The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued curtailment notices to pre-1914 water rights holders within the Sacramento-San Joaquin rivers watersheds and delta.

Then the Attorney General said the notices were, “advisory.”

The SWRCB responded by saying they were, “mandatory.”

And then on Thursday, June 25, 2015: In Stanislaus County Superior Court, the Attorney General’s Office once again repeated that the notices were “advisory only.”

Today, “Andrew Sawyer, the state board’s assistant chief counsel. called the lawsuits premature, because the curtailments are technically notices, not orders. But if the districts continue to withdraw water, the board could issue enforcement orders, subjecting diverters to steep fines and even court prosecution.”

The California Water Alliance put together a video depicting this conflict.