4999-5009

WATER CODE
SECTION 4999-5009




4999.  The Legislature finds and declares that by reason of the
combination of light rainfall, concentrated population, the
transition of considerable areas of land from agricultural use to
urban use, and a similar dependence on ground water supplies which
prevails in the Counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles,
and Ventura, together with the fact that most such underground water
supplies are overdrawn, it is necessary that the provisions of this
part apply to said counties only.



5000.  As used in this Part 5, the following terms shall have the
respective meanings stated below, viz:
   (a) "Ground water" means water beneath the surface of the ground
whether or not flowing through known and definite channels.
   (b) "Surface water" means water on the surface of the ground.
   (c) "Four counties" means the Counties of Riverside, San
Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Ventura.
   (d) "Person" means all persons whether natural or artificial,
including the United States of America, the State of California, and
all political subdivisions, districts, municipalities and public
agencies of or in either the State or the United States.
   (e) "Sources" means any point of diversion or extraction of water
and includes among other things wells, tunnels, and headworks.



5001.  Each person who, after 1955, extracts ground water in excess
of 25 acre-feet in any year shall file with the board on or before
March 1st of the succeeding year a "Notice of Extraction and
Diversion of Water" (hereinafter called "notice") in the form
provided in Section 5002; provided, however, that no notice need be
filed with respect to, and there shall not be required to be included
in any such notice, (a) information concerning the extraction or
diversion of water from a source from which less than 10 acre-feet
has been taken during such year, (b) information concerning a taking
or diversion of surface water for the purpose of generating
electrical energy and other nonconsumptive uses, and for incidental
uses in connection therewith, or (c) information concerning
extractions or diversions of water which are included in annual
reports filed with a court or the board by a watermaster appointed by
a court or pursuant to statute to administer a final judgment
determining rights to water, which reports identify the persons who
have extracted or diverted water and give the general place of use
and the quantity of water which has been extracted or diverted from
each source.


5002.  Each notice shall be on a form provided by the board. The
first notice filed by any person shall state:
   (a) The name of the person extracting ground water or diverting
surface water.
   (b) The quantity of water taken and the method of measurement used
by such person or his predecessor in interest in each preceding year
from each surface or ground water source; provided, that if the
period of such taking exceeds 10 years, such person is not required
to state such quantities for any period greater than the preceding 10
calendar years.
   (c) The location (sufficient for identification) of each surface
or ground water source through or by means of which water has been
taken, and if any person or persons other than the person filing said
notice claims any interest in such source or the right to extract
water therefrom, the name or names, so far as known, of such other
person or persons.
   (d) A general description of the area in which such water has been
used.
   (e) Any other facts which the board may require by general
regulation and which tend to prove the facts required by this section
to be stated, the origin of water supplying any ground water source
mentioned in the notice, water levels in any such source, or the
extent of any ground water basin from which such water is withdrawn.
   (f) Any person diverting only surface water and not more than 25
acre-feet of ground water in any year need not file such notice for
such year.
   Notices, other than the first notice filed, shall state, in
addition to the name of the person extracting or diverting such
water:
   First: The quantity of water taken from each surface and ground
water source from which such person received any water in the
preceding calendar year.
   Second: Location of each such surface and ground water source
through or by means of which water has been taken in such preceding
year. This may be stated, so far as applicable, by reference to the
water sources described in the original notice.
   Third: If such person diverts surface water in excess of three
miner's inches, such person shall further state in said notice the
period or periods of such diversion, and the maximum and minimum
flows so diverted in each period.
   Fourth: Any other facts which the board may require by general
regulation, and which tend to prove facts required by this
subdivision to be stated, the origin of water supplying any surface
or ground water source mentioned in the notice, water levels or flow
in any such source, or the extent or origin of the water source
supplying the ground water supply from which such water is extracted.



5003.  No prescriptive right that might otherwise accrue to extract
ground water shall arise or accrue to, nor shall any statute of
limitations operate in regard to the ground water in the four
counties after the year 1956 in favor of any person required to file
a notice of extraction and diversion of water, until that person
files with the board the first "Notice of Extraction and Diversion of
Water" substantially in the form mentioned in Section 5002. As to
each person who fails to file that notice by the end of the year in
1957, it shall be deemed for the period from that time until the
first notice of the person is filed, that no claim of right to the
extraction of ground water from any source in the four counties has
been made by the person, and that water extracted by the person from
the ground water source during that period has not been devoted to or
used for any beneficial use. The beneficial use of water from any
ground water source within the four counties in any year by the
person shall be deemed not to exceed the quantity reported in the
notice filed for that year.



5004.  After the year 1959, failure to file with the board a notice
for any calendar year within six months after the close of such
calendar year shall be deemed equivalent for all purposes to nonuse
for such year of any ground water within the four counties by each
person failing to so file a notice within said period; provided, that
this section and Section 5003 shall not apply to any person whose
aggregate extractions of ground water in any year does not exceed 25
acre-feet nor to any extractions of ground water with respect to
which no notice is required to be filed under this part.



5005.  Except as specified in Section 5004, failure to file the
notice or delay in filing the same shall not cause the loss of rights
to ground water which existed on January 1, 1956.



5006.  Each notice shall be sworn to and shall be accompanied by a
filing fee which shall be fixed by the board pursuant to Section
1529.


5007.  Any person may apply to the board to investigate the facts
stated in any specified notice so filed and to state in writing its
determination of the facts found by it upon such investigation. The
cost of such investigation and determination shall be paid by such
applicant by such deposits or in such payments as may be fixed by the
board. In the event the board makes a determination which differs in
any material respect from the facts contained in the notice, then,
prior to making its final determination, the board shall notify both
the person filing said notice and the person requesting a
determination of facts of its proposed findings, and shall invite
either party to submit further information prior to making its final
determination, and no such final determination shall be made until
sixty (60) days after the parties have been so notified of the board'
s proposed determination.
   In any action or proceeding hereafter pending in which the facts,
or any of them, contained in the notices so filed are material, such
notices shall not be evidence of any fact stated therein, but such
determination by the board shall be prima facie evidence of said
facts.


5008.  The making of any willful misstatement in any notice shall be
a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not to
exceed six months, or both.


5009.  (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, on
and after January 1, 2005, each person who extracts groundwater in a
board-designated local area, and who is otherwise subject to this
part, shall file the required notice with the appropriate local
agency designated pursuant to subdivision (e), instead of the board,
in accordance with this part. The notice shall be on a form provided
by the local agency and the content of the form shall be determined
by the local agency in accordance with Section 5002. To the extent
possible, the form shall consolidate the notice required under this
section with other reports required by the local agency relating to
the extraction of groundwater.
   (2) A person who is subject to this section is subject to this
part in the same manner and to the same extent as a person who files
his or her notice with the board.
   (b) Each notice filed with the local agency may include a filing
fee determined by the local agency. If the local agency chooses to
impose a filing fee, the local agency shall calculate the amount of
the fee to pay for administrative expenses incurred in connection
with the processing, compiling, and retaining of the notices, but in
no event shall the fee amount exceed that amount charged by the board
pursuant to Section 5006.
   (c) The local agency shall make available to governmental agencies
the information collected pursuant to this section.
   (d) For the purposes of this section:
   (1) "Board-designated local area" means the area entirely within
the jurisdiction of the local agency that the board has determined
shall be subject to this section, and any area for which the local
agency has formally agreed to accept the required notice.
   (2) "Local agency" means the local public agency or court
appointed watermaster that has been designated by the board in
accordance with subdivision (e).
   (e) The board shall designate an entity as a local agency for the
purposes of this section, if the board determines that all of the
following apply:
   (1) The entity has volunteered to be designated.
   (2) The entity has responsibilities relating to the extraction or
use of groundwater.
   (3) The entity has made satisfactory arrangements with the board
to identify which groundwater extractors are within the designated
local area and to avoid the submission of notices to both the board
and one or more local agencies.
   (4) The entity has made satisfactory arrangements with the board
to maintain records filed under this part for extractions within the
designated local area, and to make those records available to
governmental agencies.