SECTIONS 10004-10013 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 10004-10013

10004. (a) The plan for the orderly and coordinated control,
protection, conservation, development, and utilization of the water
resources of the state which is set forth and described in Bulletin
No. 1 of the State Water Resources Board entitled "Water Resources of
California," Bulletin No. 2 of the State Water Resources Board
entitled, "Water Utilization and Requirements of California," and
Bulletin No. 3 of the department entitled, "The California Water
Plan," with any necessary amendments, supplements, and additions to
the plan, shall be known as "The California Water Plan."
(b) (1) The department shall update The California Water Plan on
or before December 31, 2003, and every five years thereafter. The
department shall report the amendments, supplements, and additions
included in the updates of The California Water Plan, together with a
summary of the department's conclusions and recommendations, to the
Legislature in the session in which the updated plan is issued.
(2) The department shall establish an advisory committee,
comprised of representatives of agricultural and urban water
suppliers, local government, business, production agriculture, and
environmental interests, and other interested parties, to assist the
department in the updating of The California Water Plan. The
department shall consult with the advisory committee in carrying out
this section. The department shall provide written notice of meetings
of the advisory committee to any interested person or entity that
request the notice. The meetings shall be open to the public.
(3) The department shall release a preliminary draft of The
California Water Plan, as updated, upon request, to interested
persons and entities throughout the state for their review and
comments. The department shall provide these persons and entities an
opportunity to present written or oral comments on the preliminary
draft. The department shall consider these comments in the
preparation of the final publication of The California Water Plan, as
updated.

10004.5. As part of the requirement of the department to update The
California Water Plan pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004,
the department shall include in the plan a discussion of various
strategies, including, but not limited to, those relating to the
development of new water storage facilities, water conservation,
water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, and water transfers
that may be pursued in order to meet the future water needs of the
state. The department shall also include a discussion of the
potential for alternative water pricing policies to change current
and projected uses. The department shall include in the plan a
discussion of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each
strategy and an identification of all federal and state permits,
approvals, or entitlements that are anticipated to be required in
order to implement the various components of the strategy.

10004.6. (a) As part of updating The California Water Plan every
five years pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004, the
department shall conduct a study to determine the amount of water
needed to meet the state's future needs and to recommend programs,
policies, and facilities to meet those needs.
(b) The department shall consult with the advisory committee
established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004 in carrying
out this section.
(c) On or before January 1, 2002, and one year prior to issuing
each successive update to The California Water Plan, the department
shall release a preliminary draft of the assumptions and other
estimates upon which the study will be based, to interested persons
and entities throughout the state for their review and comments. The
department shall provide these persons and entities an opportunity to
present written or oral comments on the preliminary draft. The
department shall consider these documents when adopting the final
assumptions and estimates for the study. For the purpose of carrying
out this subdivision, the department shall release, at a minimum,
assumptions and other estimates relating to all of the following:
(1) Basin hydrology, including annual rainfall, estimated
unimpaired streamflow, depletions, and consumptive uses.
(2) Groundwater supplies, including estimates of sustainable
yield, supplies necessary to recover overdraft basins, and supplies
lost due to pollution and other groundwater contaminants.
(3) Current and projected land use patterns, including the mix of
residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and undeveloped
lands.
(4) Environmental water needs, including regulatory instream flow
requirements, nonregulated instream uses, and water needs by
wetlands, preserves, refuges, and other managed and unmanaged natural
resource lands.
(5) Current and projected population.
(6) Current and projected water use for all of the following:
(A) Interior uses in a single-family dwelling.
(B) Exterior uses in a single-family dwelling.
(C) All uses in a multifamily dwelling.
(D) Commercial uses.
(E) Industrial uses.
(F) Parks and open spaces.
(G) Agricultural water diversion and use.
(7) Evapotranspiration rates for major crop types, including
estimates of evaporative losses by irrigation practice and the extent
to which evaporation reduces transpiration.
(8) Current and projected adoption of urban and agricultural
conservation practices.
(9) Current and projected supplies of water provided by water
recycling and reuse.
(d) The department shall include a discussion of the potential for
alternative water pricing policies to change current and projected
water uses identified pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (c).
(e) Nothing in this section requires or prohibits the department
from updating any data necessary to update The California Water Plan
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004.

10005. (a) It is hereby declared that the people of the state have
a primary interest in the orderly and coordinated control,
protection, conservation, development, and utilization of the water
resources of the state by all individuals and entities and that it is
the policy of the state that The California Water Plan, with any
necessary amendments, supplements, and additions to the plan, is
accepted as the master plan which guides the orderly and coordinated
control, protection, conservation, development, management and
efficient utilization of the water resources of the state.
(b) The declaration set forth in subdivision (a) does not
constitute approval for the construction of specific projects or
routes for transfer of water, or for financial assistance, by the
state, without further legislative action, nor shall the declaration
be construed as a prohibition of the development of the water
resources of the state by any entity.

10005.1. The department or, at the department's request, the
California Water Commission, shall conduct a series of hearings with
interested persons, organizations, local, state, and federal
agencies, and representatives of the diverse geographical areas and
interests of the state.

10005.2. Prior to holding a hearing pursuant to Section 10005.1,
the department shall give notice by mail of the hearing to persons
and entities which have requested notice and have provided their name
and address to the department.

10006. The provisions of this part do not repeal or modify any of
the provisions of Part 3 of this division.

10007. Notwithstanding anything contained in this part, all
applications heretofore filed by the Department of Finance or by the
Department of Water Resources under Part 2 of Division 6 shall remain
valid and shall retain and have the status and priority accorded to
such applications as now or hereafter provided in said Part 2.

10008. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that agreements
which provide for the transfer of water from the federal Central
Valley Project to public entities supplying water for domestic or
irrigation use offer potential benefits to California's hard-pressed
farmers and to California's water-dependent urban areas.
It is the intent of the Legislature that these contracts be
entered into for the purposes of strengthening California's economy,
serving the public, and protecting the environment.
The director shall continue to pursue negotiations with the United
States Bureau of Reclamation to contract for the interim rights to
stored water from the federal Central Valley Project for use in the
State Water Resources Development System by state water supply
contractors.

10009. The director shall pursue discussions with the United States
Bureau of Reclamation to permit persons and public entities which
have entitlements to water from the federal Central Valley Project,
to enter into legally binding contracts with any public entity which
supplies water for domestic use, irrigation use, or environmental
protection in this state for the transfer of federal water
entitlements during times of shortage.

10011. (a) In preparing the California Water Plan, the director
shall conduct at least one public hearing within the boundaries of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and shall solicit the comments of
water agencies within the delta, agricultural groups representative
of delta agricultural activity, environmental groups concerned with
protecting delta wildlife habitat, and groups representative of those
who utilize water exported from the delta.
(b) The California Water Plan shall include a discussion of
various alternatives, including their advantages and disadvantages,
for improving and protecting the current uses and configuration of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be implemented only to the
extent money is appropriated in the annual Budget Act to carry out
this section.

10013. The department, as a part of the preparation of the
department's Bulletin 160-03, shall include in the California Water
Plan a report on the development of regional and local water projects
within each hydrologic region of the state, as described in the
department's Bulletin 160-98, to improve water supplies to meet
municipal, agricultural, and environmental water needs and minimize
the need to import water from other hydrologic regions. The report
shall include, but is not limited to, regional and local water
projects that use technologies for desalting brackish groundwater and
ocean water, reclaiming water for use within the community
generating the water to be reclaimed, the construction of improved
potable water treatment facilities so that water from sources
determined to be unsuitable can be used, and the construction of dual
water systems and brine lines, particularly in connection with new
developments and when replacing water piping in developed or
redeveloped areas.