Mammoth Water District, DWP in court again Thursday

June 15, 2012

The battle for Mammoth Creek’s water rights continued this Thursday, just as the Mammoth Times went to press.

Mammoth Community Water District and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power met via conference calls to consider each party’s administrative record and to discuss dates for future court hearings.
The fight has moved from administrative to political, according to the water district’s general manager, Greg Norby.

“The Los Angeles City Council met in closed session on Tuesday to talk about this issue,” he said Thursday.

“That’s encouraging, because it means they are paying attention to this issue.”

That attention should be to Mammoth’s advantage, he said. Norby has been pushing local residents and politicians to get involved and put pressure on DWP to let up on its claim that the city owns all of the water rights to Mammoth Creek, including the ones the water district said have been legally granted to the district by the state.

Norby believes the reason Los Angeles’ city council met to discuss the issue was due to pressure from locals.

A new judge, Judge James Garbolino, has been assigned to arbitrate the ongoing tussle between Los Angeles and Mammoth. Any final solution is still expected to be four to six months out, Norby said.