(Appeals Court renders their opinion)…The opinion is on the appeal filed by the IID.

On the opinion, Imperial Irrigation District Board President Norma Sierra Galindo says the opinion reaffirmed the IID’s position that the District is the water rights holder for Imperial Valley and that there is no priviledged class of water users. In the 106 page ruling, the Appeals Court said Imperial County Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt had. Among other issues, taken an unduly narrow view of the District’s purposes, thus failing to account for the District’s broader obligations, and took an overly expansive view of the rights of farmers. The Appeals Court concluded that the local court correctly found that the District abused its discretion in the manner that it prioritizes water users in the 2013 Equitable Distribution Plan, or EDP, but the Superior Court erred to the extent that it found any other abuse of discretion on the part of the IID in the 2013 EDP. The Appels Court added that Judge Anderholt erred by granting declaratory relief that usurp the District’s authority, and that based in part on flawed findings. The Appeals Court said they conclude that farmers within the District possess an equitable and beneficial interest in the District’ water rights, which is appurtenant to their lands, and that their interest consists of a right to water service. The District retains discretion to modify service consistent with its duties to manage and distribute water equitably for all categories served by the Distric