SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The fate of Southern California's water supply is in the hands of a Sacramento judge.

U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/UrQcbY ) says Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly heard final arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit over a 2003 deal on how water agencies share supplies from the Colorado River.

Imperial County authorities claim regional water brokers skirted environmental laws to obtain the hard-fought agreement, which limited the amount of water California can draw from the river and called for the farming region of Imperial Valley to sell water to San Diego.

Critics say the deal could hasten the shrinking of the Salton Sea, an inland lake in Imperial Valley.

The judge could order new environmental studies or even toss out the entire agreement. A decision is expected later this year.

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Information from: U-T San Diego, http://www.utsandiego.com

Copyright 2012 The AP.