The Legislature finds and declares that by reason of the combination of light rainfall, concentrated population, the transition of considerable areas of land from agricultural use to urban use, and a similar dependence on ground water supplies which prevails in the Counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura, together with the fact that most such underground water supplies are overdrawn, it is necessary that the provisions of this part apply to said counties only.
Part 5RECORDATION OF WATER EXTRACTIONS AND DIVERSIONS
Section § 4999
This section highlights the challenges faced by Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties due to light rainfall and growing urbanization. These areas rely heavily on groundwater, which is being used up faster than it can be replenished. Therefore, special rules in this part are necessary just for these counties to address this issue.
light rainfall concentrated population urbanization groundwater dependence underground water supplies overdrawn water supplies Riverside County San Bernardino County Los Angeles County Ventura County agricultural to urban transition water resource management groundwater depletion water conservation regional water policy
Section § 5000
This section defines specific terms used in the Water Code. 'Ground water' refers to water found under the surface, regardless of its flow. 'Surface water' is any water found above ground. The term 'four counties' specifically mentions Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura counties. 'Person' includes individuals and organizations like governments and public agencies. 'Sources' means the places where water is taken, like wells or tunnels.
As used in this Part 5, the following terms shall have the respective meanings stated below, viz:
(a)CA Water Code § 5000(a) “Ground water” means water beneath the surface of the ground whether or not flowing through known and definite channels.
(b)CA Water Code § 5000(b) “Surface water” means water on the surface of the ground.
(c)CA Water Code § 5000(c) “Four counties” means the Counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura.
(d)CA Water Code § 5000(d) “Person” means all persons whether natural or artificial, including the United States of America, the State of California, and all political subdivisions, districts, municipalities and public agencies of or in either the State or the United States.
(e)CA Water Code § 5000(e) “Sources” means any point of diversion or extraction of water and includes among other things wells, tunnels, and headworks.
ground water surface water Riverside County San Bernardino County Los Angeles County Ventura County water diversion water extraction wells tunnels headworks water resources legislation political subdivisions public agencies natural and artificial persons
Section § 5001
This law requires anyone who extracts more than 25 acre-feet of groundwater in a year to file a "Notice of Extraction and Diversion of Water" with the board. Typically, this notice must be filed by February 1st of the year following the extraction period starting from October 1 through September 30. However, there are exceptions: if less than 10 acre-feet are extracted, if water is used to generate electricity, or if extractions are already reported by a court-appointed watermaster.
(a)CA Water Code § 5001(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), each person who, after 1955, extracts ground water in excess of 25 acre-feet in any year shall file with the board a “Notice of Extraction and Diversion of Water” (hereinafter called “notice”) in the form provided in Section 5002, as provided in subdivision (b).
(b)Copy CA Water Code § 5001(b)
(1)Copy CA Water Code § 5001(b)(1) For extractions after December 31, 1955, and before January 1, 2021, the notice shall be filed before March 1 of the year after the extraction.
(2)CA Water Code § 5001(b)(2) For extractions after December 31, 2020, and before October 1, 2021, the notice shall be filed before February 1, 2022.
(3)CA Water Code § 5001(b)(3) For extractions after September 30, 2021, the notice shall include extractions during the one-year period from October 1 of each year through September 30, inclusive, of the following year, and shall be filed before February 1 of the year after that one-year period.
(c)CA Water Code § 5001(c) No notice need be filed with respect to, and there shall not be required to be included in a notice, any of the following:
(1)CA Water Code § 5001(c)(1) Information concerning the extraction or diversion of water from a source from which less than 10 acre-feet has been taken during the year.
(2)CA Water Code § 5001(c)(2) Information concerning a taking or diversion of surface water for the purpose of generating electrical energy and other nonconsumptive uses, and for incidental uses in connection with that taking or diversion.
(3)CA Water Code § 5001(c)(3) Information concerning extractions or diversions of water that are included in annual reports filed with a court or the board by a watermaster appointed by a court or pursuant to statute to administer a final judgment determining rights to water, which reports identify the persons who have extracted or diverted water and give the general place of use and the quantity of water that has been extracted or diverted from each source.
groundwater extraction Notice of Extraction and Diversion 25 acre-feet filing deadline extraction exceptions watermaster reports nonconsumptive water use surface water diversion electricity generation extraction period
Section § 5002
If you're extracting ground water or diverting surface water, your first notice needs to include some key details. You must state your name, the amount of water you've taken over the past ten years, the locations you're taking it from, and any other people with an interest in these sources. Plus, describe where you're using the water and any other facts the board requests to verify your information. However, if you're only diverting surface water and less than 25 acre-feet of ground water in a year, you don't have to file this notice.
For subsequent notices, just update the board with the quantity of water taken, the locations it was taken from, and additional specifics like diversion periods for large amounts of surface water. Also, provide any additional information the board requires about the origins and levels of the water sources.
Each notice shall be on a form provided by the board. The first notice filed by any person shall state:
(a)CA Water Code § 5002(a) The name of the person extracting ground water or diverting surface water.
(b)CA Water Code § 5002(b) The quantity of water taken and the method of measurement used by such person or his predecessor in interest in each preceding year from each surface or ground water source; provided, that if the period of such taking exceeds 10 years, such person is not required to state such quantities for any period greater than the preceding 10 calendar years.
(c)CA Water Code § 5002(c) The location (sufficient for identification) of each surface or ground water source through or by means of which water has been taken, and if any person or persons other than the person filing said notice claims any interest in such source or the right to extract water therefrom, the name or names, so far as known, of such other person or persons.
(d)CA Water Code § 5002(d) A general description of the area in which such water has been used.
(e)CA Water Code § 5002(e) Any other facts which the board may require by general regulation and which tend to prove the facts required by this section to be stated, the origin of water supplying any ground water source mentioned in the notice, water levels in any such source, or the extent of any ground water basin from which such water is withdrawn.
(f)CA Water Code § 5002(f) Any person diverting only surface water and not more than 25 acre-feet of ground water in any year need not file such notice for such year.
Notices, other than the first notice filed, shall state, in addition to the name of the person extracting or diverting such water:
First: The quantity of water taken from each surface and ground water source from which such person received any water in the preceding calendar year.
Second: Location of each such surface and ground water source through or by means of which water has been taken in such preceding year. This may be stated, so far as applicable, by reference to the water sources described in the original notice.
Third: If such person diverts surface water in excess of three miner’s inches, such person shall further state in said notice the period or periods of such diversion, and the maximum and minimum flows so diverted in each period.
Fourth: Any other facts which the board may require by general regulation, and which tend to prove facts required by this subdivision to be stated, the origin of water supplying any surface or ground water source mentioned in the notice, water levels or flow in any such source, or the extent or origin of the water source supplying the ground water supply from which such water is extracted.
ground water extraction surface water diversion water quantity measurement water source location water usage area notice filing water rights water source identification water origins regulations on water extraction surface water less than 25 acre-feet first notice requirements subsequent notice updates diversion periods water board requirements
Section § 5003
If you are in one of the four counties and are required to file a notice for extracting and diverting groundwater, you won't gain the right to extract groundwater until you file a 'Notice of Extraction and Diversion of Water'. This rule has been in place since 1956. If you didn't file the notice by the end of 1957, it's assumed you didn't intend to claim any groundwater extraction rights during that period, and the water you took wasn't used beneficially. The amount of groundwater you can claim to have used beneficially is limited to what you report in your filed notice for each year.
No prescriptive right that might otherwise accrue to extract ground water shall arise or accrue to, nor shall any statute of limitations operate in regard to the ground water in the four counties after the year 1956 in favor of any person required to file a notice of extraction and diversion of water, until that person files with the board the first “Notice of Extraction and Diversion of Water” substantially in the form mentioned in Section 5002. As to each person who fails to file that notice by the end of the year in 1957, it shall be deemed for the period from that time until the first notice of the person is filed, that no claim of right to the extraction of ground water from any source in the four counties has been made by the person, and that water extracted by the person from the ground water source during that period has not been devoted to or used for any beneficial use. The beneficial use of water from any ground water source within the four counties in any year by the person shall be deemed not to exceed the quantity reported in the notice filed for that year.
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Section § 5004
If someone does not submit a notice for water use to the board within six months after a calendar year ends, it will be considered that they didn't use any groundwater in the specified counties that year. However, this rule doesn't apply if their total water extraction is 25 acre-feet or less, or if no notice is needed for their water use.
After the year 1959, failure to file with the board a notice for any calendar year within six months after the close of such calendar year shall be deemed equivalent for all purposes to nonuse for such year of any ground water within the four counties by each person failing to so file a notice within said period; provided, that this section and Section 5003 shall not apply to any person whose aggregate extractions of ground water in any year does not exceed 25 acre-feet nor to any extractions of ground water with respect to which no notice is required to be filed under this part.
groundwater use reporting notice filing deadline nonuse equivalent calendar year reporting water extraction exemption 25 acre-feet limit groundwater board notice exemption from filing post-1959 water regulations four counties groundwater use groundwater nonuse assumption mandatory water reporting water extraction reporting requirements
Section § 5005
This law states that if you fail to file a notice or delay filing regarding groundwater rights, it won't make you lose any groundwater rights you had as of January 1, 1956, unless stated differently in another section.
Except as specified in Section 5004, failure to file the notice or delay in filing the same shall not cause the loss of rights to ground water which existed on January 1, 1956.
groundwater rights failure to file notice delay in filing rights preservation January 1 1956 notice filing requirements Water Code groundwater rights retention Section 5004 historical groundwater rights
Section § 5006
This law section states that every notice must be accompanied by an oath (sworn statement) and a filing fee. The fee amount is determined by the board as outlined in another section (Section 1529).
Each notice shall be sworn to and shall be accompanied by a filing fee which shall be fixed by the board pursuant to Section 1529.
notice requirement sworn statement filing fee board determination oath requirement fee amount accompanied by fee Section 1529 legal notice filing fee fixing by board swear to the notice notice filing process water law regulation administrative fee board of water law
Section § 5007
Anyone can ask a board to look into details mentioned in a specific notice. The person who makes this request has to pay for the board's investigation. If the board finds something different from what's in the notice, they will inform both the notice filer and the requester about their findings. Both parties have 60 days to provide more information before a final decision is made.
If any future court cases involve facts from these notices, the notices themselves won't count as evidence, but the board's determination will be taken as initial proof.
Any person may apply to the board to investigate the facts stated in any specified notice so filed and to state in writing its determination of the facts found by it upon such investigation. The cost of such investigation and determination shall be paid by such applicant by such deposits or in such payments as may be fixed by the board. In the event the board makes a determination which differs in any material respect from the facts contained in the notice, then, prior to making its final determination, the board shall notify both the person filing said notice and the person requesting a determination of facts of its proposed findings, and shall invite either party to submit further information prior to making its final determination, and no such final determination shall be made until sixty (60) days after the parties have been so notified of the board’s proposed determination.
In any action or proceeding hereafter pending in which the facts, or any of them, contained in the notices so filed are material, such notices shall not be evidence of any fact stated therein, but such determination by the board shall be prima facie evidence of said facts.
investigation request notice facts board determination investigation costs proposed findings submit information prima facie evidence notice evidence material facts court case final determination sixty-day notice fact verification evidence submission information invitation
Section § 5008
If someone lies on purpose in a notice, it's considered a minor crime and can lead to a fine up to $1,000, a jail sentence up to six months, or both.
The making of any willful misstatement in any notice shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed six months, or both.
willful misstatement misdemeanor fine county jail imprisonment punishment notice criminal offense six months jail one thousand dollar fine false statement intentional falsehood criminal penalty California water law legal consequences
Section § 5009
If you extract groundwater in a designated local area, since January 1, 2005, you must file a notice with a local agency instead of the state board. The local agency provides the form, aligning it with Section 5002, and they try to combine it with other groundwater extraction reports. You're still bound by the same rules as if you filed with the state board.
The local agency can charge a filing fee to cover handling costs, but it can't be more than fees set by the board in Section 5006. They must share collected information with government agencies.
"Board-designated local area" refers to places under the local agency's jurisdiction that must follow this law, and a "local agency" is a local public agency or watermaster appointed by the board.
The board picks a local agency based on several factors: the agency must volunteer, be related to groundwater management, ensure accurate identification of groundwater extractors to avoid dual reporting, and have proper arrangements to maintain and share records with government bodies.
(a)Copy CA Water Code § 5009(a)
(1)Copy CA Water Code § 5009(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, on and after January 1, 2005, each person who extracts groundwater in a board-designated local area, and who is otherwise subject to this part, shall file the required notice with the appropriate local agency designated pursuant to subdivision (e), instead of the board, in accordance with this part. The notice shall be on a form provided by the local agency and the content of the form shall be determined by the local agency in accordance with Section 5002. To the extent possible, the form shall consolidate the notice required under this section with other reports required by the local agency relating to the extraction of groundwater.
(2)CA Water Code § 5009(a)(2) A person who is subject to this section is subject to this part in the same manner and to the same extent as a person who files his or her notice with the board.
(b)CA Water Code § 5009(b) Each notice filed with the local agency may include a filing fee determined by the local agency. If the local agency chooses to impose a filing fee, the local agency shall calculate the amount of the fee to pay for administrative expenses incurred in connection with the processing, compiling, and retaining of the notices, but in no event shall the fee amount exceed that amount charged by the board pursuant to Section 5006.
(c)CA Water Code § 5009(c) The local agency shall make available to governmental agencies the information collected pursuant to this section.
(d)CA Water Code § 5009(d) For the purposes of this section:
(1)CA Water Code § 5009(d)(1) “Board-designated local area” means the area entirely within the jurisdiction of the local agency that the board has determined shall be subject to this section, and any area for which the local agency has formally agreed to accept the required notice.
(2)CA Water Code § 5009(d)(2) “Local agency” means the local public agency or court appointed watermaster that has been designated by the board in accordance with subdivision (e).
(e)CA Water Code § 5009(e) The board shall designate an entity as a local agency for the purposes of this section, if the board determines that all of the following apply:
(1)CA Water Code § 5009(e)(1) The entity has volunteered to be designated.
(2)CA Water Code § 5009(e)(2) The entity has responsibilities relating to the extraction or use of groundwater.
(3)CA Water Code § 5009(e)(3) The entity has made satisfactory arrangements with the board to identify which groundwater extractors are within the designated local area and to avoid the submission of notices to both the board and one or more local agencies.
(4)CA Water Code § 5009(e)(4) The entity has made satisfactory arrangements with the board to maintain records filed under this part for extractions within the designated local area, and to make those records available to governmental agencies.
groundwater extraction local agency notice filing fee calculation governmental information sharing board-designated local area groundwater reporting consolidation local public agency watermaster designation January 1 2005 requirement filing with local agency Section 5002 compliance Section 5006 fee limitations aquifer management groundwater extractors identification dual reporting avoidance
