4 ms·

Agricultural water is taking a growing percentage of the total in California. They are focing residential people to have to ration

s1artibartfast 4y ago
California has a framework of private water rights. If residential people want more water beyond what they own the rights to, they have to buy it from someone who does. It is really that simple.
- majormajor 4y ago
  If push comes to shove do you think Western US states will let people in population centers run out of water before they would take steps like eminent domain (no idea if this would apply as-is or if it would require new legislation, legal battles, etc) to seize (with compensation) those other water rights?
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    I think it really comes down to what you mean by run out of water. In the past we have seen cities crack down on lawns and pools and car washing in times of drought. I don't see similar measures in the future as far fetched. Nobody is in real threat of dying of thirst as the average household currently consumes around 300k gallons per year. I don't know about other states, but California has already tried several times to implement legislation to take water rights without compensation, and there are tons of lawsuits on the subject, both past and ongoing. Most recent is the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. I don't think they will ever be willing to buy out farmers. They will most likely succeed in taking their water without compensation through persistence. As you see in this thread, there has been several decades of messaging convincing people that that water rights are irrelevant and moral justice should trump the law. the legal system can only push back so long. Buying the farmers out is the polar opposite to this sentiment and expensive, so I think it is extremely unlikely. If this somehow doesn't happen, I think people will eventually give ground on some environmental uses in times of drought. Environmental use is more than ag and cutting a few percent there could easily solve any of residential use constraints with the wave of a pen.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

California has a framework of private water rights. If residential people want more water beyond what they own the rights to, they have to buy it from someone who does. It is really that simple.

majormajor 4y ago
If push comes to shove do you think Western US states will let people in population centers run out of water before they would take steps like eminent domain (no idea if this would apply as-is or if it would require new legislation, legal battles, etc) to seize (with compensation) those other water rights?
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  I think it really comes down to what you mean by run out of water. In the past we have seen cities crack down on lawns and pools and car washing in times of drought. I don't see similar measures in the future as far fetched. Nobody is in real threat of dying of thirst as the average household currently consumes around 300k gallons per year. I don't know about other states, but California has already tried several times to implement legislation to take water rights without compensation, and there are tons of lawsuits on the subject, both past and ongoing. Most recent is the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. I don't think they will ever be willing to buy out farmers. They will most likely succeed in taking their water without compensation through persistence. As you see in this thread, there has been several decades of messaging convincing people that that water rights are irrelevant and moral justice should trump the law. the legal system can only push back so long. Buying the farmers out is the polar opposite to this sentiment and expensive, so I think it is extremely unlikely. If this somehow doesn't happen, I think people will eventually give ground on some environmental uses in times of drought. Environmental use is more than ag and cutting a few percent there could easily solve any of residential use constraints with the wave of a pen.