Dummer v. City and County of S.F.

── Dummer v. City and County of S.F. ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: May 29, 2026 Category: General Filed 5/29/26 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE TIMOTHY JAMES DUMMER, Plaintiff and Appellant, A172588 v. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN (Alameda County FRANCISCO et al., Super. Ct. No. 23CV036826) Defendants and Respondents. The question presented is whether plaintiff Tim Dummer is entitled to a writ of mandate compelling the public entity defendants to obtain an amended water supply permit and open the Calaveras Reservoir— immediately and in its natural state—to public fishing. Dummer contends a writ is appropriate because defendants have a ministerial duty to act under provisions of the Fish and Game Code, the Health and Safety Code, and various constitutional provisions, and have failed to do so. Our review of the relevant laws leads us to conclude that Dummer has not established a right to mandamus relief. Specifically, he has not demonstrated defendants’ failure to perform a ministerial duty. We will affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff Dummer is a licensed California fisherman who has long sought access to fish at the Calaveras Reservoir. 1  Defendants are the City and County of San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (“SFPUC”). 1 The City is the owner of the Calaveras Reservoir, which is located in the counties of Alameda and Santa Clara and contains fish species including resident rainbow and anadromous steelhead trout. The reservoir provides drinking water to 2.7 million residents across several Bay Area counties and is part of a watershed governed by the Alameda Watershed Management Plan. SFPUC adopted the management plan in April 2001 after conducting an environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Res. Code, § 21000 et seq.; “CEQA”). The plan’s purpose is “to provide for improved management of the watersheds to meet the primary goal of water quality protection as well as the secondary goals of watershed management.” The plan currently prohibits public access and fishing at the Calaveras Reservoir. A. Dummer I In 2019, Dummer filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking to compel the City to immediately determine that public fishing would not affect the purity and safety of the water at the Calaveras Reservoir and to obtain a valid water supply permit setting forth the terms and conditions upon which public fishing at the reservoir may be conducted (“Dummer I”). Dummer raised claims under the California Constitution, the Fish and Game Code, and the Health and Safety Code. At the hearing on the matter, the trial court recognized, first, the public right to fish in a reservoir is a qualified right, and second, the issue is whether public fishing could occur in the Calaveras Reservoir without 1 Defendant SFPUC is a department of defendant City and County of San Francisco that manages essential services related to drinking water and wastewater. Hereafter, defendants are collectively referred to as “the City.” 2 affecting the water’s purity. Viewing the matter as not necessarily presenting “a simple yes-or-no proposition,” the court stated the City would need to consider a fishing program specific to the Calaveras Reservoir with potential time, place, and manner restrictions, as well as what facilities would be needed. The court elaborated as follows. If the City determines that public fishing will not prevent the delivery of pure drinking water with an appropriate fishing program in place, the City would then be “obligated” under Health and Safety Code section 117045 to propose such a program with an appropriate