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Opinion: Speaker: Government Control Creeping Ever Further Into Water Rights

In a fast-paced trip through the evolution of California’s water rights, attorney Valerie Kincaid explained how the system has gone from the “wild, wild west” to one pervaded by ever greater government creep.

By expanding its authorities under what had been thought of as several limited court decisions, state government is now essentially dictating operations on several watersheds, has ignored priority rights and is on the verge of amassing even more control under the guise of “modernization,” Kincaid told a packed room during a Water Association of Kern County luncheon on Tuesday the Water Board.

Lawmakers Call on Kern Stakeholders to Engage on Water Investment

Farmers and water managers may need to do more to engage with lawmakers from outside the Central Valley before the state Legislature can be persuaded to make important investments in water storage and other infrastructure projects, members of Kern’s Sacramento delegation told an audience Tuesday of the Water Association of Kern County.

Kern County Water Industry is Ready to Discuss Water Concerns with President Trump

Water is essential for survival.

It’s just as true for you and me as it is for the Ag community of Kern County, which depends on water to grow all of its crops.

According to Gene Lundquist, president of the Water Association of Kern County, we use more than two million acre-feet to grow what feeds the entire country.

“We cannot do anything here in Kern County without water,” he said.

Lundquist said most of the water we use is groundwater.

The second-largest source is the state water project water, which comes from the California aqueduct.