Nearly 75% of the available surface water originates in the northern third of the state (north of Sacramento), while 80% of the demand occurs in the southern two-thirds of the state. During a typical year, about 40% of the state’s total water supply comes from groundwater. The demand for water is highest during the dry summer months when there is little natural precipitation or snowmelt. California is home to one of the most complex flood management, water storage and water transport systems in the world. An integrated system of federal, state and locally owned dams, reservoirs, pumping plants and aqueducts transports large portions of the state’s surface water hundreds of miles.

Each year hundreds of water transfers occur in California. They are proposed and initiated by willing sellers who have legal rights to a supply of water of interest to a potential buyer. These buyers/sellers are usually water districts, sometimes called irrigation districts, and they are given the task of supplying water to a community. Transfers must be carried out in a responsible manner to ensure that they do not result in adverse impacts to other water users or the environment, like the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta salinity. The public agencies involved in approval and management of proposed water transfers include: the California Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Bureau of Reclamation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marines Fisheries Service.

On top of that, we have county oversight. In Butte County, water resources are administered by the Butte County Resource Conservation. This agency monitors groundwater levels and quality throughout the county. Click here to read Butte County's Drought Preparedness Plan. This department encourages Butte County residents to report low or dry wells, as this information is needed to make cases against out-of-area water transfers. Print this form to report low groundwater levels, and email to bcwater@buttecounty.net or mail to:

Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation
308 Nelson Ave.
Oroville, CA 95965