Case
editAt the 20th century, Los Angeles began to grow fast. In 1905, an officer of the Los Angeles department of water and power (LADWP), Fred Eaton, started to buy land in Sierra region. In the 1930s L.A. went to court and tried to buy land from current private owners. Over the next decade, L.A. took water from the watershed and caused lower levels of water, leading to dying fish populations, shrinking marshes, and wildering vegetation due the dryness of the area. In 1976, a group of college students received money to study of Mono Lake environment. In 1979, the National Audubon Society, Mono Lake Committee, and others filed suit against the LADWP.After a few years careful consideration, the California Supreme Court ruled in 1983, that the state has an obligation to protect the Mono Lake.
Issues
editTwo issues in this case. First, what is the interrelationship of the public trust doctrine and the California water right system? Second, appropriative water rights system.