Section 12565 Of Chapter 7. Colorado River Management Program From California Water Code >> Division 6. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 7.
12565
. The two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) made
available to the director pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
12562 may be expended solely for the lining of the All American Canal
and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal and only if all
of the following requirements have been met:
(a) The Salton Sea Authority commissions a study of seepage and
subsurface inflows to the Salton Sea from the All American Canal and
the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal, and that study is
completed. The study shall determine the nature of subsurface and
drainage canal water movements from the unlined canals to the Salton
Sea and to existing adjacent wetlands, and shall quantify the amount
of water that may be lost to the Salton Sea and to those wetlands due
to the canal lining projects. The Salton Sea Science Subcommittee
shall review the requests for proposals for the study and shall be
consulted in selecting the contractor responsible for conducting the
study.
(b) Environmental documentation and permits required by the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4321 et seq.), and
any other applicable state and federal environmental laws are
approved and certified for the All American Canal Lining Project or
the Coachella Branch Lining Project.
(c) Pursuant to its responsibilities as a trustee agency under the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), the Director of Fish
and Game makes a finding that a canal lining project that is the
subject of a request for funding pursuant to this chapter will avoid
or mitigate all significant effects of the project on fisheries and
other wildlife. The finding shall be accompanied by a statement from
the United States Secretary of the Interior certifying that measures
for the replacement of incidental fish and wildlife values adjacent
to the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All
American Canal foregone as a result of the lining of the canal, or
the mitigation of resulting impacts on fish and wildlife resources
from the construction of a new canal, or a portion thereof, meet the
statutory requirements of Section 203(a)(2) of Public Law 100-675.
These mitigation measures shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based
on ecological equivalency, and shall be implemented concurrent with
the construction of the canal lining project.