The United States wrought “devastating consequences” upon farmers in California’s Central Valley when it took control of water meant for agriculture and residents and diverted it to other districts on the west side of the Central Valley, Fresno and 17 water districts claim in a $350 million federal lawsuit.
Fresno and the water district say the government gave them nothing after it took ownership of all of the water in the Friant Division of the Central Valley Project in 2014 to give to a group of contractors as “substitute water,” according to the Oct. 5 complaint in the Court of Federal Claims.