Western Water Company v. Yuba County Water Agency, et al., No. 34-2010-00070834-CU-BC-GDS (Super. Court Sacramento Co. CA, Jun. 21, 2012)

(breach of contract case in which plaintiff claims that defendant took more water than allowable pursuant to 1991 agreement that addressed use and transportation of water; plaintiff also claims that defendant failed to pay conveyance fee for using canals and ponds to supply water to farmers; court construed plaintiff's claim as one where the plaintiff claimed that defendant knew the amount of water moving through accumulation ponds from the Yuba River and into the water delivery system and that such knowledge had to be disclosed to plaintiff; court rejected plaintiff's claim as unsupported by evidence; critical issue under contract is whether subsurface flow from Yuba River is surface water or groundwater; court deemed it to be surface water for which amounts defendant not bound by contract to pay plaintiff; water at issue not extracted through mechanical means (i.e., pumps and wells)  as contemplated by parties in contract; case on appeal).