PUB00109

• Year: 1995
• Title: Califormia Water
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: Arthur L. Littlewort
• Description: History, overview, and explanation of water rights and legislation of California
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

If tributary to a watercourse, a spring is
considered part of the stream.

Water district assessments to pay for
replenishment afgroundwater supplies

56 CALIFORNIA WATER

253. If a spring is a tributary to a watercourse, it is part of the stream
itself. Gutierrez v. Wege (1905) 145 Cal. 730, 734. The owners of the
lands on which a spring arises have rights with other riparians or ap-
propriators along the watercourse, and spring waters are subject to
appropriation just like any other appropriable waters. Simons v. Inyo
Cerro Gordo Mining & Power Co. (1920) 48 Cal.App. 524, 536. Thus,
appropriation methods have been applied to spring waters. De
Necochea v. Curtis (1889) 80 Cal. 397, 401-404. Riparian rights also
apply both to a spring and to the watercourse into which it flows.

Water districts. The replenishment of groundwater basins and the
protection of groundwater supplies may be under the jurisdiction of
anyone of the many kinds of water districts that can be formed
under state law. See, for example, water replenishment districts,
Water Code ~ 60,000 et seq.; water conservation districts, Water Code
~ 74000 et seq.; county water districts, Water Code ~ 30,000 et seq.;
municipal water districts, Water Code ~ 71,000 et seq. Typically
such districts can engage in replenishment activities, protect ground-
water quality, and participate in litigation affecting the common
water supply of users within the district. Certain special act districts
(for example, the Orange County Water District, Cal. Water Code
App. ~ 40-1; the Desert Water Agency, Cal. Water Code App. ~ 100-1)
can also impose assessments on groundwater pumped in order to
regulate production and provide funds for basin replenishment
and management.
Other special act districts created by the California legislature
to provide local groundwater management include Honey Lake
Ground Water Management District, Lassen County, Cal. Water Code
App. ~~ 129-101 to 129-1301 (West Supp. 1994), Sierra Valley
Ground Water Management District, Sierra County, CaI. Water Code
App. ~~ 119-101 to 119-1302 (West Supp. 1994), Mono County Tri-
Valley Ground Water Management District, Mono County, CaI.
Water Code App. ~~ 128-1 to 128-906 (West Supp. 1994), Mendo-
cino City Community Services District, Mendocino County, Cal. Water
Code ~~ 10700 to 10717 (West 1992), Pajaro Valley Water Man-
agement Agency, Santa Cruz County, CaI. Water Code App. ~~ 124-
1 to 124-1108 (West Supp. 1994), Ojai Ground Water Management
Agency, Ventura County, CaI. Water Code App. ~~ 131-101 to 131-1201
(West Supp. 1994), Fox Canyon Ground Water Management Agency,
Ventura County, CaI. Water Code App. ~~ 121-102 to 121-1105
(West Supp. 1994), Monterey Peninsula Water Management District,
Monterey County, CaI. Water Code App. ~~ 118-101 to 118-901 (West