Water Rights 101: Permit Timeframes and Public Transparency

‍Water rights in California can be complicated. As a part of the Delta Conveyance Project, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) filed a petition with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) in February 2024 to “change the point of diversion” (CPOD) by adding two new intake locations. DWR has created this Water Rights 101 blog to provide important information, facts and context to help Californians better understand the water rights system, the regulatory processes involved, and specifics about the Delta Conveyance Project’s petition. The blog will be updated as the CPOD process proceeds.

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Construction is an inherent part of the process

Why did DWR request a minor change to its CPOD petition?

The Delta Conveyance Project involves modifying the State Water Project (SWP) to add infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to improve the reliability of water deliveries. Doing so requires changes to DWR’s existing water rights for the SWP to authorize the addition of two new points of diversion in the north Delta. This requires approval of a water rights change petition from the State Water Board.

DWR filed a petition with the State Water Board in February 2024 that requests the addition of two new points of diversion, which implicitly includes construction.

Updating the timeframe to construct infrastructure for in use water rights is expected and the State Water Board provides a process for the permit holder to extend timeframes as necessary. DWR recently requested a minor change to the February 2024 petition, to explicitly update the construction timeframe of the permit, as provided by law. This change is not related to the term addressing the quantity of water to be put to beneficial use within DWR’s water right permits; if any change is made to that term, it would be under a separate time extension water rights process.

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Water rights don't expire

Do water rights expire when timeframes end?

Each water right granted by the State Water Board contains a timeframe for construction of diversion works (e.g., infrastructure) and a separate timeframe to put the water to beneficial use (e.g., timing and amount of water use). These timeframes are found in the “terms and conditions” of the permit (specifically, Term 6 and Term 7). California law provides mechanisms to extend these timeframes. 

Water right permits do not expire when their timeframes end. In fact, water right permits never expire.

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What does happen when timeframes in a water right permit end?

Absent an extension, the permit holder is limited to using only the infrastructure built within the timeframe identified in the existing permit, and only the maximum historical use utilized within the timeframe identified in the existing permit. The end of those timeframes does not modify the permit and does not preclude the permit holder from seeking a time extension later.

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The regulatory process is public and transparent

Is the CPOD process open to Tribes, local government agencies, community groups and the public?

The CPOD process is being conducted in public with full transparency. The State Water Board will hold a hearing in January 2025. The hearing, and all pre-hearing conferences, have been and will continue to be extensively noticed and open to the public. Numerous Tribes, public agencies and community groups are interested parties to that process.

In addition, extensive evaluation of the potential impacts of the proposed construction, including mitigation measures, has already been thoroughly documented in the Delta Conveyance Project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The EIR process also provided for extensive public review and comment.

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