California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals dealt Cemex a blow and handed Santa Clarita an opportunity this week, in a long-running battle over sand-and-gravel mining rights in Soledad Canyon. Cemex sued the State Water Resources Control Board over the agency’s decision to renotice its water rights application. During a hearing on the appeal last month, attorneys for Cemex blamed the state water board for delaying its attempts to fulfill mining rights purchased in 1990. Cemex’s attorneys were suing the board, saying they should be able to appeal the state water board’s 2024 decision to renotice its applications for water rights.