Court of Appeal upholds State Board’s broad power to regulate riparian and pre-1914 appropriative water rights to protect threatened fish
The Third Appellate District in Stanford Vina Ranch Irrigation Co. v. State found that the State Board could promulgate emergency drought regulations and issue curtailment orders necessary to protect threatened fish. While riparian and pre-1914 appropriative water right holders have the highest priority among water right claimants, the court held that those rights must yield to the State Board’s broad authority to regulate reasonable uses of water under article X, section 2 of the California Constitution.