Section 14051 Of Article 1. General Provisions From California Water Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 17. >> Article 1.
14051
. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Clean water is essential to the public health, safety, and
welfare.
(b) Clean water fosters the beauty of California's environment,
the expansion of industry and agriculture, maintains fish and
wildlife, and supports recreation.
(c) California's abundant lakes and ponds, streams and rivers,
coastline, and groundwater are threatened with pollution, which could
threaten public health and impede economic and social growth if left
unchecked.
(d) The state's growing population has increasing needs for clean
water supplies and adequate treatment facilities.
(e) It is of paramount importance that the limited water resources
of the state be protected from pollution, conserved, and reclaimed
whenever possible to ensure continued economic, community, and social
growth.
(f) The chief cause of water pollution is the discharge of
inadequately treated waste into the waters of the state.
(g) Local agencies have the primary responsibility for
construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities to cleanse our
waters.
(h) Rising costs of construction and technological changes have
pushed the cost of constructing treatment facilities beyond the reach
of many small communities.
(i) Because water knows no political boundaries, it is desirable
for the state to contribute to construction of needed facilities in
order to meet its obligations to protect and promote the health,
safety, and welfare of its people and environment.
(j) The people of California have a primary interest in the
development of facilities to reclaim water to supplement existing
water supplies and to assist in meeting the future water needs of the
state.
(k) A significant portion of the future water needs of California
may be met by the use of reclaimed water.
(l) Local public agencies have the primary responsibility for the
construction, operation, and maintenance of water reclamation
facilities.
(m) Local public agencies need financial assistance to make
cost-effective reclamation projects financially feasible.
(n) (1) It is also the intent of this chapter to provide special
assistance to small communities to construct facilities necessary to
eliminate water pollution and public health hazards.
(2) It is also the intent of this chapter to provide funds for the
design and construction of eligible water reclamation projects and
for the development and implementation of programs and activities
that lead to increased use of reclaimed water in California.