Calif. senior rights holders could be next to lose water

Like many of his fellow California farmers and ranchers, Bruce Miller is worried about his water rights. Miller, owner of Miller Ranch in Shingletown, Calif., draws water from a nearby creek and stream with rights issued before 1914, when the state passed legislation that formalized its surface water permit system. He says he received a notice that the State Water Resources Control Board, which has issued stop-diversion orders to junior rights holders throughout the Central Valley, may consider curtailing senior and riparian rights, too, amid California’s crippling drought. “That’s my major concern,” Miller said. “It says that curtailment is not an issue ‘at this time’, but knowing the state and the seriousness of the drought, I’m concerned.” Miller was one of more than 100 landowners who attended a meeting here June 11 to discuss the possible loss of their water rights. Local Farm Bureau and cattlemen’s groups called the meeting after growers throughout the region received letters informing them that their ability to divert from local creeks and streams could be in jeopardy...more