9401-9420

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 9401-9420




9401.  The board of directors of a district shall manage and conduct
the business and affairs of the district.



9402.  The directors shall be empowered to conduct surveys,
investigations, and research relating to the conservation of
resources and the preventive and control measures and works of
improvement needed, publish the results of such surveys,
investigations, or research, and disseminate information concerning
such preventive control measures and works of improvement; provided,
however, that in order to avoid duplication of surveys,
investigations, and research activities, the directors shall seek the
cooperation of local, state, and federal agencies.



9403.  The directors may accept gifts and grants of money from any
source whatsoever to carry out the purposes of the district.



9403.5.  The directors may establish and charge fees for services
provided by the district to, and upon the request of, persons or
governmental entities. No fee shall exceed the cost reasonably borne
by the district in providing the service.




9404.  The directors may execute all necessary contracts. They may
employ such agents, officers, and employees as may be necessary,
prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation.



9405.  The directors may acquire by purchase, lease, contract, or
gift all lands and property necessary to carry out the plans and
works of the district. The directors may acquire conservation
easements as provided in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 815) of
Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code on lands within the
district. A district acquiring a conservation easement shall prepare
a management plan for the easement which fully describes the intent
and legal obligations respecting the easement and which shall be
consistent with the goals of the State Soil Conservation Plan and
other policies adopted pursuant to Section 9108.




9406.  The directors may take conveyances, leases, contracts, or
other assurances for all property acquired by the district, in the
name, and for the uses and purposes, of the district.



9407.  The directors may sue and be sued in the name of the district
and may appear in person or by counsel.



9408.  (a) The directors may cooperate and enter into contracts or
agreements with the state, the United States, any county, any city,
any other resource conservation or other public district in this
state, any person, or the commission, in furtherance of the
provisions of this division, and to that end may use any funds
available to the district as provided in this chapter, and may accept
and use contributions of labor, money, supplies, materials, or
equipment useful for accomplishing the purposes of the district.
   (b) Districts may cooperate with counties and cities on resource
issues of local concern. It is the intent of the Legislature to
encourage districts to facilitate cooperation among agencies of
government to address resource issues of local concern.
   (c) Districts may cooperate with federal, state, and local
agencies and owners of private lands under the agreement between the
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts and various
public and private entities known as the coordinated resource
management and planning memorandum of understanding.



9409.  The directors may make improvements or conduct operations on
public lands, with the cooperation of the agency administering and
having jurisdiction thereof, and on private lands, with the consent
of the owners thereof, in furtherance of the prevention or control of
soil erosion, water conservation and distribution, agricultural
enhancement, wildlife enhancement, and erosion stabilization,
including, but not limited to, terraces, ditches, levees, and dams or
other structures, and the planting of trees, shrubs, grasses, or
other vegetation.


9410.  The directors may operate and maintain, independently or in
cooperation with the United States or this state or any state agency
or political subdivision or any person, any and all works constructed
by the district.


9411.  The directors may disseminate information relating to soil
and water conservation and erosion stabilization, and may conduct
demonstrational projects within, or adjacent to, the district on
public land, with the consent of the agency administering or having
jurisdiction thereof, or on private lands, with the consent of the
owners thereof, independently or in cooperation with the United
States, this state or any political subdivision or public district
thereof, or any person.



9412.  Each district may provide technical assistance to private
landowners or land occupants within the district to support practices
that minimize soil and related resource degradation. When in the
judgment of the directors it is for the benefit of the district so to
do, they may give assistance to private landowners or land occupants
within the district in seeds, plants, materials and labor, and may
loan or rent to any such private landowner or land occupant
agricultural machinery or other equipment. No such assistance shall
be given or any such loans made unless the landowner or land occupant
receiving the aid or assistance agrees to devote and use the aid or
assistance on his or her lands within the district in furtherance of
objectives of the district and in accordance with district plans or
regulations. Notwithstanding the fact that the landowner or land
occupant is also a director, any landowner is qualified to and may
receive assistance or loans under this section.



9413.  (a) Each district may develop districtwide comprehensive
annual and long-range work plans as provided in this section. These
plans shall address the full range of soil and related resource
problems that are found to occur in the district.
   (b) The long-range work plans may be adopted and updated every
five years, in accordance with a standard statewide format which
shall be established by the commission. Districts may amend the
long-range plan prior to the five-year update in order to address
substantive changes occurring since the adoption of the most recent
long-range work plan. The long-range plans shall serve the following
functions:
   (1) Identification of resource issues within the district for
purposes of local, state, and federal resource conservation planning.
   (2) Establishment of long-range district goals.
   (3) Provision of a framework for directors to identify priorities
for annual district activities.
   (4) Provision of information to federal, state, and local
governments and the public concerning district programs and goals.
   (5) Setting forth a basis for evaluating annual work plan
achievements and allocating available state funding to the district.
   (6) Involvement of other agencies and organizations in the
district planning process in order to help ensure support in
implementing district plans.
   (c) The annual work plans may be adopted on or before March 1 of
each year in a format which shall be consistent with the district's
long-range work plan. The annual work plans shall serve the following
functions:
   (1) Identification of high priority actions to be undertaken by
the district during the year covered by the plan.
   (2) Identification of the person or persons responsible for
undertaking each planned task, how it will be performed, when it will
be completed, what constitutes completion, and the cost.
   (3) Demonstration of the relationship of annual tasks to the
long-range district goals identified in the long-range work plan.
   (4) Provision of assistance to the local field office of the Soil
Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture
in adjusting staff and program priorities to match district goals.
   (5) Informing the public of the district's goals for the year.
   (6) Involvement of other agencies and organizations in the
district planning process in order to help ensure support in
implementing district plans.
   (7) Provision of a basis for assisting the commission in
determining district eligibility for state funding under this
division.
   (d) A district may prepare an annual district report. The annual
district report shall be completed on or before September 1 of each
year in a format consistent with the long-range and annual plans, so
that progress made during the reporting period towards district goals
can be readily determined. The annual report shall serve the
following functions:
   (1) To report on the district's achievements during the reporting
period to the commission, the department, the board of supervisors of
any county in which the district is located, and any agency that
reviews district requests for funding assistance.
   (2) To increase public awareness of district activities.
   (3) To compare district accomplishments during the reporting
period with annual work plan objectives for that period and to
identify potential objectives for the next annual work plan.



9414.  Directors may accept, by purchase, lease, or gift, and
administer any soil conservation, water conservation, water
distribution, erosion control, or erosion prevention project located
within the district undertaken by the United States or any of its
agencies, or by this state or any of its agencies.



9415.  The directors may manage, as agents of the United States or
any of its agencies, or of this state or any of its agencies, any
soil conservation, water conservation, water distribution, flood
control, erosion control, erosion prevention, or erosion
stabilization project, within or adjacent to the district; and may
act as agent for the United States, or any of its agencies, or for
this state or any of its agencies, in connection with the
acquisition, construction, operation, or administration of any soil
conservation, water conservation, water distribution, flood control,
erosion control, erosion prevention, or erosion stabilization project
within or adjacent to the district.



9416.  The directors may establish standards of cropping and tillage
operations and range practices on private land as a condition to
expenditure by the district of district or other funds, or to the
doing by the district of any work of any nature, on private lands.




9417.  (a) The directors of any district may cooperate with the
directors of any other district in respect to matters of common
interest or benefit to the districts. An association of resource
conservation districts may be organized to facilitate that
cooperation, to provide for the loan of equipment and tools by one
district to another, and for the making of investigations and studies
and the carrying out of projects of joint interest to the districts
participating therein.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage districts to
organize in countywide or regional associations for the purposes of
(1) providing coordinated representation of districts before federal,
state, and local governmental agencies and (2) coordinating program
planning, funding, and delivery of services.




9417.5.  It is the intent of the Legislature that concerned state
agencies, in cooperation with resource conservation districts and
other appropriate local entities, work with the agencies of the
United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of the
Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal
agencies, to maximize cooperative opportunities for federal, state,
and private funding for competitive grants and contracts for
watershed protection, restoration, and enhancement programs of
resource conservation districts.


9418.  The directors of any district may call upon the district
attorney of the principal county for legal advice and assistance in
all matters concerning the district, except that if the principal
county has a county counsel, then the directors shall call upon him
for such legal advice and assistance. The district attorney or county
counsel, as may be appropriate, shall, upon the request being made,
give such advice and assistance.



9419.  (a) The directors may engage in activities designed to
promote a knowledge of the principles of resource conservation
throughout the district and for that purpose may develop educational
programs both for children and for adults. In the development of
those programs, the directors may authorize the giving of awards and
prizes for outstanding achievement.
   (b) Each district may develop and disseminate or utilize
conservation education programs for use in kindergarten through grade
12. As an option to developing these programs independently, it is
the intent of the Legislature to encourage both collaboration with
other organizations and incorporation of elements of existing
programs.
   (c) A district may conduct workshops on the relationships between
soil and related resource problems and their effects on other
resources, such as wildlife and water quality.
   (d) A district may sponsor programs that address land use
practices which reduce water and wind erosion, soil contamination,
soil salinity, agricultural land conversion, loss of soil organic
matter, soil subsidence, and soil compaction and associated poor
water infiltration.



9420.  The board of directors of a district may appoint advisory
committees to provide technical assistance in addressing soil and
related resource problems, to assist in coordinating conservation
programs and activities, and to share information relating to the
functions or purposes of the district. Representatives of state,
federal, and local governmental agencies, including school districts,
as well as private organizations, may serve on these advisory
committees.