General Provisions of California Water Code

1.

This act shall be known as the Water Code.

2.

The provisions of this code, in so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations thereof, and not as new enactments.

3.

All persons who, at the time this code takes effect, hold office under any of the acts repealed by this code, which offices are continued by this code, continue to hold them according to their former tenure.

4.

No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by this code, but all procedure thereafter taken therein shall conform to the provisions of this code so far as possible.

5.

Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these definitions, rules of construction, and general provisions shall govern the construction of this code.

6.

Division, part, chapter, article, and section headings do not in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of this code.

7.

Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty may be performed by a deputy of the officer or by a person authorized, pursuant to law, by the officer, unless this code expressly provides otherwise.

8.

Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement, petition, or record is required or authorized by this code, it shall be made in writing in the English language unless it is expressly provided otherwise.

9.

Whenever reference is made to any portion of this code or of any other law of this State, the reference applies to all amendments and additions heretofore or hereafter made.

10.

"Section" means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned. "Subdivision" means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned.

11.

The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future, the present.

12.

The masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter.

13.

The singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the singular.

14.

"County" includes city and county.

15.

"Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.

16.

"Oath" includes affirmation.

17.

"Signature" or "subscription" includes mark when the signer or subscriber can not write, such signer's or subscriber's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the signer's or subscriber's name; but a signature or subscription by mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature or subscription to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names thereto.

18.

"State" means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. In the latter case, it includes the District of Columbia and the territories.

19.

"Person" means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company.

20.

"United States" means the United States of America, and in relation to any particular matter includes the officers, agents, employees, agencies, or instrumentalities authorized to act in relation thereto.

21.

If any provision of this code, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the code, or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

22.

"Department," unless otherwise specified, means the Department of Water Resources.

23.

"Director," unless otherwise specified, means the Director of Water Resources.

24.

The standard miner's inch of water is equivalent to one and one-half cubic feet of water per minute, measured through any aperture or orifice.

25.

"Board," unless otherwise specified, means the State Water Resources Control Board.

26.

For the purposes of this code, "recycled water" or "reclaimed water" has the same meaning as recycled water as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 13050.