by Todd Bishop, Sacramento Valley Mirror
posted Sept. 11
Lawsuits challenging the validity of Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) in Glenn, Colusa, and Butte counties will be allowed to proceed after three judges separately overruled efforts by local groundwater authorities to dismiss the cases based on legal technicalities.
In an Aug. 23 order, Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson disagreed with the Glenn and Colusa groundwater authorities and found that the plaintiffs in the case -— AquAlliance, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and the California Water Impact Network -— were not precluded from pursuing the action under the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Similar rulings were issued in July by Butte County Superior Court judges Stephen E. Benson and Tamara L. Mosbarger, allowing the same three groups to pursue lawsuits over the Groundwater Sustainability Plans for the Butte and Vina subbasins.