Existing law, the Water Rights Permitting Reform Act of 1988, authorizes a person to obtain a right to appropriate water for a small domestic use, small irrigation use, or livestock stockpond use upon first registering the use, as those uses are defined by the act, with the State Water Resources Control Board and thereafter applying the water to reasonable and beneficial use with due diligence. The act requires the registration of water use to be made upon a form prescribed by the board that requires, among other things, a certification that the registrant has contacted a representative of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and has agreed to comply with conditions set forth by the department. The act requires the board to establish reasonable general conditions to which all appropriations made pursuant to the act are required to be subject, including, among other things, that all conditions lawfully required by the department are conditions upon the appropriations. The act provides that the board is not required to adopt general conditions for small irrigation use until the board determines that funds are available for that purpose, and that a registration for small irrigation use pursuant to the act is not authorized until the board establishes general conditions for small irrigation use to protect instream beneficial uses, as specified.

This bill would require the board to give priority to adopting, on or before June 30, 2027, except as provided, general conditions that permit a registrant specified registrants to store water for small irrigation use during times of high streamflow in exchange for the registrant those registrants reducing diversions during periods of low streamflow, as specified. The bill would require that the actions of the board under these provisions be deemed an action taken for the protection of the environment for purposes of specified California Environmental Quality Act guidelines, if those actions do not result in the relaxation of streamflow standards.

Existing law exempts certain stream segments subject to certain minimum streamflow requirements from the provisions of the act upon proper registration.

This bill, if the Director of Fish and Wildlife establishes proposed streamflow requirements for a stream segment, as specified, would instead prohibit the authorization of a registration for that stream segment until the board establishes instream flow requirements as a part of the general conditions applicable to that stream segment. The bill would require that the establishment of those instream flow requirements be done after the board considers the proposed streamflow requirements, if proposed by the director. The bill would provide that these requirements apply to registrations issued on or after January 1, 2024.

Existing law prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or from depositing certain material where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake, without first notifying the department of that activity and entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement, if required by the department to protect fish and wildlife resources. Existing law exempts certain routine maintenance and operation activities from those requirements after the initial notification and agreement, certain emergency activities from those notification and agreement requirements and certain activities authorized by a license or renewed license issued for cannabis cultivation from those agreement requirements. Existing law authorizes the department to establish a graduated schedule of fees to be charged to any entity subject to the notification and agreement provisions and requires any fees received to be deposited into the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

This bill would exempt an entity from the requirement to enter into a lake or streambed alteration agreement with the department if the entity submits a board-approved registration or renewed or amended registration for water use in specified counties to the department and the department determines certain requirements are met, including, the payment of a fee required for a lake or streambed alteration agreement and the submission of a copy of any department conditions imposed for the registration for water use. With respect to the submission of a renewed or amended registration, the bill would require the department to modify the existing conditions, or add new conditions, which would become part of the renewed or amended registration, if the department determines the conditions for the use will not protect fish and wildlife resources that may be substantially adversely affected by the activity authorized by the renewed or amended registration. If the department determines that an entity has failed to comply with these conditions, the exemption, upon written notice by the department, would no longer apply and the entity would be required to comply with the regular notice and agreement requirements. The bill would limit the number of these registrations to 100 for the first year of implementation and would authorize the department to eliminate or raise this limit thereafter.