Water Code, 1943

Council members must have diverse expertise and reflect a statewide perspective.

The council’s headquarters must be located in Sacramento.

The council must establish and oversee a committee of agencies for implementing the Delta Plan, and each agency must coordinate its actions with the council and other relevant agencies.

“Board” means the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, and references to the Reclamation Board mean the same entity.

The council has broad powers to manage its work, including suing or being sued, contracting, hiring, receiving and spending funds, requesting reports, adopting regulations or guidelines, commenting on impact reports, and holding hearings.

The council needs a majority quorum, must act by majority vote unless this division says otherwise, and must record each member’s vote individually.

The Delta Plan must include performance measurements so the council can track progress toward the plan’s objectives.

The council must review local and regional planning documents for consistency with the Delta Plan and advise planning agencies. A metropolitan planning organization preparing certain regional transportation plans must consult the council, provide draft strategies and notice by set deadlines, and include a detailed response if the council objects.

The council may hire consultants and engineering services for listed Delta-related tasks, must pay the Delta Independent Science Board members $150 per hour, and must use procedures that satisfy specific bidding rules and exemptions.

The Legislature states that council contracts for Delta Plan work should avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest and should include terms that protect the contractor’s independence from related Bay Delta Conservation Plan work.

This section defines “drainage district” as the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage District.

This section defines “Facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control” by cross-referencing the same term in the Public Resources Code.

This section defines “project levee” by pointing to the meaning given in subdivision (g) of Public Resources Code Section 5096.805.

Before starting a covered action, a state or local public agency must prepare a written certification of consistency with detailed findings and submit it to the council.

A person who claims a proposed covered action conflicts with the Delta Plan and would significantly harm specified Delta goals or flood-control programs may file an appeal with the council.

An appeal must be filed within 30 days after the certification of consistency is submitted. If no one appeals, the state or local public agency may implement the covered action.

The council must hear an appeal within 60 days of filing and must decide it within 60 days after the hearing, unless a jurisdiction or appealability determination is made.

After a hearing on an appeal, the council must issue written findings either denying the appeal or sending the matter back for reconsideration. If the matter is remanded and the agency still wants to proceed, it must file a revised certification with the council before moving ahead.

The council must adopt administrative procedures for appeals, and those procedures are exempt from Chapter 3.5 of the Government Code.

The council must develop procedures for early consultation on proposed covered actions.

This section defines “State Plan of Flood Control” by reference to another code provision.

The board must appoint a Delta Watermaster and give that office delegated authority to monitor and enforce board orders and permit terms in the Delta.

This section approves a specified report as a plan for controlling flood water in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries, and for related navigation, reclamation, and land protection purposes.

The board must execute the plan approved by this chapter together with the California Debris Commission, and it may modify the plan as needed to carry it out.

The State may make appropriations for the Section 8525 plan, but the total of those appropriations and prior State aid for the plan must not exceed $17,700,000, and the United States must cooperate and provide a substantially similar amount.

The section states an intent to have the United States, the State, and local interests contribute substantially equally to the plan’s total cost.

This section establishes the Delta Independent Science Board and requires the council to appoint a lead scientist for the Delta Science Program.

Money appropriated under Section 8527 must be spent according to the California Debris Commission’s and the board’s plans, specifications, and recommendations, in general conformity with the approved plan.

The board has control and jurisdiction over certain plans, but not over portions relating to Sacramento River channel work or weirs.

The council must develop, adopt, begin implementing, review, and report on the Delta Plan, and state agencies with Delta responsibilities must cooperate when asked.

The commission must prepare a Delta proposal, and the council may adopt parts of it if they are feasible and consistent with the Delta Plan.

The Delta Plan must support Delta ecosystem restoration and a reliable water supply, include specified ecosystem and water-supply measures, and the council must consider implementation actions and use the best available science.

The Delta Plan must promote statewide water conservation, water use efficiency, and sustainable use of water.

The Delta Plan must promote options for new and improved Delta water conveyance and storage infrastructure, and how those systems operate, to achieve the coequal goals.

The Delta Plan must try to reduce risks in the Delta, and the council may add certain emergency preparedness and response strategies to it.

The council must recommend Delta Plan priorities for state investment in levee operation, maintenance, and improvements, after consulting the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

The Delta Plan and the council may include or address certain flood protection, climate, highway, and energy-related actions, subject to stated consultation and flood-risk conditions.

The Delta Plan must be based on scientific information, set measurable targets, use monitoring where appropriate, explain how progress will be measured, recommend integrating scientific results where appropriate, and include an adaptive management strategy.

The department must prepare a proposal on coordinating flood and water supply operations and submit it to the council for consideration.

The section says California statutes as of April 1, 1923 must be observed in specified flood control and reclamation matters.

The Delta Plan’s provisions are severable, so if one part is held invalid, the rest can still operate if they can be given effect without the invalid part.

The State declares a primary interest in protecting lands from overflow, keeping river and channel waters within their basins and boundaries, and preserving residents’ and landholders’ welfare in the district.

This section says the Bay Delta Conservation Plan must be reviewed for possible inclusion in the Delta Plan, but it cannot be incorporated or receive state-funding benefits unless it satisfies listed review and approval conditions.

The BDCP must include a transparent, real-time decisionmaking process, and fishery agencies must ensure applicable biological performance measures are achieved promptly for water system operations.

This chapter does not add to or change legal obligations or causes of action under the specified Fish and Game Code and Public Resources Code chapters.

The State declares a primary and supreme interest in building, maintaining, and protecting levees and related flood-control works on specified California rivers and waterways.

The board must always enforce, for the State, the erection, maintenance, and protection of levees, embankments, and channel rectification that it judges best serve the State’s interests.

The board may set and charge fees, after at least one public hearing, to cover the reasonable cost of the services it provides.

The council may add other completed Delta-related plans into the Delta Plan if they promote the coequal goals.

The board has no power, jurisdiction, authority, or control over the construction, operation, or maintenance of the Central Valley Project or any part of it.

Legal challenges to certain council decisions must be filed within 90 days.

Counties and public officers may not charge or collect fees for services required under this part.