ARTICLE 1.7. Areas of Origin [1215. - 1222.]

Cal. Water Code - WAT 1.7.
in effect

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1215. Section 1215.

This article shall only apply to a water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside a protected area pursuant to applications to appropriate surface water filed, or groundwater appropriations initiated, after January 1, 1985, that are not subject to Section 11460.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1215.5. Section 1215.5.

(a) For the purposes of this article, “protected area”, means all of lands which normally drain to the ocean, to a hydraulic sink, or to another state within any of the following, and only the following, river systems: (1) The Sacramento River System. (2) The Mokelumne River System. (3) The Calaveras River System. (4) The San Joaquin River System. (5) The Mono Lake System. (6) The combined Truckee, Walker, and Carson River Systems. (7) The combined river systems which drain to the ocean from and including the Russian River System northward to the California-Oregon border. (b) The confluences of the Sacramento, Mokelumne, Calaveras, and San Joaquin River Systems are within the delta, as defined in Section 12220, and the delta shall be considered to be within each of these protected areas.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1215.6. Section 1215.6.

For the purposes of this article, “water user or users” within a protected area means an appropriator or appropriators, a riparian user or users, or a groundwater user or users of water on land owned or controlled by them within a protected area.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1216. Section 1216.

A protected area shall not be deprived directly or indirectly of the prior right to all the water reasonably required to adequately supply the beneficial needs of the protected area, or any of the inhabitants or property owners therein, by a water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside a protected area pursuant to applications to appropriate surface water filed, or groundwater appropriations initiated, after January 1, 1985, that are not subject to Section 11460.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1217. Section 1217.

(a) In addition to the right to obtain a water right which would have priority over the rights of an exporter, water users in a protected area shall have the right to purchase, for adequate compensation, water made available by the construction of any works by a water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside the protected area. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize export of water from a protected area to which users within the protected area are otherwise entitled, nor to require users within a protected area to pay for water to which they are otherwise entitled. (b) At the request of a water user or users within a protected area, a water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside the protected area who is subject to Section 1216 shall meet and negotiate in good faith for the purpose of entering into contracts for the purchase of water as provided in subdivision (a). (c) Any water user or users in a protected area may bring an action in the superior court to require compliance with the duty to meet and negotiate in good faith pursuant to this section. The court may issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction, as appropriate, to secure compliance with this section. (d) The meetings and negotiations required by this section may occur between the water supplier exporting water for use outside a protected area and any water user or users in a protected area, as determined appropriate by the parties. The meetings and negotiations shall not be subject to the provisions of Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code or Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code. (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed as a limitation on the authority of the board to establish water quality standards or to subject water right entitlements to terms and conditions for the protection of reasonable and beneficial uses consistent with the provisions of Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1218. Section 1218.

Upon the request of an applicant for a permit to appropriate water for use outside a protected area, a county of origin shall cooperate with the applicant in estimating the amount of water that may be purchased within the county pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1217 and that may be developed or used within the county impacting the proposed project, including an estimated time schedule. The purpose of this section is to assist the applicant in planning the export project and to assist the counties of origin in their water planning.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1219. Section 1219.

A water supplier exporting or intending to export water outside a protected area, or a water user or users within a protected area, may declare that an impasse has been reached between the parties in negotiations over matters within the scope of negotiations specified in Section 1217 and may request the director to appoint a panel of five disinterested persons from whom the parties shall select, by a process of elimination, the mediator. After drawing lots to determine the order, the parties shall each, in turn, eliminate a name from the panel until there is only one person remaining on the panel, who shall be the mediator. The mediator shall meet forthwith with the parties or their representatives, either jointly or separately, and shall take such other steps as the mediator may deem appropriate in order to persuade the parties to resolve their differences and effect a mutually acceptable agreement. The services of the mediator, including any per diem fees, and actual and necessary travel and subsistence expenses, shall be provided by the parties. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the parties from mutually agreeing upon their own mediation procedure, and in the event of such agreement, the director shall not appoint a mediator.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1219.5. Section 1219.5.

The provisions of this article shall not require any water supplier exporting or intending to export water for use outside a protected area to furnish to any water user or users in a protected area claiming rights under this article, without adequate compensation therefor, any water made available for domestic, municipal, industrial, or agricultural uses by the construction of any works by the water exporter.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1220. Section 1220.

(a) No groundwater shall be pumped for export from within the combined Sacramento and Delta-Central Sierra Basins, as defined in the Department of Water Resources’ Bulletin 160-74, unless the pumping is in compliance with a groundwater management plan that is adopted by ordinance pursuant to subdivision (b) by the county board of supervisors, in full consultation with affected water districts, and that is subsequently approved by a vote in the counties or portions of counties that overlie the groundwater basin, except that water that has seeped into the underground from any reservoir, afterbay, or other facility of an export project may be returned to the water supply of the export project. For the purposes of this section, the county board of supervisors may designate a county water agency to act on its behalf if the directors of the county water agency are publicly elected and the county water agency encompasses the entire county. The county board of supervisors may revoke that designation by resolution at any time. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a county board of supervisors whose county contains part of the combined Sacramento and Delta-Central Sierra Basins may adopt groundwater management plans to implement the purposes of this section. (c) A county board of supervisors shall not exercise the powers authorized by this section within the boundaries of another local agency supplying water to that area without the prior agreement of the governing body of that other local agency. (d) This section does not apply to groundwater pumping by the Eastern Water Alliance Joint Powers Agency for export from the Eastern San Joaquin County Basin, as described on pages 38 and 39 of the Department of Water Resources Bulletin No. 118-80, provided that the groundwater pumping is approved by San Joaquin County pursuant to its ordinances regulating the management and export of groundwater as these ordinances are in effect at the time of permit approval by San Joaquin County. Section 10753.1 applies to any groundwater regulation under this section. As used in this section, the term “groundwater” has the same definition as set forth in in subdivision (a) of Section 10752.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 1222. Section 1222.

Nothing in this article shall be deemed to diminish the rights and protections to watersheds of origin contained in existing law including, but not limited to, Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 12200) of Division 6.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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