BILL NUMBER: AB 1903	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  633
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 10, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 7, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 17, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 28, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hernandez
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Portantino)
   (Coauthor: Senator Romero)

                        FEBRUARY 7, 2008

   An act to amend Section 831.8 of, and to add and repeal Section
831.9 of, the Government Code, relating to liability, and declaring
the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1903, Hernandez. Liability: flood control and water
conservation facilities.
   Existing law provides that, except as specified, neither a public
entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an
injury caused by the condition of a reservoir if at the time of the
injury the person injured was using the property for any purpose
other than that for which the public entity intended or permitted the
property to be used. Existing law also provides that, except as
specified, neither an irrigation district nor an employee thereof nor
the state nor a state employee is liable under this chapter for an
injury caused by the condition of canals, conduits, or drains used
for the distribution of water if at the time of the injury the person
injured was using the property for any purpose other than that for
which the district or state intended it to be used.
   This bill would provide that, until January 1, 2013, neither a
public agency that operates flood control and water conservation
facilities nor its employees shall be liable for injuries caused by
the condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds under prescribed conditions,
except as specified. The bill would also specify that nothing in that
provision exonerates a public agency or public employee subject to
that provision from liability for injury proximately caused by a
dangerous condition of public property under specified circumstances.

   This bill would require, until January 1, 2013, the County of Los
Angeles Department of Public Works to maintain a record of injuries,
and the results of any civil actions ensuing therefrom, that are
incurred by the public in the unlined flood control channels or
adjacent groundwater recharge spreading grounds during groundwater
recharge activities and a record of all claims, paid and not paid,
arising from those incidents. The bill would require the County of
Los Angeles Department of Public Works to annually file a copy of
that record with the Judicial Council. This bill would require the
Judicial Council to submit a report on these matters to the
Legislature on or before January 31, 2012.
   Because this bill would create additional duties for local
officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.



THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 831.8 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   831.8.  (a) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither a public
entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an
injury caused by the condition of a reservoir if at the time of the
injury the person injured was using the property for any purpose
other than that for which the public entity intended or permitted the
property to be used.
   (b) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither an irrigation
district nor an employee thereof nor the state nor a state employee
is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the condition of
canals, conduits, or drains used for the distribution of water if at
the time of the injury the person injured was using the property for
any purpose other than that for which the district or state intended
it to be used.
   (c) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither a public agency
operating flood control and water conservation facilities nor its
employees are liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the
condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds if, at the time of the injury,
the person injured was using the property for any purpose other than
that for which the public entity intended it to be used, and, if all
of the following conditions are met:
   (1) The public agency operates and maintains dams, pipes,
channels, and appurtenant facilities to provide flood control
protection and water conservation for a county whose population
exceeds nine million residents.
   (2) The public agency operates facilities to recharge a
groundwater basin system which is the primary water supply for more
than one million residents.
   (3) The groundwater supply is dependent on imported water recharge
which must be conducted in accordance with court-imposed basin
management restrictions.
   (4) The basin recharge activities allow the conservation and
storage of both local and imported water supplies when these waters
are available.
   (5) The public agency posts conspicuous signs warning of any
increase in waterflow levels of an unlined flood control channel or
any spreading ground receiving water.
   (d) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public
employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous
condition of property if all of the following occur:
   (1) The injured person was not guilty of a criminal offense under
Article 1 (commencing with Section 552) of Chapter 12 of Title 13 of
Part 1 of the Penal Code in entering on or using the property.
   (2) The condition created a substantial and unreasonable risk of
death or serious bodily harm when the property or adjacent property
was used with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably
foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The dangerous character of the condition was not reasonably
apparent to, and would not have been anticipated by, a mature,
reasonable person using the property with due care.
   (4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition.
   (e) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public
employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous
condition of property if all of the following occur:
   (1) The person injured was less than 12 years of age.
   (2) The dangerous condition created a substantial and unreasonable
risk of death or serious bodily harm to children under 12 years of
age using the property or adjacent property with due care in a manner
in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The person injured, because of his or her immaturity, did not
discover the condition or did not appreciate its dangerous character.

   (4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition.
   (f) Nothing in subdivision (c) exonerates a public agency or
public employee subject to that subdivision from liability for injury
proximately caused by a dangerous condition of public property if
all of the following occur:
   (1) The person injured was 16 years of age or younger.
   (2) The dangerous condition created a substantial and unreasonable
risk of death or serious bodily harm to children 16 years of age or
younger using the property or adjacent property with due care in a
manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The person injured did not discover the condition or did not
appreciate its dangerous character because of his or her immaturity.
   (4) The public entity or public employee had actual knowledge of
the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition.
   (g) Subdivisions (c) and (f) shall become inoperative on and after
January 1, 2013.
  SEC. 2.  Section 831.9 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   831.9.  (a) The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works
shall maintain a record of all known or reported injuries incurred by
the public in the unlined flood control channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds during the activities of
groundwater recharge. The County of Los Angeles Department of Public
Works shall also maintain a record of all claims, paid and not paid,
including any civil actions or proceedings and their results, arising
from those incidents, that were filed against the county. Copies of
these records shall be filed annually, no later than January 1 of
each year, with the Judicial Council, which shall then submit a
report to the Legislature on or before January 31, 2012, on the
incidences of injuries incurred, claims asserted, and the results of
any civil action or proceeding filed by persons injured at these
facilities.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district are the result of a program for which legislative authority
was requested by that local agency or school district, within the
meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code and Section 6 of
Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
  SEC. 4.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   Prior legislation, partially immunizing Los Angeles County from
liability for the use of its flood control system to transport and
conserve water by recharging underground aquifers, has expired. Over
1,000,000 residents of Los Angeles County benefited from the
transport of more than 2,500,000 acre-feet of groundwater during the
effective period of the expired legislation. It is therefore
necessary for the health and safety of Los Angeles County residents
that this act go into immediate effect.