5DCA Oral Argument - 2025/10/07 - Oct 07, 2025
argument5DCA Oral Argument - 2025/10/07
California Fifth District Court of Appeal
2h 23m
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
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What is the purpose of the oral argument before the California Fifth District Court of Appeal?
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The Court of Appeal in for the state of California, fifth appellal district is now in session. Good morning. Please be seated.
Nice to see everyone this morning. Let's call the uh first matter of Kings County Farm Bureau versus State Water Resources Control Board in the City of Lamore. Please state your appearances.
Good morning, Your Honors. Margaret Tides, Deputy Attorney General for the State Water Resources Control Board.
Good morning. Laura Nashley Week, Deputy Attorney General on behalf of Appellant State Water Resource Control Board.
Good morning, Valerie Kincaid, on behalf of the Kings County Farm Bureau.
Tim Worshewski for the Kings County Farm Bureau.
Thank you very much. And uh just uh good morning.
Ray Carlson on behalf of the Amaican City of Lamore.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I would just note uh for the record that we're very familiar with the case and we'll just ask that you keep that in mind uh during your argument. I believe uh Miss Kincaid you've requested thirty minutes, Miss Tide, um thirty minutes as well. Did you wish to reserve some portion of that time?
Yes, your Honor, ten minutes, please.
Okay, we'll watch the clock and ask that you do the same. And with that said, please proceed.
May it please the court, Margaret Tides, on behalf of the State Water Resources Control Board. The State Water Board respectfully requests that this court reverse the preliminary injunction. I'd like to provide some very brief background and then explain three reasons why the injunction is improper as a matter of law. Groundwater is an incredibly important public resource in California. And the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or Sigma, was enacted to ensure that groundwater is managed responsibly so that our communities And important industries like agriculture can rely on that resource forever. Under Sigma, the board's role is to intervene when local agencies are not managing groundwater responsibly.
The first step of state intervention is a probationary designation. And here, before taking that step in the Tuleri Lake sub basin. The board undertook a detailed analysis of the specific conditions and the local management plan. As reflected in the staff report Groundwater overdraft in that basin is causing groundwater levels to drop. This makes the water harder to access and it also leads to water quality problems. And several water systems in the sub basin are failing for those exact reasons. Groundwater overdraft also causes subsidence. That's the sinking of the land surface. And in some areas it's sunk up to six feet. in an eight year period. That's an average of nine inches a year. Subsidence causes infrastructure at ground level, like roads and bridges and aqueducts.
But what it also reflects is the collapse of aquifers under the ground. And when the land sinks and those aquifers collapse, that water storage is lost forever. The board identified fifteen deficiencies in the local management plan, and those are also identified in the report. No one disputes that the statutory criteria for board intervention were met. Also undisputed are eight of the fifteen deficiencies that the board identified in its report. And this is important because it means that even if plaintiffs prevailed at trial, they would not be entitled to set aside the probationary designation. Yet plaintiff sought and obtained a preliminary injunction that did just that. The injunction is improper for three key reasons.
First, plaintiffs did not meet the legal standard for a preliminary injunction. On the merits, the trial court read requirements into Sigma that do not exist. And on the harms the trial court improperly relied on alleged harms which were not attributable to the board, were purely compensable. And which were limited in time. Second, and more fundamentally, the trial court exceeded well established limits on injunctive relief. And third, the one dollar nominal bond is improper as a matter of law and renders the injunction void. Each of these errors involves issues of law that this court reviews de novo, and any of these offers a basis for reversal.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of the oral argument before the California Fifth District Court of Appeal?
0:12–34:55
2
How does the State Water Resources Control Board justify the preliminary injunction on groundwater management?
34:55–50:01
3
Why does the Board claim the injunction is improper under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act?
50:01–1:04:59
4
What are the three legal reasons the Board says the injunction should be reversed?
1:04:59–1:18:19
5
How does the Board argue the public‑interest exception limits injunctive relief?
1:18:19–1:31:16
6
Why does the Board contend the pay‑first doctrine does not apply to its fees?
1:31:16–1:45:18
7
What evidence does the Board present about groundwater overdraft and subsidence?
1:45:18–1:58:20
8
How does the Board address the procedural and jurisdictional challenges raised by the Farm Bureau?
1:58:20–2:23:45