Siskiyou County Barn by Marshal Hedin.

COURTHOUSE NEWS: Judge rules against Northern California county in water access race discrimination case

Attorneys have two weeks to submit briefs on the scope of the injunction the judge will issue.

By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service

A federal judge on Friday granted in part a preliminary injunction against a Northern California county accused of discriminating against its Asian American population over access to water.

The plaintiffs live in parts of the county with no wells or other means of accessing water, and say that a blanket prohibition on transporting water offsite — which isn’t enforced across the board — disproportionately hurts Asian American residents.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled that the plaintiffs in the case against Siskiyou County and Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue will be harmed without a preliminary injunction. The judge ordered both sides to provide additional information within two weeks about the appropriate scope of that injunction, as well as a monetary bond.

County officials say the ordinance is meant to prevent illegal cannabis growers from taking groundwater and damaging the environment. Commercial cannabis grows are banned in the county.

But the Asian American residents filing suit say the law restricts their access to water, forcing them in some cases to use bottled water.

Siskiyou County uses discriminatory enforcement, the plaintiffs say, despite a previous settlement in a similar legal action and the county repealing two enjoined ordinances.

The county has enforced the law against well owners who sold or donated water to people, forcing property owners and truck drivers to stop providing water to people in the Shasta Vista area.

During one inspection, an officer told plaintiff Vue Moua that he couldn’t distribute water to other areas unless he got the zoning designation change, no matter whether he was selling or giving away the public resource. Two other Asian American men, Neng Vue and Bill Yang, say they have come under similar scrutiny living near Shasta Vista. Both of them have wells on their properties.

According to Mueller, the evidence is unrebutted that people without access to water delivered by truck will have no water source.

“There is no question whether people are in a worse position as a result of the county’s actions. They are,” the Barack Obama appointee wrote. “It is also clear these people would not otherwise have faced these dangers if the county had not enforced its zoning ordinances as it has.”

Mueller wrote that the danger of the county’s actions was obvious, foreseeable and potentially the intended result. It’s the second time the county has used ordinances to meet its goals, and the second time its residents have petitioned the court over water deprivation.

Writing that she won’t stop the county from enforcing its ordinances entirely, Mueller said she wants additional arguments within two weeks from both sides before issuing the preliminary injunction.

The judge noted that she won’t restrict the county from stopping illegal cannabis growers from using groundwater. Her injunction likely will focus on the areas where the plaintiffs live and the amount of water they need.

Pivoting to class certification, Mueller denied without prejudice the plaintiffs’ bid to include all Asian Americans who live in Siskiyou County without well or municipal water access on their property. The plaintiffs provided evidence of Asian Americans in the Shasta Vista area facing water access issues, but not people throughout the county, she said. Also, the proposed class would include both people with a legitimate need for groundwater and those who irrigate illegal cannabis grows — a point plaintiff attorneys conceded last month during oral arguments.

Mueller gave the plaintiffs leave to file a supplemental complaint about more recent accusations against the county.