Shortly after posting the story about Larry Byrd pumping river water across property and parcel lines, I received a letter from an engineering firm justifying Byrd’s water transfers because both properties involved “are in the same watershed.” The letter was signed by someone describing herself as the “Principal Water Right Analyst” for an engineering firm out of Sacramento.
The foundation of her argument for transferring riparian water across property and parcel lines and increasing usage by as much as three and a half times boiled down to claims that the property on the receiving end of the transfer — hereafter known as the “Rairden” —has had riparian rights since the 1930s. The parcel number from which the Rairden rights originate is 08-21-06. It’s in southeastern Stanislaus County, east of Waterford and just a few miles west of La Grange.
At one time, that same Rairden property was divided into three parcels: 08-21-06, 08-21-05, and 08-21-04. It’s possible, in some cases, for riparian rights to be retained after parcel splits; the claim in this case is the rights were retained and apply to all three parcels. Had the rights not been retained, only 08-21-06 would have qualified for riparian rights. That parcel amounts to some 37 acres. Parcel 08-21-04 is approximately 90 acres; 08-21-05 is a bit under 60 acres. Parcel 08-21-06 is adjacent to the Tuolumne River. The other two parcels are not…