NorCal Landowner Accused of Illegally Diverting Pit River Water Onto Private Property

A Northern California landowner is facing a lawsuit from Cal Fire, which alleges he illegally diverted water from the Pit River onto his property in Montgomery Creek.

According to a complaint filed in Shasta County Superior Court, Cal Fire says landowner Guiliano Borgna has been channeling water from the Pit River across state-owned land into a storage pond roughly 275 feet away on his property. The diversion allegedly occurs via a ditch about 10 feet wide and 5 feet deep that cuts across Cal Fire’s 6,982-acre parcel — land donated to the agency by PG&E in February 2023 as part of the Pit Tunnel Donation.

The lawsuit states the unauthorized diversion dates back to early 2022, when PG&E still owned the property and discovered the channel. PG&E later received approval from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to plug the ditch, which they did using boulders, stone, and soil in September 2022. Cal Fire alleges Borgna later reopened the channel and has no water right permit or license authorizing the diversion.

The agency asked the court to issue an injunction preventing Borgna from reopening the ditch again, as well as punitive damages.

Borgna, who owns nearly 18 acres, disputes the allegations. He maintains that the ditch is a historic tributary that has existed for more than a century and says he holds pre-1914 water rights — rights that were historically not recorded on property deeds. He also claims he has only maintained the flow to keep his pond viable and submitted historical documentation to the state supporting his claim.

The case will now move forward in Shasta County Superior Court as Cal Fire seeks to stop what it calls an unlawful diversion of river water.