Stockton East Water District v. United States

101 Fed. Cl. 352, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2107, 2011 WL 5154463
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedOctober 31, 2011
DocketNo. 04-541L
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 101 Fed. Cl. 352 (Stockton East Water District v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stockton East Water District v. United States, 101 Fed. Cl. 352, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2107, 2011 WL 5154463 (uscfc 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MILLER, Judge.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Stockton East Water District (“SEWD”) and Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District (“Central”) were involved with the provision of municipal, industrial, and agricultural water, as well as the operation and maintenance of water facilities, within California’s San Joaquin Valley — just south of Sacramento County. This ease involves a dispute over two agreements involving SEWD, Central, and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) for the appropriation of water after completion of California’s second largest earthfill dam, the New Melones Dam.

In 1983 the parties finalized their contract negotiations, and Reclamation entered into separate contracts with SEWD and Central for the provision of a certain quantity of water on an annual basis for irrigation and domestic purposes. Complaint for Injunctive Relief and for Damages and Demand for Jury Trial, Stockton E. Water Dist. v. United States, No. CIV-S-93-1577 DFL GGH, ¶¶ 14-15 (E.D.Cal. Oct. 1, 1993) (the “1993 Complaint”). The contracts required the water districts to construct and install at their own expense water delivery systems to carry the water from the Reservoir to the water district facilities. Id. ¶ 23.

According to plaintiffs, Reclamation has failed to provide water in accordance with the contracts. This defalcation is the basis for plaintiffs’ claims for a taking without just compensation as required by the Fifth Amendment and for breach of contract. The 1993 Complaint further alleged that the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Pub.L. No. 102-575, title XXXIV, 106 Stat. 4600, 4706-31 (1992) (the “CVPIA”), precipitated Reclamation’s alleged wrongful conduct. See 1993 Compl. ¶¶ 28-39. Among other things, the CVPIA imported the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 (1988). CVPIA § 3406(b), 106 Stat. at 4714. The CVPIA also required the Secretary of the Interior (the “Secretary”), who was responsible for operation of the Central Valley Project (the “CVP”), to “dedicate and manage annually eight hundred thousand acre-feet of Central Valley Project yield for the primary purpose of implementing the fish, wildlife, and habitat restoration purposes and measures authorized by this [Act.]” Id. § 3406(b)(2), 106 Stat. at 4715. In addition, the CVPIA required the Secretary to “obtain a modification in [preexisting permits and licenses] in a manner consistent with ... State law” before reallocating water to accomplish the goals of the CVPIA Id. § 3411(a), 106 Stat. at 4731.

The 1993 Complaint charged that the Secretary, in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (“F & W”) and its state counterpart, reallocated — “without any consultation with [plaintiffs] or other holders of contracts or water rights on the Stanislaus River” — 200,000 acre-feet from the New Melones Unit for the 800,000 acre-feet provided under the CVPIA. 1993 Compl. ¶ 32. Plaintiffs alleged, ■ however, [354]*354that Reclamation and the F & W “ignored and failed and refused to consider allocating water in a fair, equitable manner consistent with law from each and every other CVP project[.]” Id. ¶ 34.

These determinations appeared in the F & W’s release of the “prescription for implementation of the management of the 800,000 acre feet of CVP yield for 1993” (the “1993 Prescription”). Id. ¶ 35. Accordingly, in June 1993 Reclamation “orally advised SEWD and [Central] that it would not deliver any water to either [of them] under [their contracts] in 1993.” Id. ¶ 37. Plaintiffs maintain that Reclamation thereafter continuously failed to meet its contractual obligations.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I. Proceedings in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

1. The 1993 Complaint

Plaintiffs’ first complaint — the 1993 Complaint — was filed on October 1, 1993, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California and enumerated five untitled claims for relief. As characterized by the district court, these claims were (1) impairment of “vested rights under ... water contracts[ ] in violation of the Fifth Amendment due process clause”; (2) violation of the National Environmental Policy Act for failure to prepare an environmental impact statement; (3) violation of the CVPIA, § 3410; (4) arbitrary and capricious action by the Government; and (5) violation of the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause. See “Memorandum Opinion and Order Re: Defendants and Defendants-in-Intervention Motions to Dismiss,” Westlands Water Dist. v. United States, No. CV-F-93-5327 OWW SSH (E.D.Cal. Feb. 11, 1994) (consolidated eases) (the “1994 Dismissal Order”). Plaintiffs named as defendants Reclamation, F & W, and Bruce Babbitt, the Secretary of the Interior (the “federal defendants”).

2. The 1995 Amended Complaint

After the federal district court’s 1994 Dismissal Order, plaintiffs did not file their claim for a governmental taking without just compensation in the United States Court of Federal Claims. Instead, they filed an amended complaint before the district court. See First Amended Complaint for Injunctive Relief and for Damages and Demand for Jury Trial, Stockton E. Water Dist. v. United States, No. CIV-S-93-5896-OWW (E.D.Cal. Sept. 22, 1995) (the “1995 Amended Complaint”). The 1995 Amended Complaint, like the original 1993 Complaint, explicitly alleged that the contracts provided plaintiffs with vested property rights. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. Plaintiffs, however, added several new allegations addressing events subsequent to the issuance of the 1993 Prescription, identified above, including further notifications that water would not be provided to plaintiffs pursuant to the contracts. Id. ¶¶ 37-60.

Plaintiffs alleged that, each year after the filing of the 1993 Complaint, the F & W failed to properly allocate water rights allegedly conferred to plaintiffs and failed, procedurally, to properly consult with plaintiffs concerning subsequent allocations when issuing the annual prescriptions. Id. Further, Reclamation allegedly continued to refuse to provide SEWD and Central with the entire amount of water — in some cases providing no water — as the contracts required. Id. ¶¶ 44, 52, 57. Plaintiffs also alleged that the federal defendants contracted with the State of California to provide water flows to a specific region and treated this contract as superseding the agreements with plaintiffs. Id. ¶¶ 49-51.

The 1995 Amended Complaint sought relief on ten named claims — none of which included a takings claim — based on violations of due process; the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 500-596; the Reclamation Act; and state water law. Id. ¶¶ 61-133; see also “Memorandum Opinion and Order re: Federal Defendants’ Motion Requiring Plaintiffs To Exhaust Administrative Remedies; Plaintiffs’ and Federal Defendants’ Cross-Motions for Partial Summary Judgment and Notice of Intent To Consolidate Cases,” Stockton E. Water Dist. v. United States, No. CV-F-93-5896 OWW, at 4-6 (E.D.Cal. Nov. 8, 1996) (the “1996 Summary Judgment Order”).

[355]*3553.

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Bluebook (online)
101 Fed. Cl. 352, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2107, 2011 WL 5154463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stockton-east-water-district-v-united-states-uscfc-2011.