On Wednesday this week Governor Jerry Brown imposed mandatory water restrictions for the first time in California's history in order to reduce water usage in the US state by 25% from what was being used in 2013. This percentage equates to about 1.5 million acre-feet of water (an acre foot of water equals about 325,000 gallons). The reduction target is to be met over the next nine months.

The governor said he would hope not to have to use penalties to enforce the restrictions but that this was an option if reduction targets were not being met. The policy will be enforced in different ways in different communities, taking into account the fact that some communities are already doing more than others to reduce their water usage.

Farmers selling water to make a profit

According to local media reports, farmers in the Sacramento valley region of California have begun selling their water rights to Southern California. This is despite the Sacramento region being as badly affected by the drought as other parts of the US state. However, for some farmers, selling their water rights means making more of a profit than if they were to plant their fields.

Also, as one farmer, Charlie Mathews, a fourth generation rice farmer with senior rights to Yuba River water, told CBS San Francisco, “In the long term, if we don’t make it available we’re afraid they’ll just take it.”

He and his fellow growers have agreed to sell 20% of their allotment to Los Angeles’s Metropolitan Water District as it desperately searches to add to its dwindling supply.

But the real news is how much Southern California is willing to pay for the water - $700 (€650) per acre foot of the stuff.

So it's clear how farmers will make more of a profit from selling their water than from planting their fields this spring.

"It’s much more than we ever expected to get," said Mathews. "But at the same time, that just shows the desperation of the people that need it.”

Legal challenge

Local media have also reported on a legal challenge brought against the sale of water by the non-profit group AquAlliance. Barbara Vlamis, director of the group, says that California has neglected its groundwater and that the transfer of water puts an added stress on the groundwater basin.

"In the last year alone, there have been wells in Glenn County that have dropped 32 feet. Nineteen feet in Butte County," Vlamis said.

Groundwater is defined by the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as water stored in aquifers. This water is used in America for a variety of purposes like drinking water and laundry.

According to a recent study carried out by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, California is currently using groundwater for 31% of its water needs and this is due to increase to 55%.

Vlamis believes the state and federal agencies in America don't understand the impact that water transfers can have, due to the fact that groundwater in California isn't regulated. There are now fears in California, compounded by a recent US Geological Survey, that aquifers could go dry, which could lead to a loss of valuable water reserves.

The need to preserve valuable reserve water supplies pitted against the desire of farmers to sell their rights means that both sides have much riding on the outcome of the legal challenge.

The future of the Californian drought

California is currently in the fourth year of the worst drought in its history.

Research from UC Davis has projected that the Californian drought will continue not only through 2015 but also into 2016. This is regardless of El Niño conditions that may bring wetter weather to the area. The research predicts that if this happens, “surface water availability [will reduce by] approximately six million acre-feet a year.”

Read more

US to face decade-long droughts, a new study predicts