SECTIONS 300-311 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 300-311

300. For the purposes of this article, an artesian well is any
artifical hole made in the ground through which water naturally flows
from subterranean sources to the surface of the ground for any
length of time.

301. For the purposes of this article, waste is the causing,
suffering, or permitting any water flowing from an artesian well, to
run either:
(a) Into any natural watercourse or channel, or into any bay or
pond, unless the water is used thereafter for irrigation or domestic
use.
(b) Into any street, road, or highway.
(c) Upon the land of any person or upon the public land of the
United States or of the State, unless it is used thereon for
irrigation, domestic use, or the propagation of fish.

302. The use of any water flowing from an artesian well for the
irrigation of land, whenever over 5 per cent of the water received on
the land for irrigation purposes is permitted to escape from the
land, is waste within the meaning of this article.

303. Nothing in this article prevents the running of artesian water
into an artificial pond or storage-reservoir, if the water is used
thereafter for a beneficial use.

304. A beneficial use under the next preceding section shall not
exceed one tenth of one miner's inch of water per acre, perpetual
flow, but the person using the water may cumulate that amount within
any period of each year.

305. Any artesian well which is not capped or equipped with a
mechanical appliance which will readily and effectively arrest and
prevent the flow of any water from the well is a public nuisance.

306. The owner, tenant, or occupant of the land upon which a well
which is a public nuisance under the next preceding section is
situated, who causes, permits, or suffers such public nuisance to
exist or continue is guilty of a misdemeanor.

307. Any person owning, possessing, or occupying any land upon
which is situated an artesian well, who causes, suffers, or permits
water unnecessarily to flow from the well or to go to waste is guilty
of a misdemeanor.

308. Each day's continuance of waste constitutes a new offense.

309. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article
is punishable for each offense by a fine of not less than fifty
dollars ($50) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by
both.

310. All prosecutions for the violation of any of the provisions of
this article shall be instituted in the superior court of the county
where the well is situated.

311. Any fine imposed under the provisions of this article may be
collected as in other criminal cases, and the justice may also issue
an execution upon the judgment therein rendered, which may be
enforced and collected as in civil cases.