Imperial County’s largest farming family has lost again in its years-long bid to gain control of valuable Colorado River water allocations associated with its land. The Imperial Irrigation District on Tuesday won a motion to dismiss a case by Mike Abatti and several relatives, close friends and business associates that closely mirrored an ultimately unsuccessful series of cases they had brought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear their petition in 2021. U.S. Southern District Court Judge Michael Anello, based in San Diego, issued the motion to dismiss the new case after hearing oral arguments from both sides a week ago, based on res judicata, a legal term meaning that the matter already had been judged.

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