RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

December 2007

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Sixth District Court Holds California Safe Drinking Water Act Imposes Mandatory Duties on Health Of- ficials to Review and Respond to Water Quality Monitoring Reports
Guzman v. County of Monterey

On September 25, 2007, the Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeal ruled that the California Safe Drinking Water Act (CSDWA) imposes mandatory duties on local health officials responsible for administering the CSDWA. Specifically, it ruled that local health officials with responsibility for a particular public water system have an express mandatory duty to review water quality monitoring reports for that water system and to notify the water system operator of its monitoring and reporting requirements. Further, if these reports from the operators of the water system indicate that the system is not in compliance, the local health officials have an implied mandatory duty to direct the operator of the water system to notify its customers of contaminated water and to specify to the operators the form and manner in which that notifi-cation is to take place.