Restore Hetch Hetchy v. City and County of San Francisco

The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's judgment sustaining respondents' demurrer in an action seeking a writ of mandate to declare the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and O'Shaughnessy Dam unreasonable methods of diverting water under article X, section 2 of the California Constitution. The trial court concluded that petitioners' claims were preempted by the Raker Act, federal legislation granting certain rights-of-way to San Francisco subject to various conditions.The court held that the savings clause contained in the Raker Act does not preclude a finding of conflict between the asserted claims of this case and the express determination by Congress to divert water on a permanent basis at the site of the O’Shaughnessy Dam. Therefore, petitioners' claims failed under preemption principles and the court need not reach the trial court's alternative holding that the claims were time barred. View "Restore Hetch Hetchy v. City and County of San Francisco" on Justia Law