California farms, cities warned they may lose access to state's creeks, rivers

By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2009 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Thousands of California farms and cities have been warned that their permission to pump water from rivers and creeks could be cut back if the drought worsens.

Such a warning, mailed to about 7,000 water rights holders on Thursday by the state Water Resources Control Board, has not been issued since 1988 amid the state’s last prolonged drought.

The state did not release a list of all cities and farms that will receive the warnings. But state officials said Monday the list includes every city and farm with state water rights in the watersheds of the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Russian rivers as well as the central coast and the Tule Lake region of Lassen County. That would include the city of Sacramento.

For more see: http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1666458.html