Blog: Minimum flow laws in California and Chile
California and Chile share a history of water allocation with little regard for instream uses of water, especially environmental uses. In California, for example, many water rights were obtained with no consideration of the environmental impacts of the water use, often because few environmental laws existed or were enforced when users obtained the rights. Similarly, in Chile, environmental considerations in the granting and exercise of water rights weren’t expressly included in the Water Code until 2005. More broadly, both places traditionally required diversion and use as key elements of water rights, making it difficult or impossible to use water rights to keep water instream. As a result, both Chile and California struggle to protect the minimum instream flows needed for ecosystems and other instream uses.
Related articles:
- Sacramento Bee: Opinion - California should remove dams, restore free-flowing rivers
- Trout Unlimited: Juvenile salmon and steelhead are immediately using reconnected habitat on California’s North Coast
- Oregon Public Broadcasting: White House, tribal leaders hail ‘historic’ deal to restore salmon runs in Pacific Northwest