The State Water Resources Board proposed a $1.5 million fine against the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District in northern California for “unauthorized diversion and use of water,” the first such action against a senior rights holder, reports the Los Angeles Times. The control board says the district drew water for two weeks in June after being told it was not entitled to.
Byron-Bethany, based in Tracy, primarily serves farmers but customers also include the 12,000-resident suburb of Mountain House, which had no other source of water. Mountain House officials agreed last month to indemnify the irrigation district if it kept the water flowing, said the Sacramento Bee. Since then, the community purchased a six-month supply of water from another district.
The West Side Irrigation District and Byron-Bethany “are among those suing the water board, challenging its authority to curtail their water rights,” said the Bee. Both are senior rights holders, pre-dating 1914 when the state originated a water rights system. Last week, the control board filed a complaint against West Side for unauthorized diversion of water.
The Del Puerto Water District near Modesto in the Central Valley plans to buy wastewater after it passes through the city’s treatment plant, says NPR. “It won’t be drinking-water quality, but according to state standards it will be clean enough to use on crops.” Farmers would pay four or five times the normal price for water but they are willing to bear the price because the drought has dried up other sources.