California has ordered Sacramento River Valley, North and South Delta, San Joaquin River watershed and Russian River (upstream of Dry Creek) water agencies and users with post-1914 rights to stop pumping water from streams, a drastic response to the ongoing drought that hasn’t occurred since 1977.
The curtailment notices were imposed by the State Water Resources Control Board late Wednesday through today. They impact water agencies, farms, cities and other property owners with so-called “junior” water rights, or those issued by the state after 1914. In the Sacramento Valley, this includes the American, Feather and Yuba rivers as well as dozens of small streams.
Water cuts on this scale have not been ordered in California since the drought of 1977. Although backup supplies, including groundwater, are available to many who hold junior rights, virtually all of them will be forced to make difficult decisions, such as fallowing significant areas of farmland, David Guy of the Northern California Water Association said.
Still, he said, the state is simply following the law that applies given the drought conditions. “I think the state water board is absolutely justified in issuing these curtailment notices,” Guy said. “This is the way the system is supposed to work.”
A number of water agencies and their attorneys warned state officials at the board workshop last week they could face a “water war” if they move to restrict senior water rights.
“There is no way senior water rights holders are going to share the pain,” said Tim O’Laughlin, an attorney for Oakdale Irrigation District. “We will say no, and then we’ll just go to court and see who’s right about it. Then it’s just going to be a water-rights war.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/29/6441935/state-orders-sacramento-valley.html