 n. 18, 99 S.Ct. 2264, 60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979) (court of appeals improperly confused the question of standing with the question of whether plaintiff had a cause of action). The Delta parties cannot stand on our prior decision to avoid the need to demonstrate an imminent statutory violation.
The Delta parties have failed to show that the Bureau has committed such a violation. We find meritless the Delta parties' contention that § 3406(b)(2) requires that the Bureau dedicate and allocate a specific amount of water to meet the Vernalis Salinity Standard before it may do anything else.
CVPIA § 3406(b)(2) (emphasis added). The Delta parties seize on the word "after," claiming that it unambiguously requires an allocation of water for all pre-CVPIA requirements prior to any releases for fishery purposes.
However, this portion of the statute is merely a definition. The clear language of § 3406(b)(2) first requires the Bureau to dedicate and manage 800,000 acre-feet of "Central Valley Project yield." It then goes on to define "Central Valley Project yield" as the amount of water, assuming hydrological conditions of the period of 1928-1934, after pre-CVPIA requirements are met. The statute does not direct the Bureau to allocate a specific amount of water to pre-CVPIA purposes prior to exercising its discretion to achieve its other purposes.