Sacramento Legislators want to completely change the water rights system in California.
Two bills are moving through the legislature that would be dangerous not only to farmers and ranchers but to any Californian.
AB 460 (Bauer-Kahan) gives the State Water Resources Control Board new powers to immediately stop farmers and ranchers from using water if the board receives a complaint from any person or organization about their water diversions. This bill strips due process in the court system from farmers, ranchers, and other water diverters when their water use is challenged.
AB 1337 (Wicks) increases the State Water Resources Control Board’s power to limit how much water farmers and ranchers can use even when California isn’t in a drought; this would also apply to pre-1914 and riparian water rights holders.
These bills are opposed by every major agriculture, farming, or water group in California, along with most water utilities in every legislator’s district because of their potential to hurt major drivers of California’s economic engine.
Directions
Write to the your Senator to tell them to vote “NO” on these bills that endanger our water supply certainty. Ask them to protect California’s water supply.
