Metropolitan Water District v. Imperial Irrigation District

Opinion

TURNER, P. J.

I. Introduction

State law mandates that the owner of a water conveyance system with unused capacity allow others to use the facility to transport water. The use of a water conveyance facility by someone other than the owner or operator to transport water is referred to as “wheeling.” In return for wheeling, the water conveyance system owner is entitled to “fair compensation.” (Wat. Code,1 § 1810.) The question in this case is whether as a matter of law the “Wheeling Statutes” (§§ 1810-1814) prevent the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from adopting a fixed…