Feb. 20, 2026
Water wars head to the high court
Conflicting appellate rulings over whether California cities can charge heavy water users more to encourage conservation have created legal chaos -- and the state Supreme Court may finally have to step in.
California's reservoirs are full and there's no drought in sight. That's the good news. But the state's current water riches are likely just temporary, a fragile reprieve from the wet-and-dry-year instability that represents the norm.
Water law in this state is similarly volatile. California voters grabbed power from politicians by adding "The Right to Vote on Taxes Act" to the state Constitution in 1996. Yet that document's Article X, Section 2, adop...
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