Article 1 - General Provisions

California Code of Civil Procedure — §§ 830-832

Sections (4)

Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 672, Sec. 1. (AB 1390) Effective January 1, 2016.

(a)This chapter establishes methods and procedures for a comprehensive adjudication.

(b)This chapter shall be applied and interpreted consistently with all of the following:

(1)Protecting water rights consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution.

(2)Conducting a comprehensive adjudication in a manner that promotes efficiency, reduces unnecessary delays, and provides due process.

(3)Encouraging the compromise and settlement of comprehensive adjudications.

(4)Conducting a comprehensive adjudication in a manner that is consistent with the achievement of groundwater sustainability within the timeframes of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

(5)Establishing procedures by which courts may conduct comprehensive determinations of all rights and priorities to groundwater in a basin.

(6)Providing for the conduct of a comprehensive adjudication consistent with Winters v. United States (1908) 207 U.S. 564, the McCarran Amendment (codified at 43 U.S.C. Sec. 666), and any other

federal laws regarding the determination of federal or tribal water rights, as applicable.

(7)Providing notice and due process sufficient to enable a court in a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter to determine and establish the priority for unexercised water rights. The court may consider applying the principles established in In re Waters of Long Valley Creek Stream System (1979) 25 Cal.3d 339. Except as provided in this paragraph, this chapter shall not alter groundwater rights or the law concerning groundwater rights.

(c)The other provisions of this code apply to procedures in a comprehensive adjudication to the extent they do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 831

Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 672, Sec. 1. (AB 1390) Effective January 1, 2016.

Article 6 (commencing with Section 68630) of Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Government Code applies to a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter.

§ 831.5

Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 665, Sec. 1. (AB 779) Effective January 1, 2024.

(a)In an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code), the court shall appoint one party to forward all case management orders, judgments, and interlocutory orders to the groundwater

sustainability agency within 10 business days of issuance. The groundwater sustainability agency shall post the documents on its internet website in the interest of transparency and accessibility within 20 business days of receipt from a party. This section does not apply to any documents that have been sealed by the court.

(b)For a basin that has multiple groundwater sustainability agencies, the groundwater sustainability agencies, in consultation with the parties to the adjudication, shall select which agency will post

these documents on its internet website.

(c)The court shall allocate payment of the costs incurred by the party appointed to forward all case management orders, judgments, and interlocutory orders to the groundwater sustainability agency

among the parties in an amount and a manner that the court deems equitable.

§ 832

Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 86, Sec. 26. (SB 1171) Effective January 1, 2017.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Basin” has the same meaning as defined in Section 10721 of the Water Code.

(b)“Complaint” means a complaint filed in superior court to determine rights to extract groundwater and includes any cross-complaint that initiates a

comprehensive adjudication in response to a plaintiff’s complaint or other cross-complaint.

(c)“Comprehensive adjudication” means an action filed in superior court to comprehensively determine rights to extract groundwater in a basin.

(d)“Condition of long-term overdraft” means the condition of a groundwater basin where the average annual amount of water extracted for a long-term period, generally 10 years or more, exceeds the long-term average annual supply of water to the basin, plus any temporary surplus. Overdraft during a period of drought is not sufficient to establish a condition of long-term overdraft if extractions and recharge are managed as necessary to ensure that reductions in groundwater levels or storage during a period of drought are offset by increases in groundwater levels or storage during other periods.

(e)“Department” means the Department of Water Resources.

(f)“Expert witness” means a witness qualified pursuant to Section 720 of the Evidence Code.

(g)“Groundwater” means water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water that flows in known and definite channels.

(h)“Groundwater extraction facility” means a device or method for extracting groundwater in a basin.

(i)“Groundwater recharge” means the augmentation of groundwater, by natural or artificial means.

(j)“Person” includes, but is not limited to, counties, local agencies, state agencies, federal agencies,

tribes, business entities, and individuals.

(k)“Plaintiff” means the person filing the complaint initiating a comprehensive adjudication and includes a cross-complainant who initiates a comprehensive adjudication by cross-complaint.

(l)“Public water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.

(m)“State small water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.

(n)“Sustainable Groundwater Management Act” means Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code.