Santa Barbara County Water Agency v. All Persons & Parties

PETERS, J. The background facts of this case, and the basic contentions of the parties, are fully and correctly set forth in the prior opinion of this court in this case (Santa Barbara etc. Agency v. All Persons, 47 Cal.2d 699 [306 P.2d 875]) at pages 702 to 707. What was there said need not be repeated here. It is reaffirmed.

The trial court entered its judgment upholding the legality of the organization and existence of the agency, the city of Santa Barbara and the four county water districts, upholding [745]the legality of the execution of the six contracts involved, upholding the lawfulness of the six contracts, and declaring that the defendants had waived or were estopped from asserting the illegality or unconstitutionality of the agency and of the Santa Barbara County Agency Act ([1 Deering’s Wat. Code Anno., 1954], Act 7303, Stats. 1945, p. 2780; amended by Stats. 1949, p. 18).

The defendants appealed. This court affirmed the judgment insofar as it declared the validity of the Santa Barbara Water Agency Act and the existence of the agency and its member units, but reversed the judgment insofar as it confirmed and declares valid the master contract and the five member unit contracts. This reversal was predicated on what the court had already said in Ivanhoe Irr. Dist. v. All Parties, 47 Cal.2d 597 [306 P.2d 824], On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court that court reversed the judgment of the Supreme Court of California in this, and the other three eases here involved. Pursuant to the remand from the United States Supreme Court this court recalled the remittitur in this ease, permitted all interested parties and amici curiae to brief the issues, and heard oral argument.

Insofar as the prior opinion of this court affirmed the judgment of the trial court, and passed on the several issues involved other than the validity of the contracts, review was not sought or given by the United States Supreme Court. What was said on these issues is the law of the ease, is correct, and is reaffirmed, and need not be restated here.

As far as the issue of the validity of the master contract and the five member unit contracts is concerned the basic issue is substantially similar to that involved in the Ivanhoe and Madera eases this day decided (ante, p. 692 [3 Cal. Rptr. 317, 350 P.2d 69]). On authority of and for the reasons given in that opinion it must be held that the master contract and the five member contracts are valid and lawful, and the trial judgment so declaring was correct.