Title WAT, California Water Code

No city or county has authority, by ordinance enacted by the legislative body thereof or adopted by the people under the initiative power, or otherwise, to regulate, supervise, or provide for the regulation or supervision of any dams or reservoirs in this state, or the constructi…

Whenever supervision of safety of design or construction of a proposed or existing dam or reservoir is exercised by the United States or any of its agencies pursuant to a jurisdiction superior to that of the state, and the requirements made under authority of such jurisdiction ar…

No action shall be brought against the state or the department or its agents or employees for the recovery of damages caused by the partial or total failure of any dam or reservior or through the operation of any dam or reservoir upon the ground that such defendant is liable by v…

Nothing in this part shall be construed to relieve an owner or operator of a dam or reservoir of the legal duties, obligations, or liabilities incident to the ownership or operation of the dam or reservoir. (Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 1225.)

The findings and orders of the department and the certificate of approval of any dam or reservoir issued by the department are final and conclusive and binding upon all state agencies, regulatory or otherwise, as to the safety of design, construction, maintenance, and operation o…

On or before the second Tuesday in March of each year, and provided the survey and report called for by Section 60300 has been made, the board, by resolution, shall declare whether funds shall be raised to purchase water for replenishment during the next ensuing fiscal year and w…

If the board, by resolution, determines that all or a portion of the funds needed to purchase replenishment water, or to remove contaminants from the groundwater supplies of the district, or to exercise any other power under Section 60224, shall be raised by the levy of a repleni…

Said hearing shall be held before the board and a quorum shall be present. The hearing may be adjourned from time to time by the president or presiding officer or hearing officer but shall be completed by the first Tuesday in May next following. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

The board may appoint a qualified registered engineer familiar with water problems as a hearing officer to conduct said hearing. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

All evidence relevant to the engineering survey and report and the board’s determination that such a replenishment assessment shall be levied may be introduced. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

Nothing in this part shall be construed to deprive any owner of such recourse to the courts as he may be entitled to under the laws of this State. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)

If a dam is owned by one or more persons or entities, the owners shall form or delegate legal and financial authority to a single entity that is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the dam, as well as the payment of any fees or other costs associated with dam ownersh…

Territory included within any district may be excluded from such district and the parcels so to be excluded need not be contiguous one with the other. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

A petition, which may consist of any number of separate instruments, shall be filed with the secretary of the district, signed by voters residing within the boundaries of the area proposed to be excluded equal in number to at least ten (10) per centum of the number of such voters…

Such petition shall set forth and describe the boundaries of the area proposed to be excluded, shall state the reason for proposing such exclusion, and shall contain a prayer that such area be excluded from the district. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

Within ten (10) days of the date of the filing of such petition the secretary of the district shall examine the same and ascertain whether or not such petition is signed by the requisite number of voters. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

When the secretary of the district has completed his examination of the petition, he shall attach to the same his certificate, properly dated, showing the result of such examination; and if from such examination he shall find that said petition is signed by the requisite number o…

If, by the certificate of the secretary of the district, the petition is found to be insufficient, he shall also certify to the number of voters required to make such petition sufficient, and it may be amended by filing a supplemental petition or petitions within ten (10) days of…

If any supplemental petition be filed, all the signatures appended to the petition or to the supplemental petition or petitions shall be considered in determining the number of voters signing the petition. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

If his certificate shall show any such petition, or such petition as amended, to be insufficient, it shall be filed by him with the board of the district and kept as a public record, without prejudice, however, to the filing of a new petition to the same effect, but if, by the ce…

The text of such petition and a notice stating the time of the meeting at which the same will be presented shall be published in the district pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. When contained upon more than one instrument, one copy only of such petition need be publ…

After an election for the exclusion of such area from the district the sufficiency of such petition in any respect shall not be subject to judicial review or be otherwise questioned. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

The board of any district, by resolution, may initiate proceedings for the exclusion of territory from such district. Such resolution shall describe the boundaries of the area proposed to be excluded, shall state that neither the persons nor property within the area proposed to b…

After an election for the exclusion of such area from the district the sufficiency of such resolution shall not be subject to judicial review or be otherwise questioned. (Added by Stats. 1955, Ch. 1514.)

If the proceedings for exclusion have been initiated by petition, such petition may be granted by ordinance of the board of directors of such district. If such proceedings have been initiated by resolution, the board shall hear all persons interested in the proposed exclusion who…

If such petition is granted, or if such determination is made, the proposition of such exclusion shall be submitted to the vote of the voters within the area proposed to be excluded, at an election called by the board and held, as herein provided, within 70 days after the effecti…

Notice of the election shall be published in the district pursuant to Section 6063 of the Government Code. Publication shall be complete at least 7, but not more than 28, days prior to the date fixed for the election. The notice shall describe the boundaries of the area so propos…

The board shall canvass the votes cast at such election and, if the proposition is approved by a majority of the voters voting thereon at such election, the president and secretary of the board of directors shall certify that fact to the Secretary of State and shall record a cert…

Upon receipt of such last-mentioned certificate, the Secretary of State shall, within 10 days, issue his certificate reciting the passage of said ordinance and the exclusion of said area from the district. A copy of said certificate shall be transmitted to, and filed with, the co…

From and after the date of such certificate, the area named therein shall be deemed excluded from, and shall no longer form a part of, said district, but the taxable property within such excluded area shall continue taxable by such district for the purpose of paying the bonded or…

The people of a county or a portion of a county, whether the portion includes unincorporated territory or not, may form a levee district for the protection of the lands of the district from overflow and for the purpose of conserving or adding water to the sloughs and drains in th…

The formation petition shall describe the boundaries of the proposed district and shall pray that it be incorporated into a district. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 370.)

The formation petition shall be signed by at least 50 percent of the landowners and shall also be signed by the owners of 50 percent of the land to be included in the levee district. The petition may consist of any number of separate instruments. The petition shall be filed with …

The county elections official of the county containing the proposed district shall publish notice of a hearing on the formation petition pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. (Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 221, Sec. 190. Effective January 1, 2003.)

The notice of the hearing on the formation petition shall contain all of the following: (a) The text of the petition, which need be set forth only once even though contained upon more than one instrument. (b) The number of persons who have signed the petition. (c) At least five o…

No defects in the contents of the petition, or in the form of the required notice, shall vitiate the formation proceedings, if the petition has a sufficient number of qualified signatures attached. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 370.)

The formation petition shall be presented and considered at a regular meeting of the board of supervisors of the county in which the proposed district is to be situated. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 370.)

At the time stated in the notice of the hearing the board of supervisors shall hear the petition, and shall hear from any of those who signed the petition and who wish to appear, and shall consider any written protest filed with the clerk of the board prior to the hearing, by or …

At the hearing of the formation petition the board of supervisors shall determine whether or not the petition complies with this part and for that purpose shall hear all competent and relevant testimony offered in support of or in opposition thereto. The determination shall be en…

At the final hearing the board of supervisors may make changes in the boundaries of the proposed district, as may be deemed advisable, and shall then describe the boundaries of the proposed district. In doing this: (a) No land included in the proposed district in the petition, wh…

Upon the final determination of the boundaries of the proposed district, the board of supervisors shall call and give notice of a formation election to be held in the proposed district for the purpose of determining whether or not the district shall be formed. The date of the ele…

The notice of the formation election shall contain: (a) The date of the election. (b) A description of the boundaries of the proposed district. (c) The name of the proposed district, which name shall contain the words “Levee District.” (d) A statement that the first directors wil…

Within five days after the district formation election has been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the coun…

The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of citizens, may file a …

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against the proposed district formation is filed with the election officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the…

The officials in charge of conducting the election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to vote on the district formation question. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the followin…