CALIFORNIA – The sale of farmland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has been temporarily blocked by the courts, halting the Metropolitan Water District’s $175 million bid for the 20,000 acres of land. 

As reported by CBS Sacramento, the California 3rd District Court of Appeal granted the temporary restraining order on Tuesday, just one day before escrow was set to close. The land in question would span the hub of California’s water system and more than 300 miles north of Los Angeles. 

The Metropolitan’s attorney, Catherine Stites, said that she expects the purchase to ultimately go through and only be delayed a few weeks, according to CBS Sacramento. “We don’t believe it’s a substantive decision,” stated Stites. 

Stites also added that she suspects the courts have delayed the sale in order to give themselves more time to review the hundreds of pages filed as part of the case. 

As we previously reported, San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties filed suit against Metropolitan to block the sale of land, which initially a San Joaquin judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order for. 

According to the Sac Bee, a lawyer for the Central Delta Water Agency, Dante Nomellini, said that the court may require Metropolitan to perform environmental reviews before the purchase can be completed.

Metropolitan officials said that they have not yet formally decided how to use the land, although common speculation surrounds the possible building of $15.7 billion tunnels under the land to move water south into the Metropolitan's supply.

As the debate continues over this popular piece of land, stay with AndNowUKnow as we continue to report on the land’s fate, and that of the Metropolitan Water District’s customers.