California’s Water Bank and the Drought in California - a California Water Law Attorney Conclusion - We’re Dry Out Here

Here in the desert cities of Palm Springs, CA, JoshuaUnder the plan, water purchased from northern
Tree, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Yuccafarmers and water agencies will be shipped south via
Valley, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Twentyninethe State's canals.
Palms, Thermal, Indio, Coachella, La Quinta, Victorville, 
Hesperia, Apple Valley or Barstow, in the somewhatCurrently, there is no end in sight to California's dry
greener areas of Southern California such as Newportconditions. While there is a $9.3 billion plan in the State
Beach, Buena Park, Anaheim, Irvine, Rancholegislature to address the state's delta environmental
Cucamonga, Ontario, Carlsbad, Mission Viejo and inproblems and expand the state's water works, it has
other cities in San Diego,Orange County, Santabeen tied up while the legislators haggled over a
Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Cambria, agricultural areasbudget.
such as the central valley of Fresno and the Imperial 
Valley, the drought in California is a serious problem forA bill to require Californian's to cut water usage by 20
all of us in this State.percent recently passed the Assembly and the bill puts
 the onus on residents as opposed to farmers.
After the driest spring in 88 years, in June 2008 
Governor Schwarzenegger formally declaredIn the midst of this water crisis, an amazing 100 facilities
California to be in a drought and nine counties in theare bottling water in California, using California's
Central Valley to be in a state of emergency afterprecious water supply. An Assembly Bill to measure
two years of below-average rainfall and six dry yearsthe amount of water being bottled is an attempt to
that have killed off fish populations, driven downlearn just how bad the abuse of these water supplies
agricultural land values and required severe reductionsis on top of the pollution and harm to the environment
in water usage in the Central Valley. The declaration,caused by these facilities and the plastic water bottles,
while bad enough, still stops short of a statewidemost of which are not recycled.
water emergency which, if declared, will likely carry 
with it mandatory water rationing.The Department of Public Resources estimates that
 more than 1 billion gallons of bottled water are sold in
Efforts to capture water have been hampered byCalifornia each year. 
evaporation of snow packs due to climate change, but 
snowpack water content this winter was only 67If you have a water law issue in San Diego, Newport
percent of average. California's water shortage wasBeach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland
compounded by a federal court order limiting theEmpire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in
pumping of water from the San Joaquin-SacramentoSouthern California, we have the knowledge and
River Delta to protect a species of fish.resources to be your California Water Lawyer and
 your Santa Barbara Environmental Attorney. Be sure
And so in June 2008 the State of California formed ato hire a California law firm with environmental law
Water Bank to buy water from farmers upstreamexperience who can serve areas such as Los
from the Delta and from local water agencies and toAngeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine,
make it available for sale to public water systems andBeverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona
private water systems who may otherwise run shortdel Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana,
of water next year. Agencies buying the water willRancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San
have to agree to a 20 percent reduction overall inDiego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park,
water usage. It is believed that the Water Bank willLa Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa
stave off mandatory water rationing.Barbara so you are properly represented.