Judges Hear Water Agencies Defense of Coachella Valley’s Public Water Rights

A lawsuit filed in 2013 by Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (Agua Caliente) seeking unprecedented rights to groundwater that would supersede other water users in the Coachella Valley has been challenged by Desert Water Agency (DWA) and Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD). The two water agencies presented oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week last week and pressed their appeal of a recent federal court ruling that found the Agua Caliente has priority federal rights to groundwater, asking for the 2015 decision to be overturned.

If Agua Caliente prevails, DWA and CVWD could lose access to existing groundwater supplies. The water agencies have expressed their concern that Agua Caliente could sell water back to the public or it could use the water for any purpose, including building a water bottling plant. This could drive up rates for local residents and businesses.

“We hope to preserve the public’s right to a clean, affordable and reliable water supply,” said Desert Water Agency General Manager Mark Krause. “Giving Agua Caliente control of the public water supply would threaten the reliability of our carefully managed groundwater resources and increase costs for Coachella Valley families and businesses. This case is being watched around the country – if Agua Caliente prevails it would set a new precedent.”

Once the appellate court panel renders its decision on this matter, the case will return to the federal district court for the next phases of the trial, or either side could ask the United States Supreme Court to accept a further appeal. The region’s groundwater – the water used to supply drinking water to the Coachella Valley community – has always been available for supply to the public.

Historically DWA and CVWD engineered a cutting-edge approach to groundwater management years ago that has become a nationwide model for programs looking for examples of groundwater basins on a long-term path to sustainability.

Actively replenishing the basin with water imported from the Colorado River has not only increased the Coachella Valley’s groundwater elevation, it has also improved water quality. For example, the replenished Colorado River water has diluted a naturally-occurring element found in groundwater called chromium-6 (Cr6), making DWA one of a handful of agencies already in compliance with the state’s new, stringent Cr6 standard.

Other water management experts agree – Colorado River water serves as a source of drinking water for 33 million people and is used by water agencies throughout the state and in other states for groundwater replenishment. Currently, the water DWA provides meets or exceeds all state and federal water quality standards.

“This is the first time we would have talked really directly about groundwater,” Circuit Judge Morgan Christen said. “This is a very significant issue,” she said, referring to it as “a big deal case.”