Brown: 'Some People Have a Right to More Water Than Others'

Truth Revolt ^ | April 5, 2015 | Trey Sanchez

[QT3.14]

Jerry Brown, Democrat governor of drought-stricken California, appeared Sunday on ABC's This Week and defended his executive actions that placed mandatory water restrictions on citizens but not on the agriculture industry.

"There are farmers who have senior water rights," Brown told guest-host Martha Raddatz. "Some people have a right to more water than others."

Of his own actions, Brown stated:

This executive order is done under emergency power and it has the force of law. Very unusual. And it's requiring action and changes in behavior from the Oregon border all the way to the Mexican border. It affects lawns. It affects people's -- how long they stay in the shower, how businesses use water.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the interesting post Ben. Sounds like you’ve been involved in water distribution at some point. Either that or you’ve studied this subject.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Yeah, this is a BS headline. Water rights law in California is a complicated matter going back to Spanish times. Riparian rights, pre- and post-1914 allocative rights, prescriptive rights, overlying rights, adjudicative rights, etc. Brown is only observing the truth about the law as it stands.

One of the perverse incentives here is the fact that if you don't use your allocated amount of water, you lose the allocation forever. That encourages farmers to grow crops that are already in surplus, causing low prices and qualifying them for federal crop subsidies.

It takes a gallon of water to grow one almond. At the same time, the US pays millions in subsidies to almond growers to encourage growing them.

[SunkenCiv]

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