Water Code Section 11580 clearly states that the Department of Water Resources can exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire property only “if the project for which the property is being acquired has been authorized and funds are available therefor.”
If the Water Contractors don’t have an authorized (permitted) and funded project, they can’t acquire land for the project. So how is it that DWR seeks to acquire land to do test borings to give them information to design the Water Contractor’s project that hasn’t been authorized and funded yet?
