It’s time to fix California's dysfunctional water system!

California’s current water rights laws allow a select group of “senior” water rights holders to have highest priority and to pay far less to take water from our rivers to irrigate their farms than almost every California resident pays for water to drink. State leaders must take action to reform our water rights system to reflect current climate priorities and to protect the public good.

Send a message telling California lawmakers to reform our water system and put people over profits for unsustainable agricultural businesses.

Tell lawmakers to reform California’s inequitable water system and stand up to powerful entrenched interests.

European immigrants who settled in California in the late 1800s and early 1900s used genocide, land seizures, and political manipulation to systematically exclude Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, and other people of color from claiming and owning water rights. Today, agricultural businesses whose rights flow from those European immigrants are considered “senior” water rights holders. That means their industrial farms are privileged with first dibs on our scarce water resources at dramatically reduced rates due to their historical precedent.

Industrial farms with inherited water rights receive six times the amount of water used by the City of Los Angeles while paying close to nothing.

Our state leaders cannot continue to allow unsustainable agricultural businesses, who gained their preferential status as a result of California’s violent and racist history, to have the highest priority for and to pay far less for water from our rivers to irrigate their farms than almost every California resident pays for water to drink.

Tell lawmakers to reform California’s inequitable water system and stand up to powerful entrenched big agriculture interests.

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Your Message

Subject Urging you to reform California’s water rights system

Dear California Lawmakers:

Message Body

I urge you to reform our antiquated water system and prioritize water for residents and for the shared environment over water for industrial farms and other so-called “senior” water rights holders.

California boasts of having progressive water laws, but the system which protects “senior” water rights holders has caused inequities which can be felt by nearly all Californians.  In our current drought, while most cities faced severe cutbacks in water deliveries, and some communities ran out of drinking water entirely, many “senior” water rights holders received more water than the entire natural flow of the river that supplies them. In 2022, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) charged its urban water district customers, including the City of Los Angeles, nearly 40 times the cost paid by “senior” water rights holders for untreated water. The Westlands Water District charged its domestic water customers over 20 times the cost paid by “senior” water rights holders.

It is simply untrue that “senior” water rights holders' hold immutable and unquestionable rights and that nothing can be done to reduce or affect their water use. A fundamental restriction written into California’s constitution states all water must be used reasonably, a concept that changes over time to reflect the changing reality of “environmental, social, hydrologic, economic, and technological conditions.” What was a “reasonable” use of water in 1900 California is certainly extremely different from a reasonable use of water in 2023 California.

California has the laws on the books to reform our water rights system to reflect current priorities and to protect the public good. But it requires our state leaders to enforce those laws, reform unsustainable water contracts, collect data for transparency, and to stand up to powerful entrenched interests

You cannot continue to allow unsustainable agricultural businesses, who gained their preferential status via California’s violent and racist history, to pay far less to take water from our rivers to irrigate their farms than almost every California resident pays for drinking water.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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