State regulators Thursday took another step in the escalating battle over drought-related curtailments of thousands of California water rights.
The State Water Resources Control Board issued a draft cease-and-desist order against the West Side Irrigation District of Tracy, which holds junior rights to some flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The board alleges that inspectors found the district was continuing to withdraw water from the delta's Old River even after it received a May 1 notice that there weren't sufficient flows to meet the demand of junior rights holders in the delta. It is the first such enforcement action the board has taken this year.