SLO County restricts water use, promotes selling rights
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is considering giving farmers the choice between planting crops or selling their water rights. It’s a move that could pay off for a group of large, wealthy landowners. The move came after supervisors reversed an ordinance allowing farmers who quit growing during the previous drought to plant crops Large landowners spent more than a decade promoting water restrictions, banking and sales as the California drought reduced the amount of water available to farmers. Many of the larger landowners planted crops before a restrictive water use ordinance went into effect. That locked in their water rights and increased the value of their land.