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Sheila Kuehl: Water, water everywhere III: A diversion

Posted by: Maven on December 4, 2009 at 2:20 pm

From former legislator Sheila Kuehl, this third in a series of four essays on the California legislative package:

“In the first essay, I provided an overview of some of the problems created by the legislation, and described the bill affecting the monitoring of groundwater. In the second, I described the central role of the Delta and the bill that crafted a new governance and oversight structure.

This essay presents two more bills: one dealing with water rights, penalties for illegal diversion of water and expenditures authorized from an existing bond, and one dealing with urban water conservation. In the fourth, and last, essay, I will present and analyze the proposed 11.14 billion dollar bond to be placed on the November 2, 2010 ballot.

Who Actually Owns California’s Water?

Although some think water is owned by the companies that sell it and some think it belongs to the federal government, in actuality the fresh water in California belongs to the people of California, and the right to use it is by permit and grant. Use includes “diverting” water from its source and using it personally, or charging others for delivering it. Even the federal government must abide by California water law and must have licenses and permits for use from the State Water Resources Board.

Water rights have been established in different ways throughout the long history of our state. If you had a right to divert and use water before 1914, you still have it, at the same place of diversion and place of use. The City and County of San Francisco had such early rights. The City of Los Angeles had rights to the Owens Valley tributaries. With these early rights, the amount that can be taken is limited by flow rate. For instance, you might be allowed 1,000 cubic feet per second from a particular river from April through August. After 1914, the grants of water rights were more limited and under the thumb of the Water Resources Board. … “

Continue reading this essay at Sheila Kuehl’s website by clicking here.

December 4, 2009 · Filed Under Legislation - State & Federal

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One Response to “Sheila Kuehl: Water, water everywhere III: A diversion”

  1. Solid thinking about our favorite liquid (and that’s not whisky): water essays by Sheila Kuehl « L.A. Creek Freak on January 26th, 2010 3:51 pm

    [...] her website SheilaKuehl.org.  These essays are also findable via other blogs such as Yubanet.com, Aquafornia, and California Progressive .  I highly recommend giving some quality time to these thoughtful [...]

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