Title WAT, California Water Code

(a) From and after the date of adoption of a declaration that a stream system is fully appropriated, and subject to subdivision (b), the board shall not accept for filing any application for a permit to appropriate water from the stream system described in that declaration, and t…

Notice of hearing pursuant to this article shall be given as follows: (a) The notice shall be published at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers of general circulation published in each county in which any part of the stream system is situated, an…

The owner of a waste water treatment plant operated for the purpose of treating wastes from a sanitary sewer system shall hold the exclusive right to the treated waste water as against anyone who has supplied the water discharged into the waste water collection and treatment syst…

(a) Prior to making any change in the point of discharge, place of use, or purpose of use of treated wastewater, the owner of any wastewater treatment plant shall obtain approval of the board for that change. The board shall review the changes pursuant to the provisions of Chapte…

The board shall not grant any permit or license to any person other than the treated waste water producer for the appropriation of treated waste water where the producer has introduced such water into the watercourse with the prior stated intention of maintaining or enhancing fis…

As used in this article: (a) “Conduit” includes ditches, pipelines, and other means of diversion. (b) “District” means any irrigation district which includes land included within a watermaster service area for which a watermaster has previously been appointed by the Department of…

Any duty or authority vested in a watermaster appointed by a district may be exercised by the watermaster directly or through the agency of a deputy watermaster if there is one. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

A district, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 22080, may appoint one or more watermasters to regulate the use of water within the district. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

The owner of every conduit subject to regulation by an irrigation district shall construct and maintain to the satisfaction of the district a substantial and serviceable diversion dam or works in the channel of the stream from which the water is diverted. (Added by Stats. 1982, C…

The owner of a conduit shall construct and maintain to the satisfaction of the district a substantial and serviceable headgate in the conduit through which the water is diverted at or near the diversion dam or works. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

The headgate shall be of such construction that it can be locked and kept closed by the watermaster. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

The owner of a conduit shall construct and maintain such water flow measuring devices at such points along the conduit as may be required and approved by the district for the purpose of assisting the watermaster in determining the amounts of water which are being diverted and app…

If the owner of any conduit refuses or neglects to construct and maintain the diversion dam or works, the headgate, or the measuring devices provided for in this article after 30 days’ notice by the district so to do, the watermaster may close the conduit, and it shall not be ope…

The owner of every reservoir which is subject to regulation by a watermaster and which is located across or upon the bed of a natural stream or requires the use of a natural stream channel shall construct and maintain such measuring devices below the reservoir in the stream and s…

If the owner of any reservoir neglects or refuses to construct and maintain the measuring devices provided for in this article after 30 days’ notice by the district, the watermaster may open the outlet of the reservoir and the outlet shall not be closed, except by order of the di…

The district may make such reasonable regulations to secure distribution of water in accordance with determined rights as may be needed. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

The watermaster shall divide the water of the streams or other sources of supply among the several conduits and reservoirs taking water therefrom and so adjust or close the headgates of conduits and regulate the controlling works of reservoirs as may be necessary to insure a dist…

Whenever in pursuance of his duties the watermaster regulates a headgate to a conduit or the controlling works of a reservoir, he may attach to the headgate or controlling works a written notice properly dated and signed setting forth the fact that the headgate or controlling wor…

The notice is legal notice to all persons interested in the diversion and distribution of the water of the conduit or reservoir. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

Any person who is injured by the action of any watermaster may apply to the superior court of the county in which the injury takes place for an injunction. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

Such injunction shall be issued only in case it is shown at the hearing that the watermaster has failed to distribute the water according to the rights as determined by decrees of court, agreements, permits, or licenses. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

Every person who willfully and without authority closes, changes, or interferes with any headgate, waterbox, or measuring device while it is under the control of the watermaster, or who willfully takes or uses water which has been denied him by the watermaster under the provision…

The possession or use of water when it has been so denied by the watermaster is prima facie evidence of the guilt of the person using it. (Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 780, Sec. 1.)

Every person who violates any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 10 days nor m…

A watermaster has the power to arrest any person violating any of the provisions of this article and to give him into the custody of the sheriff or other competent police officer within the county, and immediately thereafter make a complaint before a magistrate against the person…

This article shall only apply to a water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside a protected area pursuant to applications to appropriate surface water filed, or groundwater appropriations initiated, after January 1, 1985, that are not subject to Section 1…

(a) For the purposes of this article, “protected area”, means all of lands which normally drain to the ocean, to a hydraulic sink, or to another state within any of the following, and only the following, river systems: (1) The Sacramento River System. (2) The Mokelumne River Syst…

For the purposes of this article, “water user or users” within a protected area means an appropriator or appropriators, a riparian user or users, or a groundwater user or users of water on land owned or controlled by them within a protected area. (Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1655, …

A protected area shall not be deprived directly or indirectly of the prior right to all the water reasonably required to adequately supply the beneficial needs of the protected area, or any of the inhabitants or property owners therein, by a water supplier exporting or intending …

(a) In addition to the right to obtain a water right which would have priority over the rights of an exporter, water users in a protected area shall have the right to purchase, for adequate compensation, water made available by the construction of any works by a water supplier ex…

Upon the request of an applicant for a permit to appropriate water for use outside a protected area, a county of origin shall cooperate with the applicant in estimating the amount of water that may be purchased within the county pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1217 and tha…

A water supplier exporting or intending to export water outside a protected area, or a water user or users within a protected area, may declare that an impasse has been reached between the parties in negotiations over matters within the scope of negotiations specified in Section …

The provisions of this article shall not require any water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside a protected area to furnish to any water user or users in a protected area claiming rights under this article, without adequate compensation therefor, any wa…

(a) No groundwater shall be pumped for export from within the combined Sacramento and Delta-Central Sierra Basins, as defined in the Department of Water Resources’ Bulletin 160-74, unless the pumping is in compliance with a groundwater management plan that is adopted by ordinance…

This article shall not be construed to authorize the board to regulate groundwater in any manner. (Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1655, Sec. 2.)

Nothing in this article shall be deemed to diminish the rights and protections to watersheds of origin contained in existing law including, but not limited to, Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 12200) of Division 6. (Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1655, Sec. 2.)

The Legislature finds and declares that it is necessary and beneficial to the state to clear up many heretofore uncertain conditions of water rights which are the result of a large number of dams and other water impoundment structures which have been constructed for livestock wat…

The owner of any dam or other water impoundment structure constructed prior to January 1, 1969, the capacity of which is not in excess of 10 acre-feet on January 1, 1975, and concerning which water rights litigation between private parties was not a matter of record prior to Janu…

(a) Any person who has a valid water right pursuant to Section 1226.1, who files a claim of water right with the board on or before December 31, 1977, has a water right priority as of the date of the construction of the dam or other water impoundment structure. (b) Any person who…

Each claim of water right shall be accompanied by a fee which shall be in an amount determined by the board to cover the reasonable administrative costs of processing the claim. If the claimant establishes a water right pursuant to this article, the board shall issue a certificat…

The board may, after notice and hearing, revoke any certificate of a water right granted pursuant to this article upon a finding that the water has ceased to be used for the purposes specified in Section 1226. (Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 667, Sec. 7. Effective September 20, 1996…

The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the public interest to provide a priority of right to appropriate water for various beneficial water uses which were initiated by the United States, or its agencies, on reserved lands prior to July 3, 1978, and which uses are for s…

(a) To obtain the priority of right set forth in Section 1227, any agency of the United States shall submit to the board, on or before July 1, 1984, a statement for each water use initiated under claim of right by the United States on reserved lands for which beneficial use of wa…

(a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), any use for which a statement is submitted to the board pursuant to Section 1227.1 has a priority for the appropriation of water as of the date of initial use of the water, except that all permits and licenses issued by the board on applic…

This article does not apply to uses involving the appropriation of water by any person, including any agency of the United States, pursuant to the Federal Reclamation Law, as amended or supplemented, or any other federal statute which authorizes projects for the development of wa…

The board may, after following procedures set forth in Sections 1675 to 1675.2, inclusive, revoke any water right determined pursuant to this article upon a finding that the water has ceased to be used for a purpose for which the original development was intended. (Added by Stats…