Law Offices of Matthew Emrick



FIrm news and updates



Groundwater rights priority: WHEN IS AN ACTION FOR PRIORITY OF GROUNDWATER RIGHTS "RIPE" FOR ADJUDICATION? Third district court of appeals ADDRESSES the ISSUE OF WHEN AN ACTION TO DETERMINE GROUNDWATER RIGHTS priority is ripe. "sCHEIBER rANCH llp V. CITY OF LINCOLN (2022)"







Appellate court holds that "overlying groundwater right does not include a dormant future appropriative groundwater right"



A recent case out of California's First District Court of Appeal (unpublished) held that there is no inchoate right to a future unexercised appropriative groundwater right. Citing prior published case law, the First District Court of Appeal held that an overlying groundwater right does not include a dormant future appropriative groundwater right. The court determined that unlike dormant overlying rights, appropriative groundwater rights are created only when there is an actual diversion and use of groundwater, The Law Offices of Matthew Emrick represented the District in the litigation and Appeal.


William and Tona Moores v. Irish Beach Water District First District Court of Appeal A151867 (Nov. 2021). Unpublished.



city Reaches historic settlement in water rights litigation



The City of Antioch reached a historic water rights settlement with the Department of Water Resources in 2019. The $27 million settlement allows the City to construct a brackish water treatment plant preserving the City's ability to use its pre-1914 water rights year around. The Law Offices of Matthew Emrick represented the City in the litigation and settlement.


www.courthousenews.com/pressed-by-drought-and-climate-change-a-california-city-turns-to-desalination/





Appellate court concludes that Statutory power to "manage groundwater" includes power to regulate amount extracted from pRIVATE well



A 2019 decision from the First District Court of Appeal determined that a non-SGMA statutory scheme granting a community services district the power to "manage" groundwater included the right to regulate the amount of water being extracted from individual wells. The Law Firm of Matthew Emrick assisted in the District with this appeal.


Gomes v. Mendocino Community Services District (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 249