Rights To Water Engineering, Inc.

I worked 30 years as a bureaucrat, and for the last six years I have owned my own business. That gave me first-hand immersion in working with members of the public, especially water right holders who divert water from various streams in Northern California. When it comes to property rights, owners are intensely interested in getting problems solved, fast and hopefully permanently. ... https://allwaterrights.com//reasoning-with-regulators-ben/

Hiding From The Water Board? Don’t Worry, Get Compliant Are you hiding from the Water Board because your ditch or piped diversion does not yet have a measurement device? Give me a call at (530) 526-0134 you might find some workable answers in a 15-minute conversation that costs nothing. You want to get on with the important things in your life and business, and my mission is to help you by solving diverters’ headaches to provide peace of mind, and help stay out of troubl...Continue reading

Do something wrong, rather than nothing at all. Have you ever heard that before? I have heard it from Army veterans, a boss, even an elder of a church. George Patton said, "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." A non-military way to say that is, "A poor plan now is better than no plan at all."... https://allwaterrights.com//do-something-wrong-instead-of/

No Record Of Water Right, Or Split? File Initial Statement What do you do if your water right has never been recorded with the State Water Resources Control Board? Or, if your property was split from a larger farm or ranch, and you are handling your smaller water right on your own? After all, every water right has to be filed with the Water Board, except most of those that are uniquely listed in Superior Court Decrees. This is true regardless of whether the water right is ...Continue reading

How is a staff gage installed in a reservoir? The typical way is to drive a piece of 2" galvanized pipe into the ground, deep enough to so it isn't easy to push over. If cattle will be in the reservoir to get water, then the pipe needs to be really well installed. A gas-powered post pounder can be rented at Rental Guys, Home Depot, or similar places.... https://allwaterrights.com//installing-reservoir-staff-ga/

Do you dread dealing with the government? Are you struggling to get bureaucrats to listen? Is it impossible to reach the person who knows how you can solve your problem? Check out the post https://allwaterrights.com//working-with-regulators-deali/ , which will have an update posted in the next few weeks!

For all you pond owners in Northern California, you know that the Water Board wants ponds larger than 10 acre-feet to report storage and change in storage. If you do not already have an elevation-storage table, how do you get one? I will have a post on my blog in the next couple of weeks explaining how you can do this yourself if the pond is not too large.

Water rights in California are complicated. To simplify it, there are 2 major classes of rights: riparian and appropriative. Getting more complicated, both may be scooped up in a decree and made essentially the same by court order. Another layer of complexity is that the Legislature may, and does, pass laws that affect water rights 150 years old, and some that preceded Statehood! Then, there are multiple responsible agencies, and the main one, the State Water Resources Co...ntrol Board, tracks very few of the thousands of court decreed rights, and only some of the riparian rights. It seems like every water right should be summed up in a uniform way, doesn't it? That's where water rights reports come in. In December 2015, I wrote about the Williamsons, owners of undeveloped property near Cow Creek in Shasta County. They wanted to know what their water right is. They asked around, and decided their best route was to work with Rights To Water Engineering. In a few days, and at a lower cost than seeing an attorney, they had a report explaining their water right, how much of their property it covers, where their diversion is, and other important information from the South Cow Creek Decree. https://allwaterrights.com//how-to-divide-up-a-decreed-wa/ https://allwaterrights.com//how-to-divide-up-a-decreed-wa/ So, what does their report look like? Most of it is shown in the posts above, but the report is not. Here is the link for the entire 14-page report: https://drive.google.com/open How are people supposed to figure out their water rights, certify measurement devices, measure their diversions, and report amounts to the Water Board? That is what I do for a living: help you get rid of headaches, upset, and trouble, to comply with State law, make sure you know your water right, and measure and report your diversions. The phone call is free to discuss your needs, (530) 526-0134, and email is also free at [email protected].

Do you have a water right over 0.4 cfs (180 gpm)? Does your ditch or pipeline have an accurate measurement device? If not, now is the time to get them installed! Irrigation is done or winding down, harvests are starting, and the weather is great for access on dirt roads. Why bother? The Water Board will fine noncompliant diverters $500/day, for rights over~ 4 cfs (1.4 cfs year round), after the deadline of January 1, 2017. For rights over ~0.4 cfs, (0.14 cfs year-ro...und), $500/day fines will be assessed after the deadline of July 1, 2017. What should you install? The two easiest and least expensive options are 1) Briggs prefabricated concrete weir, and 2) EZ-Ramp sheet-metal flume. 1) The weir is heavy, tough, and inexpensive, and after a 2- to 3-hour install with a backhoe, can accurately measure up to around 6 cfs, or double that with side-by-side installations. 2) The flumes come disassembled, and are easily assembled on-site. The sizes of 3.5 to 20 cfs range from 62 to 400 lbs., and can be installed in a few hours. on a concrete pad or railroad ties. The smaller sizes can be installed by hand in a narrow ditch section! What about data recording devices? For pipelines, the choices are clear and can be bolted on or strapped on. For weirs, orifices, and flumes, water level loggers record data as often as needed, and equations are used to easily convert levels to flows. If you are somewhat comfortable with electronics, you might put together your own Vegetronix/AquaPlumb setup for $700 and several hours of your time, as shown by rancher Frank Crowe at https://allwaterrights.com//how-do-you-record-diversions-/. The nearly bulletproof option is the PMC Versaline (see at same blog post), which at $1,700 installed, is sealed, designed for rough environments, and made to drop in the pipe - set it and forget it. Clear options, well-understood devices, that can have you compliant with a week or two for delivery, and a day to install. That's easy! See more

About 1,800 diverters, mostly individuals, may be fined ** $500/DAY ** starting September 25. Why? The State Water Resources Control Board does not have their 2015 report of monthly diversions. There is a list of who hasn't filed yet. Who? http://www.waterboards.ca.gov//e/docs/plftf2015_091516.pdf... Reporting online is hard for people (likely more than half the 1,800 remaining) who never got the Water Board's letter for one reason or another - owner changed, address changed, the land under the permit or license subdivided, the Board sent it to the wrong address. If you or your neighbor, there is a way to comply quickly. How? https://allwaterrights.com//get-up-to-date-with-the-water/ If you or someone you know is on the list, CALL the Board to let them know you are working on it! Where? Paul Wells at (916) 323-5195 or [email protected] Kathy Mrowka, at (916) 341-5363 or [email protected] When? ASAP!! Call me if you have a question or need help.