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Now, with the basic framework of Gate King’s proposed project in mind, and the

City’s EIR for the project in mind, we may finally turn to the litigation from which the

current appeal arises.

V. The Two Cases Giving Rise to the Current Appeal
A. Santa Clarita Oak Conservancy v. City of Santa Clarita (the California

Oak case)

In July 2003, shortly after the City certified its final EIR for Gate King’s proposed

project, the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment (SCOPE) and other

groups filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking to compel the City to decertify its EIR
on the ground that it did not include adequate information on the “uncertainties” which

were then still attendant to the transfer of the 41,000 AFY of SWP water from KCWA to

CLWA. (L.A. Super. Ct. No. BS084677.) In March 2004, the trial court entered

judgment denying SCOPE’s writ petition, and, shortly thereafter, SCOPE filed an appeal.

In November 2005, we ruled that the information on the subject of water supplies
set forth in the City’s EIR for Gate King’s proposed project was inadequate. There, we

determined “the EIR’s failure to present . . . an analysis of how demand for water would

be met without the 41, 000 AFY entitlement, or of why it is appropriate to rely on the

41,000 transfer . . . render[ed] the EIR defective . . . .” (California Oak, supra, 133

Cal.App.4th at p. 1242.) We reversed the judgment, and remanded the cause with
directions to the trial court to issue a writ of mandate compelling the City to decertify its

EIR for Gate King’s project, and to retain jurisdiction over the cause until such time as

the City certified an EIR which complied with CEQA. (Id. at p. 1245.)

In March 2006, NCWD completed preparation of a new WSA for Gate King’s

proposed industrial park project. That same month, the City circulated a draft additional
analysis for the EIR for Gate King’s proposed project. The City’s draft additional

analysis stated that, “[b]ased on th[e] . . . [new WSA] prepared by NCWD, an adequate

supply of water is available to serve the Gate-King project, [and] existing and planned

future uses in the Santa Clarita [area]. No significant water supply . . . impacts are

expected from supplying available water to meet the demands of both the project and

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