Eminent Domain Report

California water providers are one step closer to receiving important statutory protection against inverse condemnation claims arising from catastrophic wildfires. Senate Bill 1153 has passed both houses of the California Legislature and is headed to Governor Newsom. If signed, the legislation would provide important guidance regarding what public water systems can—and cannot—reasonably be expected to do during a wildfire.

For those following California inverse condemnation law, the bill is particularly significant because it builds upon both prior legislation ...

For several years, we’ve been reporting on and tracking several pending eminent domain matters involving public agencies attempting to take-over and operate public utilities (referred to as “municipalization”).  When two different California Courts of Appeal issued conflicting decisions on the standard of review that should be applied in such take-overs, the California Supreme Court finally decided to chime in.  On August 24, 2026, the Supreme Court in Town of Apple Valley v. Apple Valley Ranchos Water issued its decision and came down unequivocally in favor of ... 

In 2024, the Supreme Court upended decades of California precedent when it held that legislatively enacted development impact fees must satisfy the “essential nexus” and “rough proportionality” tests established in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard, respectively. However, the Supreme Court did not decide whether the legislatively enacted fee program challenged by Sheetz actually failed to comply with Nollan / Dolan. Instead, it remanded that issue back to the California courts so that they could address the issue in the first ...