For more than a decade the Sacramento Valley Water Quality Coalition (Coalition) has brought together farmers, ranchers, wetlands managers, conservation organizations, water resources managers, resource conservation districts and Agricultural Commissioners to implement a “Regional Plan for Action” that focuses on improving surface water quality…

Over the past several years there have been reoccurring claims that California’s water rights are over-appropriated and that the water rights system does not work. This erroneous claim is made by those who simply add up all of the water rights maintained by the State Water Resources Control Board and state that they total more than the available water supplies in the state and therefore they are over-appropriated.

In California we are blessed with a stunning geography and 39 million people who depend on and enjoy this landscape every day. This geography depends upon water to support every part of the state. The attached info-graphic shows how water is used in California during an average year. Importantly, we dedicate water in California to all of these purposes, with nearly 49 percent for the aquatic environment, 41 percent to produce food and clothing that are an integral part of our everyday life, and about 10 percent for our amazing cities and urban landscapes.