THE ANGLE ACT
(very early draft)
(c) 2011, Mike Barkley
Congress makes the following findings:
1) That the Angle Decree was issued 01/13/1930 in the case U.S. v. H.C. Angle,
et al., in the Northern District of California, Case No. Equity 30 (now
80-583, Eastern District of California), that in that Decree most riparian
rights of land owners in the 700 square miles of the upper Stony Creek
Watershed were taken without compensation in contravention of California
property rights and Section 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902, and that
this language taking without compensation those riparian rights was presented
successfully to an unsuspecting judge by a conspiracy of various persons
within and without the U.S. Government, and
2) Since adoption of the Angle Decree the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and
various clients have diverted water from Stony Creek in excess of
the awarded average 4.05 acre-feet per cultivated acre per year, that the
excess diversions were unlawful, and that cumulative excess diversions have
exceeded 2,700,000 acre-feet during the existence of the Angle Decree, and
3) Numerous other uses of Stony Creek water not provided for in the Decree
by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation or with the consent or tacit approval
of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the various water masters have
occurred and these changes in use are unlawful, and
4) The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation systematically extirpated Stony Creek
salmon and steelhead runs
Therefore, be it enacted that:
1) This Act shall be known as the "Angle Act".
2) All restrictions of water use by riparian owners in the Stony Creek
watershed upstream from Black Butte Dam are stricken from the Angle
Decree; Stony Creek riparian owners upstream from Black Butte Dam are
not limited to those identified in the Angle Decree but may be proven
at any time by any owner; riparian users diverting from above Black
Butte Dam shall not be charged by any agent of the United States
government for their diversions.
3) It shall be a misdemeanor under Title 18 Section . . . of the U.S. Code
for the Orland Project to divert water in excess of an average of
4.05 acre-feet per year per acre of land upon which crops are grown within
that year, which crops shall include irrigated pasture.
4) The first 2,700,000 acre-feet of water as is beneficial and useful for
their municipal or industrial needs shall be furnished by the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation to the towns of Elk Creek and Stonyford and the
community of Century Ranch and shall be furnished without charge.
5) All other diversions of water from Stony Creek, including via any canal
or lateral or drain of the Orland Project, to the Tehama-Colusa Canal
or any other recipient not part of the Orland Project are prohibited.
6) Recreational uses of water retained behind Black Butte Dam, Stony Gorge
Dam, and East Park Dam shall be subordinate to the needs of riparian users
upstream from Black Butte Dam
7) U.S. Bureau of Reclamation shall develop a plan to restore salmon and
steelhead runs to the Stony Creek Watershed and all major tributaries
except for Little Stony Creek upstream of East Park Dam; such plan
is to include, as an alternative, use of bypass fish Canals up the valleys
of Hambright Creek and Briscoe Creek with refrigerated chillers to maintain
salmon-friendly water temperatures; this requirement shall cease if and
when the Glenn Reservoir Complex and the Westside Conveyance System is
approved and implemented.
--Mike Barkley, 167 N. Sheridan Ave., Manteca, CA 95336 (H) 209/823-4817
mjbarkl@inreach.com
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