SECTIONS 12200-12205 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 12200-12205

12200. The Legislature hereby finds that the water problems of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are unique within the State; the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers join at the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta to discharge their fresh water flows into Suisun, San Pablo and
San Francisco Bays and thence into the Pacific Ocean; the merging of
fresh water with saline bay waters and drainage waters and the
withdrawal of fresh water for beneficial uses creates an acute
problem of salinity intrusion into the vast network of channels and
sloughs of the Delta; the State Water Resources Development System
has as one of its objectives the transfer of waters from
water-surplus areas in the Sacramento Valley and the north coastal
area to water-deficient areas to the south and west of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta via the Delta; water surplus to the
needs of the areas in which it originates is gathered in the Delta
and thereby provides a common source of fresh water supply for
water-deficient areas. It is, therefore, hereby declared that a
general law cannot be made applicable to said Delta and that the
enactment of this law is necessary for the protection, conservation,
development, control and use of the waters in the Delta for the
public good.

12201. The Legislature finds that the maintenance of an adequate
water supply in the Delta sufficient to maintain and expand
agriculture, industry, urban, and recreational development in the
Delta area as set forth in Section 12220, Chapter 2, of this part,
and to provide a common source of fresh water for export to areas of
water deficiency is necessary to the peace, health, safety and
welfare of the people of the State, except that delivery of such
water shall be subject to the provisions of Section 10505 and
Sections 11460 to 11463, inclusive, of this code.

12202. Among the functions to be provided by the State Water
Resources Development System, in coordination with the activities of
the United States in providing salinity control for the Delta through
operation of the Federal Central Valley Project, shall be the
provision of salinity control and an adequate water supply for the
users of water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. If it is
determined to be in the public interest to provide a substitute water
supply to the users in said Delta in lieu of that which would be
provided as a result of salinity control no added financial burden
shall be placed upon said Delta water users solely by virtue of such
substitution. Delivery of said substitute water supply shall be
subject to the provisions of Section 10505 and Sections 11460 to
11463, inclusive, of this code.

12203. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State that no
person, corporation or public or private agency or the State or the
United States should divert water from the channels of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to which the users within said Delta are
entitled.

12204. In determining the availability of water for export from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta no water shall be exported which is
necessary to meet the requirements of Sections 12202 and 12203 of
this chapter.

12205. It is the policy of the State that the operation and
management of releases from storage into the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta of water for use outside the area in which such water
originates shall be integrated to the maximum extent possible in
order to permit the fulfillment of the objectives of this part.