Chapter 7 - Colorado River Management Program

California Water Code — §§ 12560-12565

Sections (6)

Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 813, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in this section govern the construction of this chapter:

(a)“Account” means the Colorado River Management Account created pursuant to Section 12561.

(b)“California Plan” means the plan being developed by the Colorado River Board of California, the public agencies represented on that board, and the director to ensure that California can live within the state’s apportionment of Colorado River water.

§ 12561

Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 760, Sec. 22. Effective September 30, 2008.

There is hereby created the Colorado River Management Account in the General Fund. Moneys in the account are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for use in accordance with this chapter.

§ 12562

Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 613, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2004.

(a)(1) In furtherance of implementing and achieving the goals of the “California Plan,” the sum of two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) in the account shall be used by the director to finance and arrange for lining portions of the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal.

(2)The canal lining projects shall be completed not later than December 31, 2008, or such later date as may be required by extraordinary circumstances.

(3)The allocation of the water conserved from the canal lining projects and to be made available to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California shall be consistent with federal law and shall be determined by an agreement among the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District, and the San Luis Rey settlement parties, reached after consultation with the director and the United States Secretary of the Interior.

(b)(1) The sum of thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000) from the account shall be used by the director to finance the installation of recharge, extraction, and distribution facilities for groundwater conjunctive use programs necessary to implement the “California Plan.”

(2)Water stored in connection with the groundwater conjunctive use programs described in paragraph (1) shall be for the benefit of the member public agencies of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

(3)Nothing in this subdivision limits the ability of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to enter into agreements regarding the sharing of any water made available under this subdivision.

(c)The Legislature finds that the extension of the date from December 31, 2006, to December 31, 2008, for completing the canal project linings under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) during the 2003 portion of the 2003–04 Regular Session is required due to extraordinary circumstances. The Legislature finds that there have been unforeseen construction delays, contract award delays, and changed conditions requiring design modifications for lining the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal, and that these circumstances are extraordinary.

§ 12563

Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 813, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.

If the contingencies for a transfer to the San Diego County Water Authority of the conserved water under the water transfer agreement entered into by the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority on April 29, 1998, have not been satisfied in full prior to December 31, 2006, any recipient of the water made available under the agreement described in subdivision (a) of Section 12562, other than the San Luis Rey settlement parties, shall pay to the state, if required by statute, a portion of the funding made available under subdivision (a) of Section 12562, in an amount to be determined by the statute.

§ 12564

Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 813, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.

Nothing in the contract anticipated by the memorandum of understanding entered into on August 12, 1998, by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority shall affect the authority of the Legislature to allocate, by statute, or reallocate water if the contingencies for a transfer of the conserved water to the San Diego County Water Authority under the water transfer agreement entered into by the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority on April 29, 1998, have not been satisfied in full prior to December 31, 2006.

§ 12565

Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 813, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.

The two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) made available to the director pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12562 may be expended solely for the lining of the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal and only if all of the following requirements have been met:

(a)The Salton Sea Authority commissions a study of seepage and subsurface inflows to the Salton Sea from the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal, and that study is completed. The study shall determine the nature of subsurface and drainage canal water movements from the unlined canals to the Salton Sea and to existing adjacent wetlands, and shall quantify the amount of water that may be lost to the Salton Sea and to those wetlands due to the canal lining projects. The Salton Sea Science Subcommittee shall review the requests for proposals for the study and shall be consulted in selecting the contractor responsible for conducting the study.

(b)Environmental documentation and permits required by the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4321 et seq.), and any other applicable state and federal environmental laws are approved and certified for the All American Canal Lining Project or the Coachella Branch Lining Project.

(c)Pursuant to its responsibilities as a trustee agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), the Director of Fish and Game makes a finding that a canal lining project that is the subject of a request for funding pursuant to this chapter will avoid or mitigate all significant effects of the project on fisheries and other wildlife. The finding shall be accompanied by a statement from the United States Secretary of the Interior certifying that measures for the replacement of incidental fish and wildlife values adjacent to the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal foregone as a result of the lining of the canal, or the mitigation of resulting impacts on fish and wildlife resources from the construction of a new canal, or a portion thereof, meet the statutory requirements of Section 203(a)(2) of Public Law 100-675. These mitigation measures shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, and shall be implemented concurrent with the construction of the canal lining project.