SECTIONS 43000-43007 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 43000-43007

43000. The board may acquire, improve, and operate the necessary
works for the storage and distribution of water, and any drainage or
reclamation works connected therewith.

43001. The board may sell, distribute, or otherwise dispose of
water and water rights not necessary for the uses and purposes of the
district.

43002. The board may grant to the owner or lessee of a right to the
use of any water permission to store the water in any reservoir of
the district or to carry it through any conduit of the district.

43003. The board shall establish equitable rules and regulations
for the most economical and efficient distribution and use of water
within the district, and pursuant thereto may enter into long-term
water service contracts with landowners in the district which
contracts may, in the discretion of the board, provide, among other
things, that the obligations are a lien on the land with the same
force, effect, and priority as an assessment lien if such contract is
recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county in which
such land is situated. The rules, regulations, and contracts shall
recognize and shall be subject to such priorities in the right to
water between the different consumers of the water as may legally
exist. Among other things the rules and regulations may establish a
procedure for fixing tolls and charges authorized by Sections 43006
and 47180 and may provide equitable rules for reapportionment of
assessments supplementary to the provisions of Article 8 (commencing
with Section 46325) of Chapter 2 of Part 9 of this division.

43003.5. Upon adoption of rules and regulations, or the adoption of
any amendment thereto, a certified copy thereof shall be recorded
with the county recorder of each affected county, and until so
recorded, no rule or regulation, or amendment thereto, shall be
enforceable against any person not having actual knowledge thereof. A
copy of the adopted rules and regulations in effect in the district
shall be maintained on file and open for inspection at the district
office by the district secretary.

43004. In the event that the volume of water under the control of
any district is in any season so diminished below normal, by reason
of water shortage or otherwise, as to make it probable that all the
land cannot receive the full amount of water which it may need and to
which it would otherwise be entitled, the deficiency shall be borne
ratably by all the land, except insofar as priorities in the right to
water as between different lands may prevent. The board may make
rules and regulations to provide for distributing the burden of the
deficiency and for the most economical and efficient use of the water
which is or probably will be available.

43005. The board may enter into contracts with any or all
interested parties for settlement or determination of any or all
water rights on any stream system or on any part thereof which
concerns the district or for the administration of water rights or of
waters of any such stream system or any part thereof, whether by
watermaster or otherwise; and if, in connection with any such
contract and to make such contract efficiently operable for the
benefit of the district, the board shall expressly find that the
district should act for others also, whether their lands and water
rights are within or without the district, then the district, with
the written approval of any interested party for whom the district
undertakes to act, may do so to the extent and under the terms which
are expressed in any such contract.

43006. In addition to levying assessments or fixing tolls and
charges under Part 9 (commencing with Section 46000) of this
division, and in lieu either in whole or in part of calling such
assessments, the board may fix tolls or charges for the use of water,
including the use of groundwater, or for any other service of any
type or nature whether or not related to water use, rendered by the
district, and collect the same from all persons receiving the benefit
of the water or other services. The tolls and charges shall be
proportional, as nearly as practicable, to the services rendered.
Such tolls or charges may be levied and collected in order to
provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of amounts due to the
state, the department, any other district, or the United States,
whether for capital charges or service charges or otherwise, pursuant
to contracts made in accordance with Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 44000) of this part, or in order to provide, in whole or in
part, for the payment of the costs of a project or the principal of
and interest on bonds or warrants of the district, or in order to
provide a bond reserve fund to secure bonds of the district, or in
order to provide for the operation and maintenance of a project
pursuant to Section 47180, or to obtain funds for any lawful purpose
of the district. The provisions of Sections 47181 to 47185,
inclusive, shall be applicable to any such tolls or charges.

43007. If tolls or charges are levied and collected in order to
provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of amounts due under
more than one contract, such tolls and charges may be fixed, levied
and collected in such a manner as to, as nearly as practicable,
charge the lands served under a particular contract with the amounts
due under such contract. The assessment commissioners appointed under
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 46150) of Part 9 of this division
may apply this principle in determining the portion of the total
benefits to accrue to the district under a particular contract which
will be realized by each parcel of land in separate ownership in the
district.