ARTICLE 3. State Boundaries [160. - 172.]

Cal. Government Code - GOV 3.

in effect

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 160. Section 160.

The line run and marked by the United States Government under the Act of June 10, 1872, 17 Stat. 358 (1872) from the southern boundary of the State of Oregon to the 39th degree of north latitude and the line established and marked by the United States coast and geodetic survey, as completed in 1900, extending southeastward from the intersection of the 39th degree of north latitude with the 120th degree of longitude west from Greenwich to the Colorado River comprise the legal eastern boundary line of the state from the Oregon boundary to the Colorado River, and shall be so considered by the courts of the state.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 170. Section 170.

To give greater precision to the boundary of the State of California as defined in Article XXI of the Constitution, it is hereby declared that the part of the boundary which is described as “running in a northwesterly direction and following the direction of the Pacific Coast to the forty-second degree of north latitude,” and as “including all the islands, harbors, and bays along and adjacent to the coast,” runs and has in the past run three English nautical miles oceanward of lines drawn along the outer sides of the outermost of the islands, reefs and rocks along and adjacent to the mainland and across intervening waters; and where there are harbors, but no such outlying islands, reefs and rocks, it runs and in the past has run three English nautical miles oceanward of lines drawn in front of the harbors along the outermost works and installations thereof, and, in the case of all bays (including inlets and estuaries) three English nautical miles from lines drawn from headland to headland across the mouth of each bay, inlet and estuary, regardless of the length of the lines. Where there are no outlying islands, reefs or rocks and no harbors or bays or inlets or estuaries, the boundary runs and has in the past run three English nautical miles oceanward of the lowest low-water mark on the shore.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 171. Section 171.

All waters between the mainland and the outermost of the islands, reefs and rocks along and adjacent to the coast of the State of California from which the boundary of the State is measured, and all waters between the islands, reefs and rocks themselves, are declared to be and to have been in the past inland waters of the State. Similarly, all waters within the lines around harbors and across bays, from which the boundary of the State is measured, are declared to be and to have been in the past inland waters of the State. These waters are “waters thereof” within the meaning of that phrase in Section 25 of Article I of the Constitution.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 172. Section 172.

The reference in Section 1 of Article XV of the Constitution to “the navigable waters of this State,” the reference in Section 2 of the same article to “a harbor, bay, inlet, estuary, or other navigable water in this State,” and the reference in Section 3 of the same article to “the waters of any harbor, estuary, bay or inlet used for the purposes of navigation,” are declared to include and to have included in the past all of the waters within lines drawn from headland to headland across the mouth of each of the bays, inlets and estuaries along the coast of the mainland and along the coast of and across the waters between the islands of the State, regardless of the length of such lines, such waters being inland waters of the State.

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