By Andrew Whitman
Attorney Andrew Whitman of Ojai filed this brief to Judge William F. Highberger, who is the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in the city of Ventura water adjudication lawsuit:
Cross-complainant city of Ventura is hammering forward, attempting to obtain a “physical solution” that will impact thousands and thousands of water users and landowners in northern Ventura County. A physical solution is clearly premature at this stage of the litigation. The cross-defendants have not had the opportunity to obtain evidence or establish, where appropriate, that they are not proper cross-defendants.
A premature solution is part of the city of Ventura’s strategy. Any physical solution requires this Court to exercise equitable jurisdiction. The city of Ventura smells to high heaven when equitable considerations are brought to the table. Despite a limited water resource, the city of Ventura has handed out development permits that place unreasonable demands on the e
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