Reservoir within an almond orchard that is filled by a well.
There are always a lot of questions regarding California’s water Policy. These usually stem from the way water rights were established and the complication of Federal, State, Municipal, and Local water projects. Furthermore, there is no “one size fits all” policy.
There are a lot of good resources covering the subject of CA’s water rights. The Public Policy Institute of California has a lot of good resources that explain water policy. Most of these have contributions from University researchers. A good, more “reader-friendly” resource is “Cadillac Desert” a book written in 1986 by author Marc Reisner, and more recently and briefly, a recent article published by the Fresno Bee.
An important question that stems from all of this discussion is: “Why do we have water rights?” The short answer is that it is all about consistency. When in irrigated agriculture, if the source of irrigation is always in flux, decisions on when and what to plant would be harder to make. By securing these rights, it ensures that the water that was delivered in the previous year will also be delivered in future years, allowing for crop plans to be created. Farm sustainability within California would not be possible without a system of “water rights.” Continue reading
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