Officials worried that Fresno water district may want to shift Shasta County water rights south

[XemaSab]

Some Shasta County officials are worried that a Fresno-area water district may ask to annex almost 3,000 acres it owns along the McCloud River — a possible move to shift the water rights hundreds of miles south.

The issue will be discussed this morning at the Shasta Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) meeting.

So far, no annexation proposal has been filed by the Westlands Water District, Shasta LAFCO Executive Officer Amy Mickelson said. Westlands, the largest water district in the nation, includes farmland in western Fresno County and Kings County.

But both she and LAFCO Commissioner Irwin Fust said they and others wonder if annexation would enable Westlands to claim area-of-origin water rights for its farmers hundreds of miles away.


http://www.redding.com/news/2009/apr/02/officials-worried-that-fresno-water-district-may/

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The part that's really scary about this is that the biggest snag to enlarging Shasta Dam is the drowning out of the McCloud River, which is possibly the best wild trout fishery in the state. Westlands bought the Bollibokka Club in order to gain private control of the river and squelch dissent. That's not the worst part, though. Somehow Westlands became the lead state agency on the project! Their job is now making sure the project is in compliance with all applicable state environmental laws! Like, can you say conflict of interest?