SECTIONS 79104.20-79104.34 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 79104.20-79104.34

79104.20. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The Santa Ana Watershed is experiencing increased water
demands due to significant population growth that has caused undue
infrastructure dependence and strain on imported water supplies.
(b) Regional programs have been developed to address the problems
facing the watershed. These programs have four main elements, as
follows:
(1) Storage of more than one million acre-feet of water from wet
years in groundwater storage basins.
(2) Conservation, including water use efficiency and reclamation,
that results in the substantial development of new usable supplies.
(3) Desalting and treatment of brackish water to allow poor
quality water to be reclaimed and used.
(4) Enhancement of native habitat along the river and its
tributaries.
(c) The water supply programs proposed by the Santa Ana Watershed
Project Authority will develop significant new water supply and
storage capabilities, thereby reducing the imported water needs of
urban southern California, especially during dry years.

79104.22. (a) There is hereby created in the account the Santa Ana
River Watershed Subaccount.
(b) For purposes of this article, "subaccount" means the Santa Ana
River Watershed Subaccount created by subdivision (a).

79104.24. The sum of two hundred thirty-five million dollars
($235,000,000) is hereby transferred from the account to the
subaccount.

79104.26. The money in the subaccount, upon appropriation by the
Legislature to the board, may be used by the board for allocation to
the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority for all of the following
projects for the purposes of rehabilitating and improving the Santa
Ana River Watershed:
(a) Basin water banking in one or more of the following basins:
Chino, Colton, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San
Jacinto.
(b) Contaminant and salt removal through reclamation and desalting
in Orange County, San Jacinto, or other basins in the watershed.
(c) Removal of nonnative plants, and the creation of new open
space and wetlands.
(d) Programs for water conservation and efficiency and storm water
capture and management.
(e) Planning and implementation of a flood control program to
protect agricultural operations and adjacent property , to assist in
abating the effects of waste discharges into waters of the state,
consistent with the requirements of Section 13442.

79104.30. It is the intent of the Legislature to urge the federal
government to allocate funds for projects to improve the Santa Ana
River Watershed to match the state's financial commitment to the
projects described in this article.

79104.32. It is the intent of the Legislature that the expenditure
of the funds under this article be made through a broad-based
watershed stakeholder process.

79104.34. Not more than 3 percent of the total amount deposited in
the subaccount may be used to pay costs incurred by the board in
connection with the administration of this article.