Court Opinion

ID: 9745128
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:36:21.695885+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:56.419782
License: Public Domain

YEGAN, J.
I respectfully dissent. I agree with the trial court’s ruling that the San Luis Coastal Unified School District (School) is not a “transferor” *1052but rather a “transferee” of water. (Wat. Code, § 1811, subd. (a).)1 As an end user, School may not purchase water from another source and have it delivered through the city’s transmission and distribution system at a reduced rate.
I find myself in full agreement with the opening sentence of School’s opening brief: “This appeal presents issues of significant financial concern to a public school district in San Luis Obispo County and of enormous legal import to water users in California.” School wants more water for itself and wants to pay less for it. The majority seize upon an isolated phrase in section 1811, subdivision (a), to grant School’s wish. In doing so, the majority make a significant pronouncement in water law. Every end user public agency in California now has an entitlement to cheaper water. This, of course, affects the rates of all other water users.
Although the majority believe that section 1811 is ambiguous, there is no ambiguity about legislative intent. Section 1 of Statutes 1986, chapter 918 provides: “The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows: HQ (a) There has been a severe downturn in the state’s agricultural economy which has made it difficult for many farmers to meet their financial obligations to the state or, regional or local public agencies for water facilities already in place. fl[] (b) In addition, many agricultural operations and public agencies experiencing financial difficulties or facing default may desire to sell, lease, or exchange water as a means of obtaining financial relief or augmenting their income. (c) Since the sale, lease, or exchange of conserved water does not result in the forfeiture of an appropriative right to water, the marketing of water may provide financial relief or supplemental income during periods of economic hardship. ftO (d) It is the policy of the state to facilitate the voluntary sale, lease, or exchange of water or water rights in order to promote efficient use. HQ (e) The sales, leases, or exchanges of water are to be made without injuring any legal user of water and without unreasonably affecting fish, wildlife, or other instream beneficial uses and without unreasonably affecting the overall economy of he areas from which the water is being transferred.” (Stats. 1986, ch. 918, § 1, p. 3171.) Significantly, there is no declared legislative intent to benefit an end user.
In pertinent part, section 1810 provides that a “. . . local public agency may [not] deny a bona fide transferor of water the use of a water conveyance facility . . . .” Section 1811, subdivision (a) provides: “ ‘Bona Fide transferor’ means a person or public agency as defined in Section 20009 of the *1053Government Code with a contract for the sale of water . . . ,”2 (Italics added.)
The trial court found that School “. . . does not qualify as a bona fide transferor under Water Code sections 1810 and 1811.” It relied on Black’s Law Dictionary (6th ed. 1990) which defines “transferor” as “[o]ne who makes a transfer” (at p. 1498, col. 1) and “transferee” as “[h]e to whom a transfer is made.” (At p. 1497, col. 2.)
The majority reverse based on an isolated reading of section 1811, subdivision (a), and the phrase, “a person or public agency . . . with a contract for sale of water.” The majority opinion states: “Morro Bay claims that the school district has a contract to purchase water, not a contract for sale of water. But a contract for purchase is also a contract for sale. One cannot exist without the other. The Legislature did not specify that the entity with the contract for sale must be the seller. If it had, it might have defined ‘transferor’ as ‘a person or public agency with a contract to sell water.’ ” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1048.)
Could section 1811, subdivision (a) be more clear? Yes. The Legislature could have said that a bona fide transferor is a public agency with a contract to “sell” water. However, section 1811 must be read in pari materia with section 1810. “Statutes ‘in pari materia’ are those relating to the same person or thing or having a common purpose.” (Black’s Law Dict., supra, p. 791, col. 1; see also 2B Sutherland, Statutory Construction (5th ed. 1992) § 51.01, p. 117; Pacific Southwest Realty Co. v. County of Los Angeles (1991) 1 Cal.4th 155, 167 [2 Cal.Rptr.2d 536, 820 P.2d 1046].) “ ‘A statute must be construed “in the context of the entire statutory system of which it is a part, in order to achieve harmony among the parts.” [Citation.]’ ” (People v. Hull (1991) 1 Cal.4th 266, 272 [2 Cal.Rptr.2d 526, 820 P.2d 1036].)
Applying these principles, I read sections 1810 and 1811 together. A party to a “contract for the sale of water” only applies to a “bona fide transferor,” not a transferee or “end user” of water. “A contract for the sale of water” means that the transferor buys and resells the water. School is not in the water business. Nor does it plan to sell water. Providing cheaper water to an end user is not the statutory goal of sections 1810 and 1811. If the majority is correct, section 1810 now reads, “. . . neither the state, nor any regional or local public agency may deny a bona fide transferor or transferee the use *1054of a water conveyance facility . . . The majority should not be “adding” language to a statute. (People v. Buena Vista Mines, Inc. (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1030, 1034 [56 Cal.Rptr.2d 21].)
Respondent’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied October 18, 2000. Baxter, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.

All statutory references are to the Water Code unless otherwise stated.

Government Code section 20009 has been renumbered and is now Government Code section 20056. It defines “Public Agency” as “. . . any city, county, district, other local authority or public body of or within this state.”