State Supreme Court to rule in Delta property-rights case
“The California Supreme Court has agreed to decide an epic battle over whether the state must condemn and acquire parcels on tens of thousands of acres of private property to conduct preliminary testing for Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to construct two large water-conveyance tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The two tunnels – nearly 40 feet in diameter – would divert river water around the Delta and ship it south for users in Central and Southern California.
The state Department of Water Resources asked for the high court’s review after the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled in March that, in this instance, the state did not have a pre-condemnation right to enter private properties in the Delta without the permission of the landowners.
The ruling put the state in a pickle because it does not want to condemn, acquire and pay for property that it has not yet decided it will need for its “twin tunnels” project.”
Walsch, Danny. Merced Sun-Star 6 July 2014.