CHAPTER 5. Groundwater management [37950. - 37955.]

Cal. Water Code - WAT 5.

in effect

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37950. Section 37950.

If the board determines after a noticed public hearing, and consideration of any relevant investigations, studies, and evidence, that groundwater management activities are necessary in order to improve or protect the quantity or quality of groundwater supplies within a groundwater basin or aquifer, the board may, by ordinance, exercise any of the following powers: (a) Require conservation practices and measures within the affected portion of its territory. (b) Control groundwater extractions by regulating, limiting, or suspending extractions from extraction facilities, the construction of new extraction facilities, the enlarging of existing extraction facilities, and the reactivation of abandoned extraction facilities. (c) Commence and prosecute legal actions to enjoin unreasonable uses or methods of use of water within the district or outside the territory of the district to the extent those uses or methods of use adversely affect the groundwater supply within the district. (d) Impose spacing requirements on new extraction facility construction to minimize well interference. (e) Impose reasonable operating regulations on extraction facilities to minimize well interference, including requiring pumpers to operate on a rotation basis. (f) Require extraction facilities to be registered with the district within 30 days of notice being given to the operator of the extraction facility. (g) Require that the operator of a registered extraction facility provide the district annually with the following information regarding the extraction facility: (1) The name and address of the operator of the extraction facility. (2) The name and address of the owner of the land upon which the extraction facility is located. (3) A description of the equipment associated with the extraction facility. (4) The location of the water extraction facility. (h) Require extraction facilities to be equipped with waterflow measuring devices installed and calibrated by the district or, at the district’s option, by the extraction facility operator.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37951. Section 37951.

When an extraction facility is equipped with a waterflow measuring device, the record of extraction, as disclosed by the waterflow measuring device, may, at the election of the board, be presumed to be accurate, and shall be used as the basis for computing the water extraction of the extraction facility in completing the groundwater extraction statement.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37952. Section 37952.

The district may, by ordinance, require proof of the accuracy of the waterflow measuring device from the operator and may, absent adequate proof of accuracy, order the operator, at the operator’s sole cost, to have the waterflow measuring device calibrated in a manner acceptable to the district. If the district has probable cause to believe that the extraction of groundwater from any extraction facility is in excess of the amount reported in groundwater extraction statements, or if no statements are filed covering an extraction facility, the district may investigate the extraction of water from each extraction facility.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37953. Section 37953.

The board may, by ordinance, establish reasonable methods to be used in computing the amount of water extracted by extraction facilities.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37954. Section 37954.

The district may, by ordinance, require the operator of each extraction facility to file semiannually, or more frequently, with the district, a groundwater extraction statement that contains, but is not limited to, the following information: (a) Total extraction in acre-feet of water from the extraction facility for the preceding groundwater extraction statement period. (b) The static groundwater level for the extraction facility. (c) A description of the location of the extraction facility. (d) The crop types or other uses and the acreage served by the extraction facility. (e) The method of measuring or computing groundwater extraction. (f) Other information deemed reasonable and necessary by the board to meet the purposes of this act.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 37955. Section 37955.

If required by ordinance, each groundwater extraction statement shall be verified by a written declaration under penalty of perjury that the information contained in the statement is true and correct. The operator of an extraction facility that has been permanently abandoned after January 1, 2015, shall give written notice of the abandonment to the district.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026