<P> California provides communities and other water users within watersheds senior status over appropriative water rights in limited circumstances . California area of origin laws include The County of Origin Law (1931), The Water Protection Statute (1933), and The Delta Protection Act (1959). </P> <P> Area of origin water rights parallel pueblo water rights . In both cases, water is reserved for future growth of the local community . In other words, appropriations may be subject to a water rights claim from people / government in the area of origin . That later claim would be senior despite its temporal disconnect . As a result of its pueblo rights, Los Angeles has rights to all or almost all water from the Los Angeles River . In the same way, communities along major water sources such as the Sacramento River theoretically have senior water rights to support growth despite a downstream user holding otherwise senior appropriative water rights . </P> <P> Area of origin laws were passed in reaction to the controversies related to Los Angeles diverting water from the Owens Valley . Despite being on the books for generations, the area of origin statutes were not used until 2000 . In addition, there currently are no court opinions regarding area of origin watershed rights . </P> <P> Since under the law, landowners can extract as much groundwater from their property as they can put to beneficial use, adjudication was used to determine who had the right to pump how much and to audit such usage . The courts appoint water masters to audit usage and otherwise enforce water rights, who are often management boards, the federal United States Department of the Interior, the California Department of Water Resources, or an individual . </P>

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