California water war puts private property rights at risk

[Geee]

Watchdog.org:

Santa Barbara County is one of the wealthiest areas in California, but when it comes to water, the residents are just like anyone else in the state — wondering if the day will come when nothing flows out of the tap.

 

California is in its fifth year of an historic drought with mandated state and local water cutbacks to avoid rationing. So when the county’s Goleta Water District discovered that a neighboring ranch was planning on drawing water out of its underground aquifers to benefit one of the area’s many celebrity enclaves, things got testy.

 

The district says a 2008 study determined that bedrock containing its groundwater is linked through crevices to Slippery Rock Ranch three miles away. Slippery Rock says it has studies of its own showing that is not the case.