From August 4th.... July 15, the Superior Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit claiming groundwater pumping in the Scott River Basin in Siskiyou County is partly responsible for decreased river flows. The lawsuit argued that decreased flows limit the public’s use of the river and harm fish habitat, therefore tying groundwater to the “public trust doctrine.... ...the state is responsible for maintaining all navigable waterways for the benefit of the public. “Under the doctrine, the state has a duty to supervise and administer the public trust so the public may continue to use navigable waterways for trust purposes The public trust originally applied to commerce and fishing, but has since expanded to include hunting, bathing, swimming, boating, recreation and environmental uses on “navigable” waterways; lakes, rivers and streams capable of being used for recreational boating at least part of the year. The Owens River and Walker River are both “navigable” waterways, by this definition. “the court only found that the public trust doctrine applies when the extraction of groundwater causes harm to navigable waters, harming the public’s right to use those navigable waters for public trust purposes...
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:10:46 +0000
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