Delaware Tetra Technologies, Inc. v. Santa Margarita Water Dist. CA4/3

Filed 5/10/16 Delaware Tetra Technologies, Inc. v. Santa Margarita Water Dist. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

DELAWARE TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC., G050864 Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 30-2012-00576715) v. OPINION SANTA MARGARITA WATER DISTRICT et al.,

Defendants and Respondents;

COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO et al.,

Real Parties in Interest and Respondents.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gail Andrea Andler, Judge. Affirmed. Appellant’s request for judicial notice. Denied. Rutan & Tucker, Robert S. Bower, Philip D. Kohn, John A. Ramirez and Alan B. Fenstermacher for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Best Best &Krieger, Michelle Ouellette and Sarah E. Owsowtiz for Defendants and Respondents. Richards, Watson & Gershon, James L. Markman, B. Tilden Kim and Patrick D. Skahan for American Ground Water Trust and Property and EnvironmentResearch Center as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents. Downey Brand, Christian L. Marsh, Kevin M. O’Brien and Rebecca R.A. Smith for Real Party in Interest and Respondent County of San Bernardino. Remy Moose Manley, Sabrina V. Teller and Gwynne B. Hunter for California State Association of Counties and California Association of Sanitation Agencies as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent Santa Margarita Water District and Real Party in Interest and Respondent County of San Bernardino. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Diane C. De Felice, Amy M. Steinfeld; Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart and M. Lois Bobak for Real Parties in Interest and Respondents Cadiz, Inc., and Fenner Valley Mutual Water Company. * * *

INTRODUCTION This appeal is one of six related cases arising out of a proposed project to pump fresh groundwater from an underground aquifer located below real property owned by Cadiz, Inc., in the Mojave Desert (the Project). The Project is a public/private partnership, the purposes of which are to prevent waste of the water in the underground aquifer, and to transport the water to many other parts of the state in which it is needed. In this case, Delaware Tetra Technologies, Inc. (Delaware Tetra), filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the trial court, challenging the Santa Margarita Water District’s (Santa Margarita) execution of a memorandum of understanding (the Memorandum) among Santa Margarita, the County of San Bernardino (the County), Cadiz, Inc., and the Fenner Valley Mutual Water Company. Delaware Tetra argued that