Press release from Water Audit California
Today, the Kern County Superior Court granted Water Audit California’s and other joint plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that prevents the City of Bakersfield from making diversions in a manner that habitually dries the Kern River.
Finding that Plaintiffs’ are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim, and after weighing potential harms to the respective parties in this case, the Court concluded that the California Legislature has already considered competing uses of water when it passed Fish and Game Code, section 5937 and thus determined that enough water must be allowed to remain in a waterway, that at a minimum, keeps fish in good condition.
Compliance with Section 5937 is required as a matter of law. Courts have a duty to uphold the law and no entities can be excepted from compliance with the law, even if compliance is burdensome.
Therefore, “Defendant City of Bakersfield and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and all persons acting on its behalf are prohibited from operating the Beardsley Weir, the Rocky Point Weir, the Calloway Weir, the River Canal Weir, the Bellevue Weir, and the McClung Weir in any manner that reduces Kern River flows below the volume sufficient to keep fish downstream of said weirs in good condition. Defendant and Plaintiff shall engage in good faith consultation to establish flow rates necessary for compliance with this order.”
The full decision of the Court is below.
The preliminary injunction motion was brought by Plaintiffs Water Audit California, Bring Back the Kern, Kern River Parkway Foundation, Kern Audubon Society, Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity.
For further comment, contact counsel for Water Audit California William McKinnon, (legal@waterauditca.org; mobile 530.575.5335), and for the community groups Adam Keats, (adam@keatslaw.org, mobile: 415.845.2509).
2023-10-30 - Court - Order on Prelim Injunction
