Article 1. General Provisions of California Water Code >> Division 20. >> Part 9. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Chino Basin Production Assessment Law.

As used in this chapter:
  (a) "Annual" or "year" means a calendar year unless the context indicates a contrary meaning.
  (b) "Assessing district" means any Chino Basin district which levies a production assessment under this chapter.
  (c) "Board" means the board of directors of the primary district.
  (d) "Chino Basin" means the groundwater basin situated within the Counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino and which is described in the complaint for general adjudication of water rights in the matter of Chino Basin Municipal Water District v. City of Chino, et al., San Bernardino Superior Court No. 164327, filed January 2, 1975.
  (e) "Chino Basin districts" means the primary district, the Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County, and the Pomona Valley Municipal Water District, the boundaries of each of which incorporate land overlying, in part, the Chino Basin.
  (f) "Fiscal year" means the period July 1 through June 30, following.
  (g) "Groundwater" means water beneath the surface of the ground and within the zone of saturation.
  (h) "Minimal pumper" means any person whose total production from the Chino Basin does not exceed 10 acre-feet per year.
  (i) "Person" means any public agency or public corporation, or any private corporation, firm, partnership, limited liability company, individual, or group of individuals, excluding the State of California and its agencies.
  (j) "Primary district" means the Chino Basin Municipal Water District, which overlies a majority of the Chino Basin.
  (k) "Production" or "produce" means the extraction of groundwater by pumping or any other method, except for gravity flow tunnels which intercept the subsurface flow of defined streams.
  (l) "Producer" means any person who produces groundwater within the Chino Basin, excluding minimal pumpers.
  (m) "Secretary" means the secretary of the primary district.
  (n) "Supplemental water" means water from the State Water Resources Development System.
  (o) "Water producing facility" means any device or method, mechanical or otherwise, for the production of groundwater within the Chino Basin.
  (p) "Annual report" means the report required of each producer pursuant to Section 72143.

The powers conferred by this chapter are in addition to, and not in place of, any other powers conferred upon the Chino Basin districts. Production assessments levied pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed necessary to further the activities of the Chino Basin districts in the protection of the ground water supplies of the Chino Basin for the public health, safety, and welfare. Production assessments are authorized to be levied upon the production of ground water from the Chino Basin for the benefit of all members of the public who rely directly or indirectly upon such ground water supplies.