California Laws Restrict Groundwater Use On Private Land

“With the stroke of his pen, the Governor changed over 100 years of water laws – without the people’s input. This is not the democracy Californians deserve.” – State Senator Jim Nielsen

I have recently moved back to Northern Ca and I was delighted to know that I wouldn't have to worry about paying a water bill .

My land sits on a huge well at the end of a river table ,my self and 3 of my neighbors share the same well.

The main pump is in my backyard running of my electricity that feeds the other 3 house's . I don't mind paying for the extra electricity for them to use the well , No big deal .

However , Today while comming back from taking a morning swim in the local river I got to talking to a local about water and how I am happy that I am not part of the whole "water meter" racket.

That was short lived ,he informed me that they were going to start putting meters on well water !!!!!

My jaw dropped , So I thanked him for enlightening me and headed home to do my research.

My day got even better ! *sarcasm off*

In the midst of drought and heightened overdrafting problems, California passed legislation allowing the state to control and regulate the use of groundwater on privately-owned land. Citizens, previously free to use whatever water was underneath their own land, are now preparing to challenge this governmental undermining of their property rights in court.

Now that landowners will no longer have full rights to the water underneath their own property, the state will have the final say on how much groundwater should be used – complete with power to enforce via fines and fees.

Furthermore.

The new laws will create agencies to function as “water police.” Landowners will be required to register wells on their property, which will be monitored with water meters and subject to inspections without consent. If they don’t comply with standards set by faceless bureaucrats, they’ll be subject to penalties or even have their wells shut down.

Restrictions could seriously affect local farmers who use groundwater to grow crops and feed livestock, not to mention use in their own homes. These same farmers produce a considerable percentage of the nation’s produce. Increased regulation may also negatively affect land value.

And of course .

The state legislature apparently didn’t trust the public enough to include them in deliberations. Perhaps they feared the public wouldn’t support new measures which will likely intensify existing regional water tensions, pitting “the little guys against the big boys.” The new regulations also conveniently exempt “the largest consuming counties like Los Angeles and their basins.”

The bills were “hastily cobbled together without regard to historical legal precedent and private property water rights,” says Nielsen. Yet, Governor Jerry Brown signed them anyway.

The legislation will go into effect on January 1, 2015, and lawsuits are sure to follow.

Whelp , at this point I stopped reading and decided to post this on ATS .

Ill do some more research on this later but for not I must continue with my planned day , inform my neighbors and urge them to do their homework on this .

you can read more Here
Your thoughts ?

Kap.

a reply to: Kapusta

can you post a link, please? your url isn't working.

Thanks!

For me if I did not want to deal with overregulation I would not move back to California .


A quick question for you though is are there any regulations on cisterns and rainwater ?

originally posted by: Greathouse
For me if I did not want to deal with overregulation I would not move back to California .


A quick question for you though is are there any regulations on cisterns and rainwater ?

You know I am not sure ill have to look into it , But oddly enough my sister was telling me that their are restrictions on collecting rain water . I am not sure though if that applies to CA .

once you realize the true agenda of the elite and those in power, you stop saying wtf, and everything becomes clear.

all they want, is to put systems and railways in place which funnel money, property, and resources away from citizens and into their hands.

a reply to: Kapusta

The article quoted is from 9. 2014 and the law eff. 1.1.15. We have had no concerns here as of this post.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: Kapusta

can you post a link, please? your url isn't working.

Thanks!

My Apologies.

Fixed .

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: Kapusta

The article quoted is from 9. 2014 and the law eff. 1.1.15. We have had no concerns here as of this post.

Yes I understand that.

I just recently found out , we have not had heard anything about this up until today , better to inform people who are in the same situation as my self right ?

a reply to: Kapusta

Before crucifying California I think people should understand how water rights work there. Its a seniority based system so the higher up the ladder the more water you can use without problems. The seniority system applies to farmers and not businesses. Water restrictions have been put in place across the board with the exception of the farmers. When the California legislature was putting together legislation to force a reduction in their water use they got together and voluntarily came up with a reduction so the law would not be needed.

A company that uses municipal water sources to make bottle water is just as bad as a farmer growing a monsoon crop in an area that does not receive monsoon rainfall.

There are plenty of people to blame for this and its not entirely the fault of the government. We knew this was coming and did nothing to prevent it.

The infrastructure is leaking and we knew but did nothing.
We knew there was not enough water for some of the crops people are growing and did nothing.
We have the ability for desalinization plants and did nothing to implement construction.

We are all to blame.

a reply to: Xcathdra

how can we be to blame when "we" had no knowledge of it ?

Just saying I had no prior knowledge of any of it .

a reply to: Kapusta

I read crap like this about California and of course, the first question that comes to mind is "why is any one left in California"?

But now I realize the real thrust of these property rights confiscation laws....its about who is in California. The Government of California is basically saying, "if you can't afford our regulations, get the h..l out of California".

In a way, it makes sense. Only the 1% will be left in California and of course their servant class and a few "civil servants". I seem to recall that mayors of several recently bankrupted California municipalities were found to have been payed millions for their services.

Good luck. you might want to pack your bags however.

originally posted by: Kapusta
a reply to: Xcathdra

how can we be to blame when "we" had no knowledge of it ?

Just saying I had no prior knowledge of any of it .

Its been a topic of conversation for many years now. I don't live anywhere close to California and I knew about it. In this case I am not sure ignorance is a valid defense. Don't get me wrong im not attacking you so please don't take it that way. Water resources and lack of it is not just a California issue.

a reply to: Kapusta

If at all possible, I'd move. Seriously. Though, this could happen anyplace. You folks in Cali need to become very vocal and fight this nonsense. Fight it hard and fast. They control water, they control everything. Literally. No water, no life. How long before water is denied to any that don't obey the current party line? It's coming.

a reply to: TonyS

I have to ask..

Why do people have issues with companies using the amounts of water they do (considering they pay for it) while taking issues with the government over water?

Before we delve into the government taking water from people on private property maybe we shouldlook at the laws that govern mineral / resources rights in California.

originally posted by: Xcathdra

originally posted by: Kapusta
a reply to: Xcathdra

how can we be to blame when "we" had no knowledge of it ?

Just saying I had no prior knowledge of any of it .

Its been a topic of conversation for many years now. I don't live anywhere close to California and I knew about it. In this case I am not sure ignorance is a valid defense. Don't get me wrong im not attacking you so please don't take it that way. Water resources and lack of it is not just a California issue.

Many years ago I would never have thought I would be living off a well.

I think "we the people" are powerless against this at this point unfortunately .

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
a reply to: Kapusta

If at all possible, I'd move. Seriously. Though, this could happen anyplace. You folks in Cali need to become very vocal and fight this nonsense. Fight it hard and fast. They control water, they control everything. Literally. No water, no life. How long before water is denied to any that don't obey the current party line? It's coming.

in all fairness ,easier said than done . I mean if I had prior knowledge of this I would have been proactive .

but as you read in the clipping they tried to keep it "hush hush "

With El Niño expected to bring some drought relief for California later in the year, I doubt the state and local governments will be enforcing some of the more extreme legislative code in this bill.

El Niño has already swamped Texas and New Mexico with monsoon flooding.

They would need to treat everybody the same in the eyes of the law.
It would be quite expensive to hunt down and put meters on every well in your local jurisdiction.

The 1.28 gallon toilets are not optimized for some leech beds and tanks. Plenty of toilets for sale with free shipping on Ebay. There are no reporting requirements for toilet purchases in UT that I am aware of.

The world has known since 1980 that water rights would eventually become more valuable that oil. That was predicted to be around 2013. There are systems that can be used to purify water at industrial scale amounts; desalination plants, osmosis/membrane filters. But that required billions of pounds of investment and shareholders of utility companies didn't want reduced profits, nor did the politicians want to cut funding to their pet projects.

Now California is in the situation that they need exports to pay for social security otherwise there would be riots. And the only way that can get those exports is to sell items that require water for manufacturing. So those industries get priority.

I do wonder if those exports aren't just exporting the water from what is essentially a self-contained microclimate?

Link to Cali State Water Resources Control Board. Lots of legal stuff with water.

originally posted by: Kapusta
a reply to: Xcathdra

how can we be to blame when "we" had no knowledge of it ?

Just saying I had no prior knowledge of any of it .

Who doesn't know that California is suffering a huge drought over the last 4 years!? I live in Canada and this is common knowledge.

To have water regulations and restrictions is good. Another step they should be doing is attracting more businesses that aren't so dependant on water. As stated earlier, monsoon crops are not viable there. If they allow companies to bottle water, they should be on the hook for desalinization plants or at least put the taxes (if they pay any) to that use.

Oceanfront property should not be running out of water....