In this episode, we've got the ever-talented Marty Dunlap back on the Water Table to discuss water rights in California. This episode is a follow up on the first episode with Don Hankins, where we explored Indigenous Water Rights, which is simply an idea and not a reality of water allocation in California.
In California, there are five basic types of water rights:
Pueblo Water Rights: California cities that are successors of Mexican or Spanish settlements have the right to all naturally occurring surface and subsurface water from the entire watershed of the stream flowing through the original pueblo.
Riparian Water Rights: A property that abuts a waterway maintains the right to use the water from that waterway on the property.
Appropriative Rights: Water can be diverted and appropriated downstream of the diversion.
Pre-1914 Appropriative Rights: Appropriative rights that existed before the Water Commission Act formed a state agency (now the State Water Resources Control Board) to allocate the water.
Post-1914 Appropriative Rights: Often referred to as junior water rights. Water rights obtained via permit from the State, after 1914.
Adjudicated Water Rights: In many surface and groundwater basins across the state, water rights disputes have resulted in legal battles. These basins and waterways are considered adjudicated by the court, and each basin has a water right decree which details the water rights distribution for that basin.
Overlying Water Rights: Landowners have the overlying rights to use groundwater beneath their parcel.
Marty Dunlap is the founder of the Citizen's Water Watch of Northern California, where people who have assumed a leadership role in providing an environmental voice for both surface and groundwater in the region can come together. The purpose of the group is to meet and discuss emerging issues and formulate strategic approaches in providing a clear and strong voice on behalf of the public regarding projects that impact the water resources of Northern California. Marty pursued a degree in law during her career at Butte College where she coordinated testing for entering students and generated statistical data on student performance and outcomes. She entered the field of law with the desire to utilize her counseling background in mediating the conversation about providing protection to the earth and its resources. She now focusses on protecting the waters of Northern California.
Resources:
A Primer on Water Rights in California, Sawyers, Gregory
Adjudicated Groundwater Basin Mapper, California Department of Water Resources
Appropriative Water Rights, Aquapedia
Riparian Rights, Aquapedia
Summary of California Water Rights, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Water Rights in California, Aquapedia
