Article 1. Water of California Water Code >> Division 14. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 1.

The board may acquire, improve, and operate the necessary works for the storage and distribution of water, and any drainage or reclamation works connected therewith.

The board may sell, distribute, or otherwise dispose of water and water rights not necessary for the uses and purposes of the district.

The board may grant to the owner or lessee of a right to the use of any water permission to store the water in any reservoir of the district or to carry it through any conduit of the district.

The board shall establish equitable rules and regulations for the most economical and efficient distribution and use of water within the district, and pursuant thereto may enter into long-term water service contracts with landowners in the district which contracts may, in the discretion of the board, provide, among other things, that the obligations are a lien on the land with the same force, effect, and priority as an assessment lien if such contract is recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county in which such land is situated. The rules, regulations, and contracts shall recognize and shall be subject to such priorities in the right to water between the different consumers of the water as may legally exist. Among other things the rules and regulations may establish a procedure for fixing tolls and charges authorized by Sections 43006 and 47180 and may provide equitable rules for reapportionment of assessments supplementary to the provisions of Article 8 (commencing with Section 46325) of Chapter 2 of Part 9 of this division.

Upon adoption of rules and regulations, or the adoption of any amendment thereto, a certified copy thereof shall be recorded with the county recorder of each affected county, and until so recorded, no rule or regulation, or amendment thereto, shall be enforceable against any person not having actual knowledge thereof. A copy of the adopted rules and regulations in effect in the district shall be maintained on file and open for inspection at the district office by the district secretary.

In the event that the volume of water under the control of any district is in any season so diminished below normal, by reason of water shortage or otherwise, as to make it probable that all the land cannot receive the full amount of water which it may need and to which it would otherwise be entitled, the deficiency shall be borne ratably by all the land, except insofar as priorities in the right to water as between different lands may prevent. The board may make rules and regulations to provide for distributing the burden of the deficiency and for the most economical and efficient use of the water which is or probably will be available.

The board may enter into contracts with any or all interested parties for settlement or determination of any or all water rights on any stream system or on any part thereof which concerns the district or for the administration of water rights or of waters of any such stream system or any part thereof, whether by watermaster or otherwise; and if, in connection with any such contract and to make such contract efficiently operable for the benefit of the district, the board shall expressly find that the district should act for others also, whether their lands and water rights are within or without the district, then the district, with the written approval of any interested party for whom the district undertakes to act, may do so to the extent and under the terms which are expressed in any such contract.

In addition to levying assessments or fixing tolls and charges under Part 9 (commencing with Section 46000) of this division, and in lieu either in whole or in part of calling such assessments, the board may fix tolls or charges for the use of water, including the use of groundwater, or for any other service of any type or nature whether or not related to water use, rendered by the district, and collect the same from all persons receiving the benefit of the water or other services. The tolls and charges shall be proportional, as nearly as practicable, to the services rendered. Such tolls or charges may be levied and collected in order to provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of amounts due to the state, the department, any other district, or the United States, whether for capital charges or service charges or otherwise, pursuant to contracts made in accordance with Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 44000) of this part, or in order to provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of the costs of a project or the principal of and interest on bonds or warrants of the district, or in order to provide a bond reserve fund to secure bonds of the district, or in order to provide for the operation and maintenance of a project pursuant to Section 47180, or to obtain funds for any lawful purpose of the district. The provisions of Sections 47181 to 47185, inclusive, shall be applicable to any such tolls or charges.

If tolls or charges are levied and collected in order to provide, in whole or in part, for the payment of amounts due under more than one contract, such tolls and charges may be fixed, levied and collected in such a manner as to, as nearly as practicable, charge the lands served under a particular contract with the amounts due under such contract. The assessment commissioners appointed under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 46150) of Part 9 of this division may apply this principle in determining the portion of the total benefits to accrue to the district under a particular contract which will be realized by each parcel of land in separate ownership in the district.