Water Code, 1943

The department has the powers and duties given to it by this division, may hire assistants it considers necessary, and may set their compensation. The district must pay assistant compensation and the department’s work costs as provided by the division.

The department must give information to people who are considering forming a district, as far as practicable.

If the department decides it is in the public interest, it must make preliminary surveys and field investigations for proposed district projects and prepare a report, kept on file in its office.

Certain land title holders, or at least 500 qualifying petitioners, may propose forming a district under this division if the stated ownership and value thresholds are met.

The proposed district may include land in other district agencies of the State, including other water storage districts with different plans and purposes.

Land proposed for a district does not have to be made up of contiguous parcels.

A petition to form a district must generally include specified information.

A petition may be made up of any number of separate duplicate instruments, except for the signatures.

Petitioners must file, with the petition, a list of the names and addresses of all persons who hold title to land in the proposed district, based on the last equalized assessment roll of each affected county.

A petition must include a department-approved undertaking worth double the estimated probable cost of forming the district.

The department may require additional undertaking or payment of money if it considers that necessary.

The formation petition and accompanying documents must be presented to and filed with the department.

Petition signatures may be withdrawn before publication starts if the petitioner files a signed and acknowledged declaration with the department stating the intent to withdraw.

When a formation petition and undertaking are filed, the department must promptly set a hearing time and place.

The department must publish the formation petition and hearing notice in each affected county once a week for three successive weeks before the hearing.

The notice may not be published until five days after the petition and undertaking are filed in the department office.

If a petition is made up of separate instruments, only one copy must be published, but the names on all instruments must still appear in the publication.

The department must issue and send a notice about the petition, and the notice must go to the petitioners, land title holders, and others interested in or affected by the project.

Defects in the published notice or petition, including signature errors or failures to publish, do not invalidate the proceedings.

The department must send personal notice by registered mail to listed land title holders.

The department must make and keep an affidavit available for public inspection.

The department must determine whether the proposed project is practicable, feasible, and useful, and it may conduct the studies and other work needed for that purpose.

The department may hire necessary assistants and may use existing estimates, surveys, and reports for the determination.

Total expenses under this chapter cannot exceed an amount in dollars equal to one-fourth the number of acres in the proposed district.

The department must issue warrants to cover expenses incurred under this chapter.

A bond issue authorized for district purposes may include payment for warrants issued under this article.

If the district is not organized, department-issued warrants become payable by the sureties, and warrant holders can sue the sureties.

At the hearing, the department must decide and issue an order on whether the petition and notice comply with this part.

The department must hear competent and relevant testimony about the petition’s sufficiency and the publication of the notice.

The hearing may be postponed from time to time, but the total postponement cannot exceed 30 days.

If the department finds the requirements were not met, it must dismiss the petition without prejudice.

If the department finds Chapter 1 requirements were met, it must promptly hear the petition, supporting evidence, objections, and certain land-exclusion or land-inclusion applications.

After the final hearing on a petition, the department must issue an order with the listed findings and specifications.

On final hearing, the district must be divided into five, seven, nine, or eleven divisions, arranged to separate lands with similar water rights or interests in water from a common source.

The department must enter the order in full in its records.

A certified copy of the department’s order and a map of the district boundaries must be filed for record with the county recorder of each affected county without delay.

A department finding on petition genuineness, sufficiency, and notice regularity is binding on everyone except the State if the Attorney General files suit within 90 days after the certified order is first filed with a county recorder.

After the formation petition’s final hearing order is filed, the department must give notice of an election within 60 days.

The notice for a formation election must include the district boundaries or land included, each division, and the proposed district name.

The notice for a formation election must be published once a week for at least three weeks before the election in each affected county.

The department must designate voting places and appoint three land title holders to serve as a board of election at each voting place when calling the election.

Before the formation election, eligible voters may file a petition to place a named person on the ballot for their division, and the department prints only names proposed by filed petitions.

For the formation election, the department must establish and define election precinct boundaries for each division in the proposed district.

A formation election must follow the general-election rules in this division as closely as practicable, and no specific ballot form is required.

At the formation election, a board of directors must be elected in a number matching the district’s divisions.

A district at large may not elect directors; each division must elect one director to represent that division.

Directors must qualify in the same manner as directors elected at a general election.

Ballots for a formation election must print “Yes” and “No” beside or below the question, and must include the names of persons to be voted for.

The department must canvass the formation election votes on the second Monday after the election, and if a majority of votes are “Water storage district—Yes,” it must also canvass director votes and declare elected the highest vote-getters in each division.

If the canvass shows a majority of votes are “Water storage district—No,” the result must be declared and recorded by the department.

This section says the code does not affect actions or proceedings started before it takes effect, or rights already accrued, and later procedure in those matters should follow the code as far as possible.

This chapter may be cited as the California Weather Resources Management Act of 1984.