Water Code, 1943

If a demand warrant is unpaid because there are no funds when presented, the county treasurer must register it separately and it starts earning interest from the registration date at the board-adopted rate.

A demand warrant under this article must be paid only from the maintenance fund, and if it is registered, payment follows registration order unless all outstanding demand warrant holders agree in writing to a different order and the county treasurer approves that agreement.

This section says certain payment or renewal rules for demand warrants also apply to warrants issued under this article.

A warrant drawn on the irrigation fund must state that it will be paid from that fund, and it does not need approval by the board of supervisors or to use the form required by Article 2.

A warrant drawn on the irrigation fund must be presented to the county treasurer for payment.

If a warrant is presented when the irrigation fund has too little money, the county treasurer must note that fact, register the warrant separately, and the warrant earns 8% interest per year until it is paid.

Rules on payment or renewal of warrants in Article 2 and Chapter 2, Article 2 also apply to warrants drawn on the irrigation fund.

This section defines key terms used in the article on agricultural and urban water use reporting.

Agricultural water suppliers must file an annual report with the department, electronically and by April 1, and the department must post reports online for public viewing.

State agencies must carry out the article’s duties only when funds are available for that purpose.

The department, the board, and the State Department of Public Health must coordinate how agricultural and urban water measurement information is collected, managed, and used.

If this article conflicts with Chapter 4800 of the State Administrative Manual, Chapter 4800 controls.

The board must prepare and submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2009.

The board may cancel a warrant and issue two or more replacement warrants if the warrant holder requests it.

If a canceled warrant was registered, each new warrant must say it is issued partly in place of the registered warrant and include the issuance and registration dates.

New warrants issued under this article must be issued only for the principal of the old warrant, and they start bearing interest from the date the canceled warrant is registered.

The board must cancel and replace certain overdue warrants when the holder demands it, and it may separately handle interest due.

Warrants issued for interest under this article must not earn interest.

When an interest warrant is drawn, the board must note on the back of the old warrant that interest has been paid up to that date.

An interest warrant must state that it is drawn for interest on the specified warrant number to the specified date.

The board must notify the county treasurer when it draws an interest warrant, and the county treasurer must record that interest has been paid on the related warrant.

A warrant holder may ask the board to extend an unpaid demand warrant or time warrant if it has not been paid within the stated four-year period.

The board and county treasurer may cancel warrants that have not been paid, reissued, or extended within the stated four-year period.

The board may issue a duplicate warrant if it is clearly proved that the original was lost, destroyed, or badly mutilated or defaced, the holder acted in good faith, and the warrant can be identified.

A holder seeking a duplicate warrant must apply in writing to the board, state the facts, and include a deposit set by the board to cover preparation and issuance costs.

A holder of a lost or destroyed warrant must file a bond with the application, and the bond must be double the warrant’s face value.

A bond must be approved by the board and must indemnify and save harmless the district for claims on a lost or destroyed warrant.

The holder and a corporate surety must jointly and severally execute the bond of indemnification.

If a warrant is mutilated or defaced, its holder must deliver it to the board for cancellation when applying for a duplicate.

If an application is filed to replace a lost, destroyed, mutilated, or defaced warrant, the board must pass a resolution and direct issuance of a duplicate warrant.

A duplicate warrant must be signed by the same officers and issued as nearly as possible like the original, with the same force, effect, and validity as the original warrant.

The board may set the interest rate on warrants by resolution entered in its minutes, but the rate cannot exceed 12 percent per year.

If the county treasurer has enough money to pay unpaid warrants, the treasurer may publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the principal county, and the listed warrants stop earning interest at midnight of the publication date.

Actions connected to demand warrants must be started within 4 years of the warrant date, and actions connected to time warrants within 4 years of the warrant’s maturity date.

If a warrant-related action is filed within four years, and the holder or owner wins, the warrant must be paid as though it had been paid on time.

If a dispute arises in a case to force the board to issue a warrant, the court must decide how much is owed and order a writ for the amount found due.

A water purveyor must require separate water meters for new retail water service when the service is for landscape use, subject to stated exceptions and size/connection thresholds.

A copy of any consolidation proposal must be sent to the State Lands Commission before a related petition is circulated or a resolution is adopted.

The State Lands Commission must give the consolidated district the number of the original district with the largest area of land, and the consolidated district must then use that number.

This chapter applies only to districts formed to operate without a board.

Land that is in compact form, can be embraced in a district, and is not already part of another district may be annexed to a district.

Some multiunit structures are exempt from this article, and required submeters for individual residential units must be approved and installed and operated in compliance with specified regulations.

Water purveyors serving certain new multiunit buildings must require individual unit water measurement, and owners generally must install and read submeters unless an exception applies.

A local building official may not deny a final occupancy permit just because residential water submeters are not yet installed, if the owner shows one of the listed reasons. After the permit is issued, the owner must show the submeters are installed within 120 days of county sealer approval.

Older local ordinances on submeters are preserved, and local agencies may still run water-conservation programs if they are at least as strict as this article.

The Legislature says this article should not be interpreted to impose costs on local government agencies, except when the agency is a water purveyor.

This article becomes operative on January 1, 2018.

If a district is moved entirely into another county, that county’s board of supervisors takes over all jurisdiction, power, and authority over the district.

When a reclamation district is transferred to another county, the county’s board of supervisors, its officers, and the district’s officers must carry out all required district acts with the same authority and effect as if the district had originally been organized there.

When a district is transferred to another county, the receiving county’s auditor and treasurer must draw a warrant on the former county’s treasurer for the district funds, and those funds must be moved into the receiving county’s treasury.

After a district is transferred to another county, its assessments must be collected and paid into the treasury of the receiving county.

If a reclamation district is moved to another county because county boundaries change, it keeps the same powers and authority for the transferred part.