Opinion ID: 454898
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: California Law Affecting Federal Defendants' Actions

Text: 33 California Water Code Sec. 11460 (as made applicable to defendants by section 11128) 11 contains state law limiting the CVP's operation. Section 11460(a) provides: 34 In the construction and operation by the [California] [D]epartment [of Water Resources] of any project under the provisions of this part a watershed or area wherein water originates, or an area immediately adjacent thereto which can conveniently be supplied with water therefrom, shall not be deprived by the department directly or indirectly of the prior right to all of the water reasonably required to adequately supply the beneficial needs of the watershed area, or any of the inhabitants or property owners therein. 35 Cal.Water Code Sec. 11460(a) (West Supp.1985). 36 Federal defendants erroneously suggest that the Supreme Court, in City of Fresno v. California, 372 U.S. 627, 83 S.Ct. 996, 10 L.Ed.2d 28 (1963), conclusively determined that section 11460 could not limit the CVP's operations in this case. In City of Fresno, the Supreme Court held that section 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902 did not require the Secretary of the Interior to comply with California statutes relating to watersheds of origin. Id. at 629-30, 83 S.Ct. at 997-98. The Supreme Court further found that even if section 11460 did apply to the federal defendants in that case, their operation of Friant Dam did not violate the Act. Neither of these City of Fresno holdings, however, bar South Delta's claim in the present case. 37 As discussed above, in the subsequent case of California v. United States, 438 U.S. at 678, 98 S.Ct. at 3002, the Supreme Court interpreted section 8 of the 1902 Reclamation Act to require federal defendants' compliance with state law in the absence of clear congressional directives. The Court dismissed as dicta the statement in City of Fresno that section 8 did not require federal defendants to comply with state water law. See California v. United States, 438 U.S. at 671-72 n. 24, 674-75, 98 S.Ct. at 2999 n. 24, 3000-01 (1978). 38 Moreover, contrary to defendants' suggestion, the City of Fresno 's 1963 finding that the operation of Friant Dam conformed with section 11460 does not bar South Delta from alleging that the defendants' current operation of Friant Dam violates the Act. For defendants' suggestion to be valid, the present case must satisfy the rules of res judicata. 39 To promote judicial economy, the two doctrines of res judicata preclude an existing suit because of an adjudication of a prior law suit. The first doctrine, claim preclusion, treats a judgment, once rendered, as the full measure of relief to be accorded between the same parties on the same 'claim' or 'cause of action'. 18 C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure, Sec. 4402 at 7 (1981). See also, Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Secs. 1908, 1910 (West 1983). Because there is no evidence that South Delta was a party to or in privity with the plaintiffs in City of Fresno, South Delta is not barred by claim preclusion from suing in the present case. 40 The second doctrine, collateral estoppel or issue preclusion, bars the relitigation of issues actually adjudicated, and essential to the judgment, in a prior litigation between the same parties. 18 C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure, Sec. 4402 at 7. See also Parklane Hosiery Co., Inc. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 326, 99 S.Ct. 645, 649, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979). In addition to involving a plaintiff different from the one involved in City of Fresno, the issue whether federal defendants' current operation of the CVP violates section 11460 presents a question different from that litigated in 1963 in City of Fresno. For example, because of increased demand, the federal government's present operation of Friant Dam may diversify more water than was the case in 1963. Thus, neither claim preclusion nor collateral estoppel bars South Delta's claim in the present case. 41 After correctly determining that section 11460 adequately constrained federal defendants, the district court also correctly determined that section 11460 did not conflict with expressions of congressional intent. See United States v. California, 694 F.2d 1171, 1177 (9th Cir.1982). The burden of proof lies with federal defendants to show that compliance would violate a relevant congressional directive. United States v. California, 694 F.2d at 1177. Federal defendants again refer to section 2 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1937, and City of Fresno, 372 U.S. 627, 83 S.Ct. 996, as evidence of congressional intent contrary to state law. As we have explained above, neither section 2 nor City of Fresno provides evidence that Congress intended to preempt state law in this area. Nor do federal defendants provide evidence of any other congressional conflict with section 11460. 42 State law, therefore, adequately constrains the federal defendants' rights by providing law to be applied. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 706. And the relevant state law does not conflict with any expression of congressional intent. As the district court properly concluded, therefore, review is proper under the APA, and the federal government has waived sovereign immunity.