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Watermaster Program Program Overview The Watermaster Program's purpose is to ensure that water is distributed according to established water rights as determined by court adjudications. The program was established in 1924 after many injuries and even some deaths had resulted from disputes over water rights. With the program, water rights litigation, civil lawsuits, and law enforcement workload have been reduced or made unnecessary. It has also helped in preventing the waste or unreasonable use of water. The Department of Water Resources provides Watermaster service for a number of stream systems in Northern California and for two groundwater basins in Southern California. The Department's obligation and authority and the procedures for administering the program are described in Sections 4000-4400 of the California Water Code. Southern District Activities In the Southern District, the Watermaster Service is focused on the West Coast and Central Groundwater Basins, which supply water for some of the most heavily urbanized areas within Los Angeles County. A total of 43 incorporated cities--including Long Beach, Inglewood, Whittier, Norwalk, and parts of Los Angeles--receive water from these two basins. Total population is an estimated 3.5 million and assessed valuation is more than $175 billion. Adjudication of the groundwater rights in the West Coast Basin was established by the Superior Court in 1955 and the Department of Water Resources appointed Watermaster. Similar action took place in the Central Basin in 1962. Watermaster Responsibilities The Watermaster is required not only to administer the controls prescribed by the judgments, but also to report annually to the Court and the parties to the judgment on significant groundwater-related events that take place in the basins. The parties are municipalities, individuals, private companies, and water districts. The Watermaster's annual report includes water management activities that affect the use of groundwater such as those dealing with in-lieu replenishment, the sea water intrusion barriers, the desalter project, and the water recycling program. Once a month, every party reports to the Watermaster the amount pumped that month. The Watermaster then computes the amounts pumped during the current fiscal year and the amount that can legally be pumped the remainder of the year and each month mails a copy of the monthly water extraction report to all parties. The judgments also enable those parties without access to imported supplies to obtain supplemental water through an exchange pool, which the Watermaster administers. Because accurate measurement of groundwater extractions is absolutely necessary for the success of the basins' management plans, the Watermaster field staff schedules tests to determine the accuracy of the water meter on every active well at least once every two years. All available means, including system efficiency tests, are used to confirm the water meter test results. The field staff also conducts semiannual groundwater level measurements in the West Coast Basin. In addition, the Watermaster works with advisory/management boards in the basins to review activities such as delinquent accounts, drought responses, and proposed amendments to the judgments. The Watermaster also records water rights sales and leases between parties and maintains successor lists. . |
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For further information, contact: Milan Cernosek |
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Copyright © 1998. California Department of Water Resources. All rights reserved. |