County of Mono v. City of Los Angeles

The California Superior Court granted a petition for writ of mandate requiring the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to conduct a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for its change in use of water on 6,400 acres owned by LADWP in Mono County. The court noted that the changes in water use were “driven by the appropriate goal of planning for how the LADWP will adapt to the challenges of climate change.” Based on its independent review of the evidence, the court concluded that the change in water use was a CEQA “project” because it was “an activity which may cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.”