A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has issued a tentative order that would excuse 115 small-scale landowners in California's Cuyama Valley from a 2021 groundwater rights adjudication. The case was filed by land management companies linked to Grimmway Enterprises Inc. and Bolthouse Farms.
Judge William F. Highberger said at a February 2 hearing that he wanted to give "minor extractors," or small-scale water users, "as much of a free pass as possible." He indicated he did not want to subject these growers to mandatory pumping reductions and legal costs that larger farming operations may face.
The tentative order would also allow small-scale users to pump more water annually than their historical use, up to five acre-feet per year, subject to a collective cap of 400 acre-feet. Historically, this group has used about one acre-foot per user per year, or 132 acre-feet collectively. The basin's court-defined safe yield is 20,370 acre-feet per year.
In 2024, Grimmway and Bolthouse Land pumped 22,720 acre-feet from the basin, exceeding the safe yield, according to local Groundwater Sustainability Agency records.
Under California law, landowners pumping less than five acre-feet per year qualify as small-scale users. The judge cited recent legislation allowing courts to treat small users separately to reduce their participation burden.
Plaintiffs opposed any allocation beyond historical use. In a January 26 brief, they wrote: "Balancing a groundwater basin is a zero-sum game. The Court cannot allocate water to a new water use without taking that water from an existing water user … The court must decide whether the limited supply should be allocated to existing users, not speculative or newly fabricated future uses."
The Cuyama Valley basin, covering 380 square miles across four counties, is classified by the state as in critical overdraft and must reach balance by 2040. The local GSA estimates agricultural pumping will need to be reduced by at least 50 percent to meet that target.
Highberger set March 4 for a status conference and March 27 as a deadline for small-scale users to submit water use records and formally register with the court. Landowners who fail to file risk losing their water rights.
Future phases of the case will address water allocations among larger farming operations, including whether pumping reductions will apply equally based on historical use or vary according to operation size.
Source: edhat
