Californians who steal water from rivers will soon be subject to much steeper fines

Californians will soon be subject to a sharp rise in punitive fines for illegal diversions of water resources, after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law this weekend.

Newsom on Sunday granted his approval to A.B. 460, which will raise potential fines for those who steal water from rivers to up to $10,000 daily.

That's 20 times more than violators had to pay two years ago, when state officials charged $4,000 — about $50 per person — when a group of Siskiyou County ranchers diverted water from Shasta River, according to CalMatters.

A $50-per-person fine "is not precisely what I would call a deterrent," Analise Rivero, associate director of policy at the conservation group California Trout, told The Hill.

"For us, this is a massive victory," added Rivero, whose organization co-sponsored the bill.

The increased fines come as years of rising temperatures and drought driven by climate change have jeopardized California's water supplies and species of wildlife that make their homes in the state's waterways, leading the government to implement wide-ranging conservation measures.

Under A.B. 460, individuals who violate a permit or a floodwater diversion reporting requirement for groundwater recharge will be charged a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day for each day that the violation occurs, beginning in 2026 — double the current amount of $500.

Infractions will be subject to the much higher fine when they violate a "curtailment order" —  an order issued by the State Water Resources Control Board to prohibit water use when there is insufficient supply in a given watershed.

In such a scenario, water burglars will need to pay up to $10,000 per day, plus $2,500 for every acre-foot of water diverted, according to the law.

"We believe that the fines are meaningful," Rivero said, explaining that at this point, those penalties are "no longer the cost of doing business."

"It could really make people think twice about violating these orders and stealing water," she continued.

A.B. 460, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D), passed the Assembly in its initial version in May 2023 but ultimately underwent a series of revisions in the state Senate.

The revisions largely centered on the removal of a provision that would have enabled California's water board to issue what's called an "interim relief order." By means of such an order, the state may have been able to take immediate legal action against violators.

This provision was met with significant pushback from a coalition of agricultural associations and water agencies who feared that punitive consequences could occur without adequate judicial review.

Once that provision was eliminated, so, too, was most opposition to the bill, and the revised version received state Legislature approval last month, before heading to Newsom's desk.

The California Farm Bureau, which was previously against A.B. 460, credited the revision in a June newsletter for removing sections "that would have stripped due process from water rights holders."

"The remaining bill language was amended to increase per-incident fines for unauthorized water diversions and add a volumetric fine component," the newsletter stated.

After those changes occurred, the statement continued, the coalition members "dropped opposition to the bill."

While Rivero and her colleagues did support the inclusion of the interim relief clause, she said "it was just very clear that either the whole bill was going die or we had to remove that piece."

Once that happened, she explained, not only did the opposition dissipate, but some of the dissenting voices also came out in support of the new version.

"Water theft from bad actors impacts everybody along the water system, not just the environment and species — it impacts other people's ability to fulfill their water rights,” Rivero said.

"For all the folks that are good actors and obey curtailment orders, it's wildly unfair when people are just flagrantly breaking the law," she added.

Other restrictions on water usage in California continue to face pushback both from within and outside of the state.

Former President Trump earlier this month threatened to withhold federal aid to fight wildfires in the state if Newsom does not change another such policy, which restricts the amount of water that can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in an effort to protect an endangered species of fish.