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Seniority rules in the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors suit

Posted by: Maven on May 10, 2009 at 6:48 am

From the Chico Enterprise Record:

A legal battle for Sacramento River Settlement Contractors reached a conclusion recently when a judge ruled that water users with water rights that pre-date the Shasta Dam and Central Valley Project have the right to continue to receive water deals originally negotiated in the 1960s. These contracts cover about 440,000 acres of land along the Sacramento River, from Redding to Sacramento, for about 2 million acre-feet of water.

One acre-foot of water equal 325,851 gallons, about the amount of water for two average California households for a year.

The ruling affects 145 Sacramento River Settlement Contractors, including Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, smaller districts including Princeton-Codora-Glenn Irrigation District and Provident Irrigation District, Butte Creek Farms, Maxwell Irrigation District, Meridian Farms Water Co., Reclamation District 108, as well as water for various corporations, partnership and even individuals with water rights as low as 10 acre-feet.

These rights were established before the Central Valley Project was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to store and transport water throughout the state.

Read more from the Chico Enterprise Record by clicking here.

May 10, 2009 · Filed Under Northern California

Comments

One Response to “Seniority rules in the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors suit”

  1. dfb on May 10th, 2009 3:38 pm

    Even then, do not expect the environmentalists to give up. There are at least three very good arguments I can think of that they can make in state and federal court to force renegotiation of the contracts. The one I think most likely is an argument to the State Water Resources Control Board, and then in state court. They will argue that there is unreasonable use of water. That although these water rights contractors do have a right to a certain allotment, the contracts do not require the water districts and users to take certain steps such as concrete lined ditches or pipes that will prevent seepage. This is not far removed from some arguments made about farmers and water districts south of the delta.

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