Are you referring to AB 685? That's drinking water. If you're talking about water rights, i.e. lakes, rivers, streams, California is not unique in having this complicated regime that goes back to early settler ranching and farming to make sure an upstream user can't claim 100% of the water, leaving everyone downstream with none. What does the water right regime have to do with democracy? It's based on the earliest claims/users, earlier the right was acquired the more valuable. If anything I'd call it it a throw back to feudalism than anything democratic.