Ranchers’ rebellion: the Californians breaking water rules in a punishing drought

Ranchers risk fines amid a clash over water rights, as regulators and Indigenous nations warn of environmental danger

Before Rick Lemos and the other directors of the Shasta River Water Association broke the law, they made a decision that under most circumstances might be considered unusual: they sent a letter to authorities spelling out exactly what they intended to do.

The California regulation they would defy was an emergency order in response to the state's punishing drought, in effect forbidding ranchers and farmers in this stretch of land near the Oregon border from diverting water from the Shasta River as they had done for more than a century.