12050-12057

WATER CODE
SECTION 12050-12057




12050.  The following definitions shall govern the construction of
this part:
   (a) "Public agency" includes any city, county, district, or other
political subdivision of the State of California.
   (b) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources.




12051.  The Legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this
part is to enable the acquisition of water supplies from the Washoe
Project on the Truckee and Carson Rivers or their tributaries for
beneficial use in California.


12052.  The department may enter into a contract for the acquisition
of and payment for a water supply made available to the people of
the State of California by the Washoe Reclamation Project--Nevada and
California (Act of August 1, 1956, c. 809, Sec. 1, 70 Stat. 775, 43
U.S.C. Sec. 614 (1958), and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary
thereto) or by any division or unit thereof; provided, that the
authority of the department to so contract shall not be exercised
unless the governing body of one or more of the counties or
countywide water agencies or countywide districts in the area where
the water supply will be used shall first request the department to
take such action by duly adopted resolution.



12053.  (a) As a provision of any contract entered into pursuant to
Section 12052, and for the purpose of securing its performance
thereunder, the department may assign rights which have accrued or
which will accrue to the department from the execution of contracts
entered into pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section
12054.
   (b) Such rights may be effectively assigned notwithstanding the
fact that contracts creating such rights have not, at the time of the
assignment of rights to accrue thereunder, been executed, the
provisions of Section 1045 of the Civil Code or of any other
provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding. The department may
require, as a condition precedent to its duty to perform any
obligation incurred by virtue of its entry into any contract pursuant
to Section 12052, the subsequent execution of all contracts to be
entered into by the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
12054 which are to create the rights assigned.
   (c) The department may give such assurances, in the form of
covenants in contracts to which it is a party pursuant to the
provisions of Section 12052, as may be required by the terms of any
interstate compact which effectively allocates water supplies from
the Washoe Project or from any division or unit thereof, or by the
federal government, including any agency thereof, as operating agency
of the Washoe Project or of any division or unit thereof, which
assurances are in the judgment of the department necessary and proper
to the execution of the intent expressed by this part.



12054.  Under such regulations and upon such terms, limitations, and
conditions as it prescribes, the department may:
   (a) Fix and establish the prices, rates, and charges at which the
water supply made available to the people of the State of California
by the Washoe Project, or by any division or unit thereof, shall be
sold and disposed of; and
   (b) Enter into contracts and agreements with public agencies or
with portions thereof as described in subdivision (e) of Section
12056, for the sale and disposal of water supplies acquired by it
pursuant to Section 12052.



12055.  (a) As a provision of any contract entered into pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 12054, and for the purpose of securing its
performance thereunder, the department may assign rights which have
accrued or which will accrue to the department from the execution of
any contract entered into pursuant to the provisions of Section
12052.
   (b) Such rights may be assigned notwithstanding the fact that no
contract pursuant to the provisions of Section 12052 has, at the time
of assignment of rights to accrue thereunder, been executed, the
provisions of Section 1045 of the Civil Code or of any other
provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding. The department may
require, as a condition precedent to its duty to perform any
obligation incurred by virtue of its entry into any contract pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 12054, the subsequent execution of any
contract to be entered into by the department pursuant to Section
12052 which is to create the rights assigned.
   (c) The department is authorized to require such assurances from
public agencies, in the form of covenants in contracts to which it is
a party under the provisions of subdivision (b) of Section 12054, as
are in the judgment of the department necessary and proper to the
execution of the intent expressed by this part.



12056.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, every
public agency empowered by law to make water available for any
beneficial use of lands or inhabitants is hereby granted, in addition
to and not in derogation or limitation of the powers conferred upon
the public agency by any other law, the power:
   (a) To enter into a contract with the department, subject to the
provisions of Section 12057, for a water supply from the Washoe
Project, or from any division or unit thereof, on behalf of the
entire public agency, or of any portion or portions thereof for which
the law applicable to the agency authorizes an indebtedness or
liability to be incurred, including any improvement district,
distribution district, or zone existing or hereafter established
pursuant to the provisions of the law under which the public agency
was formed, or pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (e) of this
section, within said public agency, notwithstanding any debt
limitation or other provision in the law applicable to such agency
which might otherwise preclude or limit the incurring of such
indebtedness or liability.
   (b) To comply with the provisions of any contract entered into
with the department under this part, including any provision which
obligates the public agency, or any specified portion or portions
thereof, to meet all commitments, financial or otherwise, undertaken
by the public agency in such contract, notwithstanding any individual
default by its constituents or others in the payment to the public
agency of taxes, assessments, tolls, or other charges levied by the
public agency.
   (c) To annually levy or cause to be levied upon all property in
the public agency, or in any portion or portions thereof, subject to
taxation or assessment by the public agency an ad valorem tax or
assessment, based upon the assessed valuation of such property,
necessary and sufficient to meet all commitments, financial or
otherwise, of the public agency that are set forth in any contract
which the agency enters into with the department under this part, in
addition to any other taxes or assessments which the public agency is
authorized to levy or cause to be levied on such property and
notwithstanding any provision in the law applicable to such agency
which might otherwise preclude or limit such taxing or assessing.
Where the law applicable to such public agency does not set forth a
procedure for levying and collecting taxes or assessments on an ad
valorem basis, such public agency shall utilize the procedure for
levying and collecting taxes for the payment of principal and
interest on general obligation bonds of municipal water districts,
set forth in the Municipal Water District Law of 1911 (Division 20
(commencing with Section 70000) of this code), as it may now or
hereafter be amended, for the purpose of levying and collecting taxes
or assessments necessary and sufficient to meet commitments in a
contract entered into under this part.
   (d) To make charges for the furnishing of services in connection
with the exercise of rights acquired under its contract with the
department and to pledge and use any or all revenues received from
the collection of such charges for the purpose of meeting the
commitments, financial or otherwise, of the public agency that are
set forth in any contract which the public agency enters into with
the department under this part.
   (e) To establish, by resolutions of the governing board thereof
adopted from time to time, after notice and hearing thereon, zones of
benefit within said public agency without reference to the
boundaries of other zones, setting forth in such resolutions
descriptions thereof by metes and bounds and entitle each of such
zones by zone number. The governing board may, by resolution, after
notice and hearing thereon, amend the boundaries by annexing property
to or by withdrawing property from said zones or may divide existing
zones into two or more zones or may superimpose a new or amended
zone or zones already in existence, setting forth in such resolutions
descriptions of the amended, divided or superimposed zones by metes
and bounds and entitle each of such zones by zone number; provided,
that no such amendment, division, or superimposition shall impair the
obligations of existing zones undertaken pursuant to the provisions
of this part.
   The assumption of any indebtedness which the public agency is
authorized to incur may be by the entire public agency, or may be by
a zone or zones thereof if less than the entire public agency will be
benefited by the purpose for which such indebtedness is incurred. In
the latter event any election required to authorize the indebtedness
shall be held only within the affected zone or zones.
   (f) To perform all acts and do all things that are necessary or
convenient to carry out the above powers.



12057.  (a) Before a public agency may enter into a contract with
the department for a water supply from the Washoe Project, or from
any division or unit thereof, the public agency shall hold an
election on the proposition of whether or not the public agency shall
enter into the proposed contract and more than 50 percent of the
votes cast at such election must be in favor of such proposition;
provided, that if a higher percentage of favorable votes is required
by the Constitution before the public agency may incur an
indebtedness, such higher percentage shall apply in lieu of the
percentage set forth in this subdivision. Such election shall be held
in accordance with the following provisions:
   (1) The procedure for holding an election on the incurring of
bonded indebtedness by such public agency shall be utilized for an
election on the proposed contract as nearly as the same may be
applicable. Where the law applicable to such agency does not contain
such bond election procedure, the procedure set forth in the Revenue
Bond Law of 1941 (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 54300) Part 1,
Division 2, Title 5 of the Government Code), as it may now or
hereafter be amended, shall be utilized as nearly as the same may be
applicable.
   (2) No particular form of ballot is required.
   (3) The notice of the election shall include a statement of the
time and place of the election, the purpose of the election, the
general purpose of the contract, and the maximum amount of money to
be borrowed from the state under the contract.
   (4) The ballots for the election shall contain a brief statement
of the general purpose of the contract substantially as stated in the
notice of the election and shall contain the words "Execution of
contract--Yes" and "Execution of contract--No."
   (5) The election shall be held in the entire public agency except
where the public agency proposes to contract with the department on
behalf of a specified portion, or of specified portions, of the
public agency, in which case the election shall be held in such
portion or portions of the public agency only.
   (b) Every public agency is hereby granted the power to bring an
action in the superior court of the county in which the office of
such agency is situated to determine the validity of any contract
made with the department under this part, and the authority of the
public agency to enter into the contract. The action shall be had as
in the case of the judicial determination of the validity of the
public agency's bonds, as nearly as the same may be applicable, and
with like effect. Where the law applicable to such agency does not
set forth a procedure for the judicial determination of the validity
of the public agency's bonds, the action shall be had as in the case
of the judicial determination of the general obligation bonds of
irrigation districts under the Irrigation District Law (Division 11
(commencing with Section 20500) of this code), as it may now or
hereafter be amended, as nearly as the same may be applicable, and
with like effect.