KXO RADIO - All American Canal Appeal Heard by 9th Circuit Court

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All American Canal Appeal Heard by 9th Circuit Court

Todays is : Thursday, 08 January 2009

Written by George Gale
Tuesday, 05 December 2006
(The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in the appeal filed against the All American Canal decision)....The appeal was filed by the Consejo De Desarrolo Economico de Mexicali, the environmental group C.U.R.E. and the City of Calexico to stop the concrete lining of the All American Canal. The appeal was filed after a Federal Court Judge dismissed the group's original legal action. An emergency injunction to stop the $210 million was issued by the appeals court in August. During the arguments on the appeal Monday, the U.S. argued Mexico has a legal allotment of Colorado River water under a 1944 treaty and is not entitled to any seepage water from the canal. The attorney for the Mexican group argued the U.S. abandoned the water and it was Mexico's right to take it. Judge John Noonan asked, how does a constitutional barrier against takings of property in the United States apply to somebody's property in Mexico? Judge Sidney Thomas said the U.S. might have abandoned the water, but that does not mean 'somebody else acquires it'. The court did not rule on the arguments, and at the same time did not lift the injunction stopping the project. The Bush administration urged the court to allow the project to move forward. The state and the San Diego County Water Authority are paying for the Project, and San Diego officials say the injunction is costing the project millions of dollars.