San Francisco Chronicle: Rights to California’s most important resource are built on injustice. New legislation seeks to change that
A third bill, SB389, would give the state water board greater authority to investigate the authenticity of senior water rights and strip the rights of those deemed illegitimate. The legislation, authored by Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, flips the burden of proof from the state to the water rights holder, which concerns critics. Water rights dating to 1914 and earlier can be tough to document, and some fear the state water board may be overzealous in its demands for evidence.
