SECTIONS 10900-10904 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 10900-10904

10900. This part shall be known and may be cited as the
Agricultural Water Suppliers Efficient Water Management Practices
Act.

10901. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Agriculture is a vital industry in California.
(b) The waters of the state are a limited and renewable resource.
(c) Agriculture has already implemented many improvements to water
use efficiency.
(d) Implementation of additional water management practices could
further improve agricultural water use efficiency in many areas.
(e) In many areas agricultural water suppliers are already
carrying out water management practices to improve the efficiency of
water use.
(f) Agricultural water suppliers can implement efficient water
management practices for the delivery of water and can assist their
users to improve the efficiency of their use of water.

10902. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in
this section govern construction of this part.
(a) "Agricultural water supplier" or "supplier" means a supplier,
either publicly or privately owned, supplying water, regardless of
the basis of right, for agricultural purposes.
(b) "Efficient water management practices" means reasonable and
economically justifiable programs to improve the delivery and use of
water used for agricultural purposes.
(c) "Water conservation" means the reduction of the amount of
water irretrievably lost to saline sinks, moisture-deficient soils,
water surface evaporation, or noncrop evapotranspiration in the
process of satisfying an existing beneficial use achieved either by
improving the technology or method for diverting, transporting,
applying, or recovering the water or by implementation of other
conservation methods.

10903. (a) The department shall establish an advisory committee
comprised of representatives of the California farming community,
agricultural water suppliers, the department, the Department of Food
and Agriculture, the University of California, the California State
University, public interest groups, and other interested parties.
(b) The department shall periodically review potential efficient
water management practices to determine which are feasible to achieve
water conservation, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 10902.
(c) The department may carry out cooperative studies of the
effectiveness and efficiency of potential water management practices
and implemented efficient water management practices to provide the
basis for future recommendations.
(d) Nothing in this part shall be construed to affect water
rights.
(e) The department shall consult with the advisory committee in
carrying out its periodic reviews and conducting studies of water
management practices as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c).

10904. (a) The department shall offer assistance to agricultural
water suppliers to implement efficient water management practices to
improve the efficiency of water use.
(b) Assistance offered by the department shall include, but not be
limited to, technical consultation and training in methods to
deliver water to farmers based on their actual water needs,
evaluating and recommending improvements to the uniformity with which
water is applied, advising farmers on the optimum quantities of
water to apply and when to apply it, and any other technologies or
management methods to improve the efficiency of water use.