OVN Editorial:
with attorney general
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has leaped into the water lawsuit adjudication pool with a resounding splash, ripping the proposed Physical Solution (a step, not an end, in the water adjudication process) with a letter vigorously admonishing the city of Ventura, on behalf of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board.
The state Department of Justice outlines the missteps of the Ventura City Council on numerous procedural issues, including the rush to judgement ahead of the Watershed Criteria Report that is to be completed this year and its modeling work in 2022; lack of transparency regarding five phantom experts; neglect to serve all parties in the case; the assumption that surface water rights can be included when they have yet to be ruled upon by the judge; a deficiency of findings to support Ventura’s claims of rights; a failure to meet requirements relevant to California statutes; the unmet burden-of-proof