Senior Water Rights Curtailed In California’s Delta, San Joaquin, And Sacramento Watersheds
June 16, 2015 
Wikimedia Commons
Growers in the San Joaquin and Sacramento watersheds and the surrounding delta have been asked to stop diversions of water by the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). This curtailment applies to senior water rights holders from 1903 or later.
Notices have been sent to these water rights holders to stop diversions of water and release previously-stored water. Violations are subject to fines up to $1,000 per day and $2,500 per acre-foot of water unlawfully diverted.
According to the news release from the State Water Board this is the first time during the current drought that senior rights holders have had their water rights curtailed.
“It is not unprecedented,” says the release. “Some senior water right holders were curtailed during the drought of the late 1970s.”
Water Rights Affected by This Notice
This curtailment notices affect 276 pre-1914 appropriative water rights held by 114 rights holders. This notice does not affect any riparian right holders. The water rights affected include:
- Sacramento River: 127 water rights with a priority date of 1903 or later are curtailed, affecting water rights held by 86 right
- San Joaquin River: 24 water rights with a priority date of 1903 or later are curtailed, affecting water rights held by 14 right
- Delta: 125 water rights with a priority date of 1903 or later are curtailed, affecting water rights held by 14 right
Uses To Be Curtailed
The following uses are listed for the pre-1914 water rights affected by today’s notices:
- 135 water rights held by 53 right holders for irrigation, stockwatering, and/or livestock as the sole water use; and
- 208 water rights held by 80 right holders for irrigation, stockwatering, or livestock as at least one of the claimed water
“Conditions in these and other watersheds continue to be monitored, and curtailment notices for other watersheds and for more senior water right holders in these watersheds may be imminent,” says the release.
This curtailment comes after the State Water Board approved a proposal from riparian water rights holders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to voluntarily cut back water use in exchange for assurances they would not face enforcement actions in the event their riparian water rights would be curtailed more severely during the June-September growing season.
Along with the newest restrictions, a total of 8,721 junior water rights and 276 senior water rights holders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River watersheds and delta have been curtailed.
To learn more about the state’s drought response, visit Drought.CA.Gov.
Source: California Water Resources Control Board news release
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