Westlands submitted case-in-chief is irrelevant to Part 1B of the hearing, Protestants say
As the California Water Fix hearings resume with Part 1B at the State Water Board today, the Hearing Officers now have a another issue before them.
San Joaquin County protestants, the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District, and the Local Agencies of the North Delta have filed a motion to exclude the case-in-chief testimony submitted by Westlands Water District, saying that the testimony is “entirely irrelevant to any issue before the Board in Part 1B of this Hearing.” The motion alleges that Westland’s testimony is “an advertisement for the tunnels” more appropriate for a policy statement.
The scope of Part 1B of the hearing has been clearly defined by the Boards’ orders and rulings, and is limited to issues such as whether the change would cause injury to other users and does the change in effect initiate a new water right, the motion argues. The Westland’s testimony addresses none of those issues, the motion points out:
“Conspicuous by its complete absence from Mr. Gutierrez’ testimony, however, is any attempt to show, or even discuss, injury to legal users of water or other impairment of human uses of water that may result if the Petition is approved. Nor does Mr. Gutierrez anywhere suggest that the Petitioners have failed to carry their burden in Part 1A with respect to the no injury requirement – indeed, he nowhere mentions the fact that Petitioners even have such a burden. Nor does Mr. Gutierrez discuss the question of whether the Petition effectively seeks to initiate a new water right.”
The Westland’s testimony submitted is irrelevant and calculated to influence decision-makers with matters extraneous to the issues in Part 1B, the motion states. On this basis, the protestants move to exclude the Westlands case-in-chief in its entirety.
California Water Fix hearings resume today at the State Water Board beginning at 9am. Click here to watch on webcast.
Read the motion here: County’s Objections to Written Testimony and Exhibits – Westlands
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