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City attorney outlines stakes in Oxnard–Pleasant Valley groundwater adjudication; city appeals trial ruling
Summary
City Attorney Ryan Bizera briefed the council on the multi‑year OPV Coalition v. Fox Canyon adjudication, explaining why Camarillo appealed a superior‑court decision that set a Pleasant Valley safe yield at about 13,750 acre‑feet per year and treated roughly 9,500 acre‑feet as native water — a finding the city says undervalues non‑native/recharge water and could threaten the city’s desalination investment.
City Attorney Ryan Bizera told the Camarillo City Council March 11 that the OPV Coalition v. Fox Canyon groundwater adjudication could affect the city’s long‑term water supplies and the operation of the city’s North Pleasant Valley desalination facility. Bizera summarized the case background, the trial outcome and why the city has appealed.
Bizera said the lawsuit (filed 2021) challenges Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency’s 2019 allocation ordinance and brings hundreds of pumpers and public agencies into a single adjudication to determine “who gets to pump how much groundwater” from the Pleasant Valley and Oxnard subbasins. He described the March–October 2025 litigation timeline, the superior‑court decision adopting negotiated “safe yields” (about 13,750 acre‑feet/year for Pleasant Valley with roughly 9,500 acre‑feet treated as native) and Camarillo’s disagreement with those figures.
Why it matters: Camarillo relies heavily on local groundwater and invested in a desalination facility based on a Fox Canyon pumping allocation (4,500 acre‑feet/year) that underpinned the facility’s financial case, Bizera said. If the adjudication restricts local pumping or alters who receives credit for imported or recycled water, the city could face increased imported‑water purchases or limits on desalination operations.
Bizera said Camarillo’s appeal argues the superior court undercounted non‑native inflows (imports and recharge) and set the total safe yield too low. “We think the evidence shows the safe yield’s not that low and that the basin’s not overdrafted,” Bizera told the council, summarizing the city’s technical position that higher long‑term average pumping has been sustained without the basin declining.
Councilors asked about hydrologic connection to Oxnard, historical overdraft status, and how many acre‑feet are necessary for the desalination plant to be financially viable. Bizera and staff explained the appeals process may go to the Court of Appeal and that, if needed, phase‑two water‑right litigation could take years and involve complex allocation and management‑plan negotiations; many groundwater adjudications ultimately resolve through large, multilateral settlement talks.
What’s next: The city has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal; possible outcomes include expedited appellate review or a return to extended trial phases in the superior court. Bizera said a global settlement remains possible but warned of a protracted process.
Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 1864; presentation and Q&A concluded SEG 2334–SEG 2606.
