By paying off politicians to pass bills that give you first rights to the water. The flow of water is controlled by dams and aquifers. The State Water Board controls who gets those rights. Plus you can buy water rights. Back when these guys acquired the rights people didn't think there would be a water shortage so it was a quick way to make a buck not realizing the long term affects.
I own property on the outskirts of Fresno. It's two acres of land and we use a water pump to pump the water out the ground. We have a large underground aquifer under a big part of the central valley. I could technically sell my rights to the water under my property and I would no longer have control of it. Same thing just on a larger scale.
Also if you live closer to the source of water that flows down a mountain the rights are given first come first serve. So if you're closer to the source you have first rights to the water. That's why a lot of farmers on the Western side of the valley cry. They sold their water rights a long time ago and they are at the end of the flow from the Sierras on the east side of California.
The Western portion of the Sierra Nevada's do not produce snow caps like the eastern part does. The west side is pretty dry. Most of the farmers water comes from the Eastern range. If they pump ground water there are caps on how much you can use so if you sold half your water rights you need to make up for it somehow if your short. The underground water tables have been getting lower and lower over the years.
appreciate the knowledge and history lesson.
Just not gonna be enough water to go around
