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Article: Owner of longtime water right can't avoid fish and game statute. (Water).
- Article from:
- California Planning & Development Report
- Article date:
- November 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 California Planning & Development Report. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The owner of appropriative water rights to a creek cannot exercise those rights in violation of state regulations intended to protect fish and wildlife, the Third District Court of Appeal has decided.
The court ruled that the owner of appropriative water rights to Big Creek in Trinity County still had to notify the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) before making substantial alterations to the streambed, as required by Fish and Game Code ?? 1603.
The owner argued that his water right, essentially, made him free of regulation and that DFG's attempt to intervene in his in-stream activities amounted to a taking. The court, however, rejected that argument and ...