CHAPTER 3. Sale of Inland Lake and Unsegregated Swamp and Overflowed Lands [7601. - 7609.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 3.

in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7601. Section 7601.

Any person desiring to purchase any of the lands uncovered by the recession or drainage of the waters of inland lakes, and inuring to the State by virtue of her sovereignty, or the swamp and overflowed lands not segregated by the United States, shall make an application therefor to the commission. The application shall be accompanied by the applicant’s affidavit that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such, that he is a resident of this State, of lawful age, that he desires to purchase such lands (describing them by legal subdivisions, or by metes and bounds, if the legal subdivisions are unknown), under the provisions of this chapter, for his own use and benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person whomsoever, and that he has made no contract or agreement to sell the lands, and that he does not now own any State lands which, together with that now sought to be purchased, exceeds 640 acres. This section shall not affect or apply to any land uncovered by the recession or drainage of the waters of any lake or other body of water, the waters of which are so impregnated with minerals as to be valuable for the purpose of extracting therefrom such minerals.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7602. Section 7602.

Upon the filing of such application, if the land has not been sectionized, the commission shall authorize the county surveyor of the county where the whole or the greater portion of the land lies, to survey the land. He shall make an actual survey thereof, at the expense of the applicant, etablishing four corners to each quarter-section, and connecting the survey with a United States survey. Within 30 days he shall file with the commission a copy, under oath, of his field-notes and plat, and a statement under oath, showing whether or not the land is occupied by any actual settler. If the surveyor thus authorized fails to make his return to the commission within the time specified, the commission may designate another person to make the survey.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7603. Section 7603.

No application to purchase land under this chapter shall be approved until the expiration of 90 days from the filing thereof, and meanwhile the land is subject to the adverse claim of any actual settler who resided thereon when the application was filed.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7604. Section 7604.

The lands designated in this chapter shall be sold at the price fixed by the commission.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7605. Section 7605.

If any of the lands described in this chapter are suitable for cultivation without reclamation, they shall be sold only to actual settlers in tracts not exceeding 160 acres.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7606. Section 7606.

Any of the lands designated in this chapter which, by reason of periodical overflow, need, and are susceptible of, reclamation, may be reclaimed by the formation of districts, in the same manner and subject to all of the provisions of law regulating the reclamation of swamp and overflowed lands. The board of supervisors of the county in which the lands, or the greater part thereof, are situated, shall first determine, upon proper petition presented therefor by the holders of the title, or evidence of title, representing one-half or more of any body of such land, that such reclamation is necessary and feasible.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7607. Section 7607.

When land has been sold under this chapter, no contest can be maintained against the purchaser on the ground that the land is not of the character stated in the application, unless it is shown that it is not of the character recited in Section 7601.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7608. Section 7608.

All uncanceled certificates of purchase and patents issued prior to May 20, 1907, and payments made prior to May 20, 1907, for any lands as swamp and overflowed lands, which belong to any of the classes described in Section 7601, whether or not such lands were segregated or sectionized, are for all purposes valid, and have the same force and effect as if such lands had been at all times subject to sale as swamp and overflowed lands.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 7609. Section 7609.

All plats of any of the lands described in Section 7601, which were made prior to May 20, 1907, under authority of the United States Surveyor General, and which plats designate the lands as swamp and overflowed land, shall be deemed valid and effectual as surveys of such lands from and after the date thereof.

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