Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
After three consecutive years of drought in California, the water supply is running so low that the state and federal government have severely cut water deliveries to cities and farmers.
But because of water laws dating back to the 1800s, there are nearly 4,000 farms, companies and other entities known as "senior rights holders" that are allowed to use as much water as they want, with little to no oversight.
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A new Associated Press investigation has found that these high-level water rights holders hold more than half of the claims on the state's rivers and streams. And even though they collectively are the biggest water consumers in the state, they're exempt from government-mandated cuts in water use.
For more on that investigation, we're joined by AP reporter
.