BILL NUMBER: SB 1337 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
(Coauthor: Senator Hancock)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Buchanan)
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to create the Zone 7 Water Agency, and prescribing its
boundaries, organization, operation, management, financing, and other
powers and duties, to amend Section 2 of, and to repeal Section 36
of, the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Act (Chapter 1275 of the Statutes of 1949), relating to water
districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1337, as amended, DeSaulnier. Zone 7 Water Agency Act.
Existing law, the Alameda County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District Act, establishes the Alameda County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District and grants to the district
authority relating to, among other things, flood control and
stormwater. Under the district law, the Board of Supervisors of
Alameda County serves as the Board of the Alameda County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District.
The district law authorizes the board of the district to establish
zones and provides for the formation of a zone lying, in whole or in
part, in Pleasanton or Murray Townships. That zone is required to be
governed by a board of 7 directors who are required to be elected by
the voters residing within that zone.
This bill would remove Zone 7 from the Alameda County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District and instead create the Zone 7
Water Agency, as prescribed, with specified authorizations, powers,
and duties. This bill would authorize the agency to continue to
impose any special taxes based upon assessed value or any other
special taxes, assessments, or charges imposed by or on behalf of the
former Zone 7, would authorize the agency to impose new special
taxes or levy assessments, as prescribed, and would require any taxes
or assessments to be levied and collected together with taxes for
county purposes, as specified. This bill would also authorize the
agency to designate the county treasury as its treasury, as
prescribed.
By imposing new duties on a county, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
This bill would authorize the board of directors to adopt
ordinances for the agency, and would make it an infraction to violate
an agency ordinance. By creating a new infraction, 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the Zone 7 Water Agency Act,
and reads as follow:
ZONE 7 WATER AGENCY ACT
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Zone 7 Water
Agency Act.
2. (a) A flood control and water district called the Zone 7 Water
Agency is hereby created. This agency shall consist of all the
territory in the Counties of Alameda and Contra Costa generally
described as "Eastern Alameda County (the former Zone 7 of the
Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District which
includes the City of Pleasanton, the former Murray Township, and a
portion of the former Washington Township) and the Dougherty Valley
in the southern part of the City of San Ramon."
(b) Authority for providing flood protection to the western
portion of Alameda County, including all other zones within the
Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (Chapter
1275 of the Statutes of 1949) shall stay with the Alameda County
Flood Control and Water Conservation District and that authority
remains unchanged by this act.
(c) Pursuant to Section 56387 of the Government Code, the County
of Alameda is hereby designated to be the principal county for the
agency.
3. (a) The objects and purposes of this act are to provide
regional flood control, water supply reliability, and groundwater
management as follows: follows, to
provide for the control of the flood and storm waters of said
district and the flood and storm waters of streams that have their
source outside of said district, but which streams and the flood
waters thereof flow into said district, and to conserve such waters
for beneficial and useful purposes by spreading, storing, retaining
and causing to percolate into the soil within said district, or
without such district, such waters, or to save or conserve in any
manner all or any of such waters and protect from such flood or storm
waters the watercourses, watersheds, harbors, public highways, life
and property in said district, and to prevent waste of water or dimin
ution of the water supply in, or exportation
of water from said district and to obtain, retain and reclaim
drainage, storm, flood and other waters for beneficial use in said
district, and to engage in recreation activities incidental to and in
connection with said purposes.
(1) Provide for the control of the flood and stormwaters of the
territory of the agency, and the flood and stormwaters of streams
that have their source outside of the territory of the agency but
that flow into the territory of the agency.
(2) Conserve flood and stormwaters for beneficial and useful
purposes by spreading, storing, retaining, and causing to percolate
into the soil within or without of the territory of the agency.
(3) Save or conserve in any manner all or any of the waters.
(4) Protect from flood or stormwaters the watercourses,
watersheds, harbors, public highways, life, and property in the
territory of the agency.
(5) Prevent the waste of water or diminution of the water supply
in, or exportation of water from, the territory of the agency.
(6) Obtain, retain, and reclaim drainage, storm, flood, and other
waters for beneficial use in the territory of the agency.
(7) Engage in recreation activities incidental to and in
connection with the purposes of this act.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the agency work
collaboratively with other appropriate entities in the Counties of
Alameda and Contra Costa in carrying out the purposes of this act.
4. As used in this act:
(a) "Agency"
act "agency " means the Zone 7 Water
Agency.
(b) "Water," when not otherwise specified, shall include all types
of water, including, but not limited to, surface water, groundwater,
stormwater, floodwater, wastewater, recycled water, and treated
effluent or treated sewage. "Water" shall not include treated
wastewater, recycled water, and treated effluent or treated sewage
that another public agency is empowered to, and actually does,
produce, convey, treat, store, dispose of, or recycle, as of December
31, 2012.
5. The agency is hereby declared to be a body corporate and
politic and, in addition to other powers granted by this act, may
take action to carry out all of the following purposes:
(a) To have perpetual succession.
(b) To sue and be sued in the name of the agency in all actions
and proceedings in all courts and tribunals of competent
jurisdiction.
(c) To adopt a seal and alter it at its pleasure.
(d) (1) To acquire by grant, purchase, lease, gift, devise,
contract, construction, or otherwise, and to hold, use, enjoy, sell,
let, and dispose of real and personal property of every kind,
including lands, structures, buildings, rights-of-way, easements, and
privileges, and to construct, maintain, alter, and operate any and
all works or improvements, within or outside the agency, necessary or
proper to carry out any of the objects or purposes of this act and
convenient to the full exercise of its powers, and to complete,
extend, add to, alter, remove, repair, or otherwise improve any
works, or improvements, or property acquired by it as authorized by
this act.
(2) All land and rights-of-way previously held by the Alameda
County Flood Control and Water Conservation District within the
territory of the agency shall be transferred to the agency on the
effective date of this act without any cost to the agency or district
other than administrative costs incurred to transfer titles, which
shall be borne by the agency.
(e) (1) To store water in surface or underground reservoirs within
or outside of the agency for the common benefit of the agency to
conserve, reclaim, recycle, treat, purify, distribute, store, and
manage water for present and future use within the territory of the
agency.
(2) To appropriate and acquire water and water rights, and import
water into the agency and to conserve within or outside the agency,
water for any purpose useful to the agency.
(3) To do any and every lawful act necessary to be done that
sufficient water may be available for any present or future
beneficial use or uses of the lands or inhabitants within the agency,
including, but not limited to, the acquisition, storage, treatment,
and distribution of water for irrigation, domestic, fire protection,
municipal, commercial, industrial, environmental, institutional,
recreational, and all other beneficial uses.
(4) To distribute, sell, or otherwise dispose of, outside the
agency, any waters not needed for beneficial uses within the agency.
(5) To commence, maintain, intervene in, defend, or compromise, in
the name of the agency on behalf of the landowners within the
territory of the agency, or otherwise, and to assume the costs and
expenses of any action or proceeding involving or affecting the
ownership or use of waters or water rights within or outside the
agency, used or useful for any purpose of the agency or of common
benefit to any land situated within the territory of the agency, or
involving the wasteful use of water within the territory of the
agency. To commence, maintain, intervene in, defend, and
compromise, and to assume the cost a nd expenses of, any
and all actions and proceedings. Provided, however, that
the agency shall not have the power to intervene or take part in, or
to pay the costs or expenses of, actions or controversies between the
owners of lands or water rights that do not affect the interests of
the agency.
(6) To commence, maintain, intervene in, defend, and compromise
and to assume the cost and expenses of any and all actions and
proceedings.
(7)
( 6) To prevent interference with or
diminution of, or to declare rights in the natural flow of any stream
or surface or subterranean supply of water used or useful for any
purpose of the agency or of common benefit to the lands within the
agency or to its inhabitants.
(8)
(7) To prevent unlawful exportation of water from the
agency.
(9)
( 8) To prevent contamination, pollution, or
otherwise rendering unfit for beneficial use the surface or
subsurface water used or useful in the agency, and to commence,
maintain, and defend actions and proceedings to prevent any
interference with the described waters as may endanger or damage the
inhabitants, lands, or use of water in, or flowing into, the agency.
(10) Provided, however, that the agency shall not have power to
intervene or take part in, or to pay the costs or expenses of,
actions or controversies between the owners of lands or water rights
that do not affect the interests of the agency.
(f) To control the floodwaters and stormwaters of the territory of
the agency and the floodwaters and stormwaters of streams that have
their sources outside of the territory of the agency, but that flow
into the territory of the agency, and to conserve these waters for
beneficial and useful purposes of the agency by spreading, storing,
retaining, and causing to percolate into the soil within or without
the territory of the agency, or to save or conserve in any manner all
or any of those waters and protect from damage from those
floodwaters or stormwaters the watercourses, watersheds, public
highways, life, and property in the territory of the agency, and the
watercourses outside of the territory of the agency of streams
flowing into the territory of the agency.
(g) (1) To enter upon any land, to make surveys and locate the
necessary works of improvement and the lines for channels, conduits,
canals, pipelines, roadways, and other rights-of-way.
(2) To acquire by purchase, lease, contract, gift, devise, or
other legal means all lands and water and water rights and other
property necessary or convenient for the construction, use, supply,
maintenance, repair, and improvement of the works, including works
constructed and being constructed by private owners, lands for
reservoirs for storage of necessary water, and all necessary
appurtenances, and also where necessary or convenient to that end,
and for those purposes and uses, to acquire and to hold in the name
of the state, the capital stock of any mutual water company or
corporation, domestic or foreign, owning water or water rights,
canals, waterworks, franchises, concessions, or rights, when the
ownership of the stock is necessary to secure a water supply required
by the agency or any part of the agency, upon the condition that
when holding the stock, the agency shall be entitled to all the
rights, powers, and privileges, and shall be subject to all the
obligations and liabilities conferred or imposed by law upon other
holders of the stock in the same company.
(3) To cooperate with, act in conjunction with, enter into, and to
carry out any acts necessary for the proper performance of any
agreement with the State of California, or any of its engineers,
officers, boards, commissions, departments, or agencies, or with the
government of the United States, or any of its engineers, officers,
boards, commissions, departments, or agencies or with any state, city
and county, city, county, agency of any kind, public or private
corporation, association, firm, or individual, or any number of them,
for the ownership, joint acquisition, leasing, disposition, use,
management, construction, installation, extension, maintenance,
repair, or operation of any rights, works, or other property of a
kind which might lawfully be acquired or owned by the agency or for
the lawful performance of any power or purpose of the agency provided
for in this act, including, but not limited to, the granting of the
right to the use of any water or the right to store that water in any
reservoir of the agency or to carrying that water through any
tunnel, canal, ditch, or conduit of the agency or for the delivery,
sale, or exchange of any water right, water supply, or water pumped,
stored, appropriated, or otherwise acquired or secured for the use of
the agency, or for controlling drainage waters, or floodwaters or
stormwaters of streams in or running into or out of the territory of
the agency, or for the protection of life or property in the
territory of the agency, or for the purpose of conserving any waters
for the beneficial use within the agency, or in any other works,
uses, or purposes provided for in this act.
(4) To adopt and carry out any definite plan or system for
accomplishing, facilitating, or financing all work that may lawfully
be accomplished by the agency and to enforce that plan or system by
resolution or ordinance.
(h) To carry on technical and other necessary investigations, make
measurements, collect data, and make analyses, studies, and
inspections pertaining to water supply, water rights, control of
floodwaters and stormwaters, water quality, groundwater management,
or use of water both within and outside the agency relating to
watercourses or streams flowing in or into the agency or groundwater
located within or outside the territory of the agency. For these
purposes, the agency shall have the right of access through its
authorized representatives to all properties within the agency and
elsewhere relating to watercourses and streams flowing in or into the
agency. The agency, through its authorized representatives, may
enter upon these lands and make examinations, surveys, and maps of
the land.
(i) To prescribe, revise, and collect fees and charges for
facilities furnished or to be furnished to any new building,
improvement, or structure by the use of any flood control or storm
drainage system constructed or to be constructed in an area of the
agency, and whenever a drainage or flood control problem is referred
to the agency by the County of Alameda or the County of Contra Costa,
or any incorporated city in the County of Alameda or the County of
Contra Costa, to require the installation of drainage or flood
control improvements necessary or convenient, or both, for needs of
the area, including, but not limited to, residential, subdivision,
commercial, and industrial drainage and flood control needs, that
county and those cities being hereby authorized to refer all drainage
and flood control problems, arising under the Subdivision Map Act
(Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the
Government Code) or otherwise, to the agency for solution. Revenues
derived under this subdivision shall be used for the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of the flood
control or storm drainage facilities of the area, to reduce the
principal or interest of any bonded indebtedness of the area, or to
replace funds expended on behalf of that area. Taxes and assessments
imposed by or on behalf of the former Zone 7 of the Alameda County
Flood Control and Water District may continue to be levied by the
agency upon any property in the agency for the purpose of making
payments to the state for the construction, maintenance, repair, and
operation and all other costs of the agency's prorated share of state
water facilities in accordance with this act.
(j) To incur indebtedness, and to issue bonds in accordance with
this act.
(k) To cause taxes or assessments to be levied and collected for
the purpose of paying any obligation of the agency, and to carry out
any of the purposes of this act, in accordance with this act.
(l) To make contracts, and to employ labor, and to carry out all
acts necessary for the full exercise of all powers vested in the
agency or any of the officers of the agency, by this act.
(m) To pay to any city, public agency, district, or educational
institution recognized under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
94301) of Part 59 of the Education Code, a portion of the cost of
water imported by that city, public agency, the Zone 7 Water Agency,
or educational institution into, for use within, and of benefit to
the Zone 7 Water Agency.
(n) To establish designated floodways in accordance with the
Cobey-Alquist Flood Plain Management Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 8400) of Part 2 of Division 5 of the Water Code).
(o) To acquire, construct, maintain, operate, and install
landscaping or recreational facilities in connection with any dam,
reservoir, lake, flood control facility, or other works or property
owned or controlled by the agency.
(p) To acquire, construct, maintain, operate and install, lease,
and control facilities for the generation, transmission,
distribution, sale, exchange, and lease of electric power.
(q) To fully regulate wells and to require the sealing of
abandoned or unused wells according to standards adopted by the board
by ordinance and designed to protect the groundwater resources of
the agency from contamination. Upon and following the effective date
of the act, the County of Alameda or the County of Contra Costa or
any incorporated city in the County of Alameda or the County of
Contra Costa that is within the territory of the agency shall require
all persons applying for any land development permit or approval to
show the existence and location of any water well upon a map of the
property that is the subject of the application. When a well is
shown, the map shall be referred to the agency immediately upon
receipt for review and investigation. If upon review and
investigation the agency determines that the well or wells are to be
sealed by the applicant pursuant to the ordinance, the determination
shall be transmitted promptly to the applicant by the agency as a
requirement in writing.
(r) On land acquired or used for the flood control, drainage,
water supply, water conservation, and water resource purposes of this
act:
(1) To plan, improve, operate, maintain, and keep in a sanitary
condition, a system of public parks, playgrounds, beaches, swimming
areas, and other facilities for public recreation, for the use and
enjoyment of all inhabitants of the agency, as an incident to the
carrying out of the projects of the agency.
(2) To construct, maintain, and operate any other amusement or
recreational facilities, including picnic benches and tables,
bathhouses, golf courses, tennis courts, or other special amusements
and forms of recreation.
(3) To fix and collect reasonable fees for the use by the public
of any special facilities, services, or equipment pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) To adopt any rules and regulations as in the discretion of the
board are necessary to the orderly operation and control of the use,
by the public, of the lands and facilities for recreational
purposes, provided, however, that the board shall not, for the
purposes specified in this subdivision, interfere with control or
operation of any existing public park, playground, beach, swimming
area, parkway, recreational ground, or other public property, owned
or controlled by any county, other district, or municipality, except
with the consent of the governing body of that county, district, or
municipality, and upon terms as may be mutually agreed upon between
the board and that governing body.
(s) To design, construct, or maintain any levees, seawalls,
groins, breakwaters, jetties, outlets, channels, harbors, basins, or
other work pertaining thereto, in a manner as to render them
adaptable and useful to shoreline, beach, harbor, navigation, park,
or marina development or use, and to do this work in cooperation with
any other public or quasi-public agency or corporation concerned
with this development or use.
(t) To establish and maintain building setback lines along the
banks of any river, creek, stream, or other waterway, in any case
where the board determines that a setback line is necessary, provided
that this authority is not exclusive of similar authority that may
be exercised by any county or city and provided further that any
development shall comply with the greatest setback line from a
watercourse, for any of the following reasons:
(1) To prevent impediment of the natural flow of water.
(2) To protect life and property.
(3) To prevent damage from flooding, bank caving, or erosion.
(4) To prevent the pollution of waters.
(u) To import, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat,
purify, recapture, and salvage any water, including, but not limited
to, sewage or wastewater for the beneficial use or uses of the agency
or its inhabitants or the owners of rights to waters within the
territory of the agency. The agency may also acquire, construct, and
operate facilities for the collection, treatment, and disposal of
sewage, wastewater, and stormwater of the district and its
inhabitants and may contract with any public agency concerning
facilities and services.
6. (a) The agency may exercise the right of eminent domain,
either within or outside of the agency, to take any property
necessary to carry out any of the objects or purposes of this act.
The agency in exercising this power shall in addition to the damage
for the taking, injury, or destruction of property, also pay the cost
of removal or relocation of any structure, railways, mains, pipes,
conduits, wires, cables, or poles, of any public utility that is
required to be moved to a new location. Nothing in this act contained
shall be deemed to authorize the agency, or any person or persons to
divert the waters of any river, creek, stream, irrigation system,
canal, or ditch, from its channel, to the detriment of any person, or
persons having any interest in the river, creek, stream, irrigation
system, canal, or ditch, or its waters, unless compensation for the
diversion is first provided in the manner provided by law.
(b) The agency shall not exercise the right of eminent domain to
take any property, including water rights, appropriated to public use
by any existing city, county, or district. Nothing in this act shall
authorize the agency or any person to divert the waters of any
river, creek, stream, irrigation system, canal, or ditch, unless
compensation for the diversion is first provided in the manner
prescribed by law.
(c) Nothing in this act shall affect the plenary power of any
existing city, county, or municipal utility district to provide for a
water supply for the city, county, or municipal utility district, or
as affecting the absolute control of any properties of the city,
county, or municipal utility district necessary for the water supply.
Nothing in this act shall be construed as vesting any power of
control over the properties in the Alameda County Flood Control and
Water Conservation District, or over any officer of the district or
any person referred to in this act.
7. Except as otherwise provided in this act, an individual
serving on the board of directors of the Zone 7 Water Agency on
December 31, 2012, shall continue to serve on the board of directors
of the agency established by this act and shall hold office until his
or her successor qualifies and takes office.
8. (a) The first election for all seven board positions shall be
conducted at the June 2014, statewide primary election.
Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the four top votegetters at the
first election shall serve for terms of four years and the next three
top votegetters shall serve for terms of two years. The terms of all
seven directors elected pursuant to this subdivision shall commence
on July 1, 2014, at noon.
(b) The term of office for a director shall be four years. Except
as otherwise provided by this act, the term of office for each
director elected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be four years
beginning at noon on the first day of July following his or her
election and the board member shall hold office until his or her
successor qualifies and takes office.
(c) Elections shall be conducted in accordance with the Uniform
District Election Law (Part 4 (commencing with Section 10500) of
Division 10 of the Elections Code), except as provided in paragraph
(1), and shall be consolidated with the direct primary election in
each even-numbered year.
(1) The directors shall be elected at large and the time for the
nomination of candidates and issuance of notices in connection with
the nomination of candidates shall be at the times provided by
general law for the nomination of candidates at the direct primary
election.
(2) A candidate for the board of directors shall be a resident and
qualified elector of the agency. A director shall continue to reside
within the agency's territory during his or her term of office.
(d) The directors elected pursuant to this section are to exercise
their independent judgment on behalf of the interests of the entire
agency, including the residents, property owners, and the public as a
whole in furthering the purposes and intent of this act.
9. A vacancy in the office of any director shall be filled for
the unexpired term by appointment by a majority of the remaining
members of the board of directors.
10. Any elected director may be recalled by the voters pursuant
to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 11000) of Division 11 of the
Elections Code.
11. (a) Any ordinances, resolutions, or board policies adopted by
the board of directors of Zone 7 of the Alameda County Flood Control
and Water Conservation District on or before December 31, 2012,
shall remain in full force and effect and be binding on the agency
unless specifically repealed by the board of directors of the agency.
(b) The board may adopt resolutions for the agency that shall be
adopted, certified, and recorded.
(c) (1) The board may adopt ordinances for the agency. All
ordinances shall be enacted only by rollcall vote entered into the
proceedings of the board. An ordinance shall be in full force and
effect immediately upon adoption, and shall be published once in full
in a newspaper of general circulation, printed, published, and
circulated in the agency within 10 days after adoption.
(2) It is an infraction for any person to violate any agency
ordinance adopted pursuant to this section from and after the
effective date of the ordinance. The violation shall be punishable by
a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500).
(3)
(2) Any violation or threatened violation may
also be enjoined by civil action.
(d) The board shall have power to
make and enforce all needful rules, regulations, standards, and
procedures for the administration and government of the agency, and
to appoint and employ all needful agents, superintendents, engineers,
attorneys, and employees to properly look after the performance of
any work provided for in this act and to operate and maintain those
works, and to perform all other acts necessary or proper to
accomplish the purposes of this act.
(e) The board may establish rules and regulations for the sale,
distribution, and use of water, which includes the power to restrict
the use of water during any emergency caused by drought, emergency,
or other threatened or existing water shortage and to prohibit the
wastage of agency water or the use of agency water during those
periods for any purpose other than household uses or other restricted
uses as may be determined to be necessary by the agency and may
prohibit use of water during those periods for specific uses that the
agency may from time to time find to be nonessential.
(f) In addition to the officers and employees prescribed by the
act, the board may in its discretion appoint a president, a vice
president, a clerk, and any other officers and employees for the
board of directors or agency who, in its judgment, may be deemed
necessary, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation. Those
officers and employees shall be employed, suspended, or their
employment terminated in accordance with an ordinance setting forth
rules, regulations, standards, and procedures for appointment,
suspension, and termination of employment.
12. (a) The agency shall have jurisdiction and power to employ
competent registered civil engineers and geologists to investigate
and carefully devise a plan or plans for projects, and to obtain
information in regard to projects, as may be deemed necessary or
useful for carrying out the purposes of this act.
(b) The board may direct any engineer or geologist described in
subdivision (a) to make and file reports from time to time including
the following information:
(1) A general description of a project, together with general
plans, profiles, cross sections, and general specifications relating
to the project.
(2) A general description of the lands, rights-of-way, easements,
and property proposed to be taken, acquired, or injured in carrying
out the project.
(3) A map or maps that show the location of the project, and
lands, rights-of-way, easements, and property to be taken, acquired,
or injured in carrying out the project, and any other information in
regard to the project that may be deemed necessary or useful.
(4) An estimate of the cost of the project, including a statement
of the portion, if any, of cost advanced by the agency for the
project for which the agency proposes to reimburse itself from the
proceeds of sale of any bonds to be issued to pay for the project and
an estimate of the cost of lands, rights-of-way, easements, and
property proposed to be taken, acquired, or injured in carrying out
the project, and also of all incidental expenses likely to be
incurred in connection with the project, including legal, clerical,
engineering, superintendence, inspection, printing, and advertising,
and, if deemed advisable, a sum sufficient to pay interest on any
bonds proposed to be issued during all or any part of the period of
construction of the project and for no longer than 12 months
thereafter, and the total amount of bonds, if any, necessary to be
issued to pay for the project.
(c) Any engineer or geologist described in subdivision (a) shall
from time to time and as directed by the board file with the board
supplementary, amendatory, and additional reports and
recommendations, as necessity and convenience may require.
13. (a) Any abandoned or unused water well endangering the public
health and safety by creating a water contamination hazard is a
public nuisance. The board shall, by ordinance, establish standards
for what constitutes a water contamination hazard and procedures for
the declaration and abatement of public nuisance consistent with this
section.
(b) Whenever the agency determines that a public nuisance, as
defined, exists, it shall, by certified mail, notify the current
record owner of the property to abate the public nuisance and that it
is the intention of the agency to record a notice of violation of
the ordinance. The notice to the owner shall describe the violation
and specify a time, date, and place for a hearing, at which the owner
may present evidence to the board that a public nuisance does not
actually exist and that the notice should not be recorded. The notice
to the owner shall state that, unless the public nuisance is abated
within the time specified by the board following the hearing, the
agency may abate the public nuisance and the costs of the abatement
will be assessed against the property. The meeting shall take place
no sooner than 30 days and no later than 60 days from date of the
certified mailing. If, within 15 days of receipt of the notice, the
owner of the real property fails to inform the agency of his or her
objection to recording the notice of violation, the board shall
record the notice of violation with the county recorder. If, after
the owner has presented evidence, it is determined that there has
been no violation, the agency shall mail a clearance letter to the
current owner of record. If, however, after the owner has presented
evidence, the board determines that a violation has in fact occurred,
the board shall record the notice of violation with the county
recorder. The notice of violation, when recorded, shall be deemed to
be constructive notice of the violation to all successors in interest
in the property. The county recorder shall index the names of the
fee owners in the general index.
(c) If the board determines, at the conclusion of the hearing,
that a public nuisance actually exists, the board shall order the
property owner to abate the public nuisance within a specified time.
(d) If the public nuisance is not abated within the time specified
in the order of the board following a hearing, the agency may abate
the public nuisance. Any entry upon private property by the agency
for this purpose shall be preceded by written notice to the owner by
certified mail stating the date and place of entry, the purpose of
entry, and the number of persons entering. If the mailed notice is
returned undelivered, the agency may post a copy of the notice at the
proposed entry point five days prior to entry.
(e) Any costs incurred by the agency in abating a public nuisance
pursuant to this section are a lien upon the property upon which the
public nuisance existed when notice of the lien is filed and
recorded.
(f) Notice of the lien, particularly identifying the property on
which the nuisance was abated and the amount of the lien, and naming
the owner of record of the property, shall be recorded by the agency
in the office of the Alameda or Contra Costa County Recorder, as
appropriate, within one year after the first item of expenditures by
the agency or within 90 days after the completion of the work,
whichever first occurs. Upon recordation of the notice of lien, the
lien shall have the same force, effect, and priority as a judgment
lien, except that it shall attach only to the property described in
the notice, and shall continue for 10 years from the time of
recording of the notice unless sooner released or otherwise
discharged.
14. The board shall determine which projects or works of
improvement shall be carried out and shall determine, as to each
project or work of improvement, that it is for the benefit of the
agency in whole or in part.
15. The agency may designate the county treasury as its treasury,
for all purposes or for such purposes as may be identified by the
board of directors by resolution.
16. The board of directors may create by resolution any advisory
boards, committees, or commissions for the agency as in its judgment
are required to serve the best interests of the agency. The board may
grant to any advisory board, committee, or commission it creates
duties as are consistent with the provisions of this act. The number
of members of any board, committee, or commission created by the
board shall be not less than three and shall be specified in the
resolution. Members of any board, committee, or commission created by
the board shall serve at the pleasure of the board.
17. Notwithstanding any other law, the agency may continue to
impose any special taxes based upon assessed value or any other
special taxes, assessments, or charges imposed by or on behalf of the
former Zone 7 of the Alameda County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District.
18. Subject to Section 4 of Article XIII A and Article XIII C of
the California Constitution, the agency may impose new special taxes
in accordance with Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 50075) of
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code
at minimum uniform rates according to land use category and size.
19. The agency may levy assessments upon any property in the
agency, in accordance with the Improvement Act of 1911, the
Improvement Bond Act of 1915, the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913,
or the Refunding Assessment Bond Act of 1935.
20. (a) Any taxes or assessments shall be levied and collected
together with, and not separately from, taxes for county purposes and
the revenues derived together with any penalties paid by the county
to the agency.
(b) Provisions of law prescribing the time and manner of levying,
assessing, equalizing, and collecting county property taxes,
including the sale of property for delinquency, and the redemption
from sale, and the duties of county officers in this regard, are, so
far as they are applicable and not in conflict with the specific
provisions of this act, hereby adopted and made a part of this act.
21. (a) The board of directors may, by resolution adopted by a
vote of a majority of the total vote of the board, require and fix
the amount of, and the maturity, interest rate paid, and any other
provisions of, all official bonds necessary for the agency to carry
out the objects and purposes of the agency to provide a reliable
supply of treated drinking water, agricultural water, and regional
flood protection to the public. The resolution shall contain
sufficient detail to inform its beneficiaries, including, but not
limited to, the purpose or purposes for the indebtedness, the amount
of principal, and maximum amount of interest to be paid.
(b) After a resolution has been filed pursuant to subdivision (a),
the board shall order by ordinance the submission of the proposition
of incurring bonded indebtedness to the qualified voters within the
territory served by the agency at an election authorized by law at
which the qualified electors of the agency are entitled to vote. The
ordinance shall submit to the qualified voters of the agency the
proposition of incurring a bonded debt detailed in the resolution. In
this regard, a brief, general description of the amount and purposes
for which the indebtedness is proposed to be incurred with the
certified copy of the resolution incorporated by reference shall
suffice. The ordinance may state that no bonds authorized at the
election will be sold until taxes or assessments have been levied on
the area benefited by the improvement which will provide for payments
to the agency sufficient to pay the principal and interest on any
bonds issued.
(c) The board shall cause a map or maps to be prepared covering a
general description of the project. A map shall show the location of
the proposed project and the board shall cause the map to be posted
in a prominent place in the county courthouse for the County of
Alameda for public inspection and on the agency's Internet Web site
for at least 30 days before the date fixed for the election.
(d) The ordinance calling for the election shall, prior to the
date set for the election, be published pursuant to Section 6062 of
the Government Code in a newspaper of general circulation. The last
publication of the ordinance must be at least 14 days before the
election, and if there is no newspaper of general circulation, then
the ordinance shall be posted in five public places designated by the
board, for at least 30 days before the date fixed for the election.
No other notice of the election need be given nor need polling place
cards be issued.
(e) Any defect or irregularity in the proceedings prior to the
calling of the election described in this section shall not affect
the validity of the bonds authorized by the election. If at the
election two-thirds of the votes cast are in favor of incurring the
bonded indebtedness, then bonds for the amount stated in the
proceedings shall be issued and sold as provided in this act.
22. The board may issue and sell the bonds authorized pursuant to
the board's resolution at not less than par value, and the proceeds
of the sale of the bonds shall be placed in the treasury of the
agency.
23. Notwithstanding any other law, taxes and assessments may be
levied by the board upon any property in the agency for the purpose
of making payments to the state under the terms of the agency's state
water contract for the construction, maintenance, repair, operation,
and all other costs of the zone's prorated share of state water
project facilities.
24. (a) On or before December 15 of each year, the board of
directors shall meet, at the time and place designated by published
notice, at which meeting any member of the general public may appear
and be heard regarding any item in the proposed budget or for the
inclusion of additional items.
(b) At the same time and place designated in the public notice,
the board shall review its financial reserves.
(c) After the conclusion of the meeting, and not later than
December 31 of each year, and after making any revisions of,
deductions from, or increases or additions to, the proposed budget
that the board determines advisable during or after the meeting, the
board, by resolution, shall adopt the budget as finally determined.
25. The bonds of the agency issued pursuant to this act shall be
legal investments for all trust funds, for the funds of all insurance
companies, banks, both commercial and savings, and trust companies,
for the state school funds, and whenever any money or funds may by
law now or hereafter enacted be invested in bonds of cities, cities
and counties, counties, school districts, or municipalities in the
state, the money or funds may be invested in the bonds of the agency
issued in accordance with the provisions of this act, and whenever
bonds of cities, cities and counties, counties, school districts, or
municipalities, may by any law now or hereafter enacted be used as
security for the performance of any act, the bonds of the agency may
be so used.
26. All bonds issued by the agency under the provisions of this
act shall be free and exempt from taxation within the state pursuant
to subdivision (c) of Section 3 of Article XIII of the California
Constitution.
27. Any improvement for which bonds are voted under the
provisions of this act shall be made in conformity with the report,
plans, specifications, and map adopted, unless the doing of any of
the work described in the report shall be prohibited by law, or be
rendered contrary to the best interests of the agency by some change
of conditions in relation thereto, in which event the board may order
necessary changes made in the proposed work or improvements and may
cause any plans and specifications to be made and adopted.
28. Whenever bonds have been authorized by the agency and the
proceeds of the sale of the bonds have been expended as authorized,
the board may by resolution determine that additional bonds should be
issued for carrying out the work of flood control, water supply, or
for any of the purposes of this act, and the board may submit to the
qualified voters, the question of issuing additional bonds in the
same manner and with like procedure. All provisions of this act for
the issuing and sale of bonds and for the expenditure of the proceeds
of bonds shall be deemed to apply to an issue of additional bonds.
29. In addition to proceedings authorized under this act,
whenever the board determines that it is in the public interest, it
may borrow money to provide funds to pay the cost of any work or
improvement in the agency by the issuance of revenue bonds pursuant
to the Revenue Bond Law of 1941 (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
54300) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code),
provided that, in addition to the purposes established in the Revenue
Bond Law of 1941, the agency may also issue bonds for the purpose of
financing the construction, reconstruction, replacement,
acquisition, or improvement of any facility or facilities necessary
or convenient for the storage, treatment, including reclamation,
transmission, or distribution of water for beneficial use within the
agency, and for the purpose of generation or transmission of electric
power. If the work or improvement is determined by the board to be
for an area comprising less than the whole agency, the election at
which the proposition to issue revenue bonds is submitted shall be
held only in that area. Proceeds from the sale of any revenue bonds
shall be expended only in the area in which the proposition to issue
revenue bonds is approved. In the case of any conflict between the
provisions of this act and the provisions of the Revenue Bond Law of
1941 regarding the issuance of revenue bonds, the provisions of the
Revenue Bond Law of 1941 shall control.
30. The repeal or amendment of this act or a change in boundaries
of the agency shall not in any way affect or release any of the
property in the agency from the obligations of any outstanding bonds
or indebtedness until all outstanding bonds or indebtedness have been
fully paid and discharged.
31. There is hereby granted to the agency the right-of-way for
the location, construction, and maintenance of water collection,
distribution or flood control channels, ditches, waterways, conduits,
canals, storm dikes, embankments, and protective works in, over, and
across public land of the state State of
California , not otherwise disposed of or in use, not in any
case exceeding in length or width that is necessary for the
construction of the works and adjuncts or for the protection thereof.
Whenever any selection of a right-of-way for the works or adjuncts
is made by the agency the board must transmit to the State Lands
Commission, the Controller, and the county recorder in which the
selected lands are situated, a plat of the lands selected, giving the
extent and the uses for which the same is claimed or desired, duly
verified to be correct. If the State Lands Commission approves the
selections made it shall endorse its approval upon the plat and issue
to the agency a permit to use the right-of-way and lands.
32. Claims for money or damages against the agency are governed
by Part 3 (commencing with Section 900) of Division 3 of, and Part 4
(commencing with Section 940) of Division 3.6 of, Title 1 of the
Government Code, except as provided. Claims not governed thereby or
by other statutes or by ordinances or regulations authorized by law
and expressly applicable to those claims shall be prepared and
presented to the governing body and all claims shall be audited and
paid, in the same manner and with the same effect as are similar
claims against the county.
33. (a) The legal title to all property, except shares of stock
in mutual water companies or corporations, as provided in Section 17
of Article XVI of the California Constitution, acquired by or on
behalf of the former Zone 7 of the Alameda County Flood Control and
Water Conservation District or under this act shall immediately
and by operation of law vest in the agency, and shall be held by the
agency, in trust for, and is hereby dedicated and set apart to, the
uses and purposes set forth in this act. The board may hold, use,
acquire, manage, occupy, and possess the property, as provided, and
the board may determine, by resolution duly entered in its minutes
that any real property, or interest therein, held by the agency is no
longer necessary to be retained for those uses and purposes, and may
sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property pursuant to this
section.
(b) Real property that, in the unanimous judgment of the board,
has no access to a public road, or that consists of an easement for
ingress and egress to property that, by the terms of the easement,
will terminate when ingress and egress is supplied to the property by
a public road, may be sold, leased, or conveyed by the board on
terms prescribed by it.
(c) The board may reconvey real property to the former owner by
whom the property was conveyed, or from whom the property was
condemned by the agency, or the owner's successor in interest for
fair market value. Fair market value shall be determined by a
qualified real estate appraiser. However, the agency may reconvey
real property to the former owner or his or her successor in interest
for less than fair market value if the agency finds that a public
purpose exists justifying that reconveyance for less than fair market
value.
(d) The board may by a majority vote exchange real property of
equal value with any person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of
removing defects in the title to real property owned by the agency or
where the real property to be exchanged is not required for agency
use and the property to be acquired is required for agency use.
(e) In all other cases, the board shall be governed in the sale,
lease, or other disposition of real property by the requirements of
law governing that action by counties, provided that notice of the
board's intended action shall be as prescribed in Section 25363 of
the Government Code.
(f) The board may by resolution prescribe a procedure for the
leasing of real property owned by the agency alternative to the
requirements of law governing counties.
(g) The board may, by a majority vote, sell, lease, or otherwise
transfer to the state, the County of Alameda or the County of Contra
Costa, or to any city, school district, or other special district
within the agency, or exchange with the public entities, any real or
personal property or interest belonging to the agency upon the terms
and conditions that are agreed upon.
(h) The board shall establish regulations for the trade in,
survey, sale, or other disposition of personal property held by the
agency and no longer necessary to be retained for the uses and
purposes thereof, provided, however, that any sale of personal
property having a sale value in excess of that value stated from time
to time by Article 2 (commencing with Section 1041.6) of Subchapter
3 of Chapter 2 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the California Code of
Regulations as a definition of "fixed assets," or any lower value as
may be determined by the board, shall be made upon public bid
preceded by notice of the board's intended action given as prescribed
in Section 25363 of the Government Code.
34. The agency formed under this act , in order to
determine the legality of its existence, or
the legality of any contract entered into by the agency,
or any other matter, may institute a proceeding therefor
in the superior court of this state, in and for the County
of Alameda, by filing with the clerk of the county superior court a
complaint setting forth the name of the agency, its exterior
boundaries, the date of its organization and a prayer that it be
adjudged a legal public agency formed under the provisions of this
act, or setting forth the name of the agency, the parties to and
nature of the contract, a copy of the contract, and a prayer that it
be adjudged a legal contract. The summons in that proceeding shall be
served by publishing a copy of the summons once a week for four
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county.
The state shall be a defendant in that action, and consent therefor
is given. Service of summons shall be made on the Attorney General.
The Attorney General shall appear in the action on behalf of the
state in the same manner as with appearances in civil actions. Within
30 days after proof of publication of the summons being filed in the
proceeding, the state, any property owner or resident in the agency,
or any person interested may appear as a defendant in the action by
serving and filing an answer to the complaint, in which case the
answer shall set forth the facts relied upon to show the invalidity
of the agency, or the contract, and shall be served upon the attorney
for the agency before being filed in such a proceeding. The
proceeding is hereby declared to be a proceeding in rem and the final
judgment rendered therein shall be conclusive against all persons
whomsoever, including the agency and the state. To the extent not
inconsistent with the foregoing, the court shall use the procedures
set forth in pursuant to the provisions of
Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.
35. (a) Each person elected or appointed to the office of
director shall, within 30 days after receiving his or her certificate
of election, or notice of appointment, qualify by taking and
subscribing to an official oath. The director shall file his or her
official oath with the clerk of the board , as has been
adjusted, or may be adjusted in the future, pursuant to Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 20200) of Division 10 of the Water Code
.
(b) The board may authorize each director to receive compensation
not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day's
attendance at meetings of the board, or committees thereof, or for
each day's service rendered as a director by request of the board.
(c) Employees appointed by the board under this act, when required
by the board of the agency, shall execute bonds conditioned,
executed, approved, filed, and recorded in the general manner and
form provided by law for officers, other than supervisors, of the
county, before entering upon the duties of their respective
employments.
36. This act,
and every part thereof, shall be liberally construed to promote the
objects thereof, and to carry out its intents and purposes.
37. The provisions and procedures of law available under this act
are not subject to the Special Assessment Investigation, Limitation
and Majority Protest Act of 1931 (Part 1 (commencing with Section
2800) of Division 4 of the Streets and Highways Code).
38. The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of
this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 2. Section 2 of the Alameda County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District Act (Chapter 1275 of the Statutes of 1949) is
amended to read:
Sec. 2. A flood control district is hereby created to be called
the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The
district shall consist of all the territory of the County of Alameda
lying within the exterior boundaries of the county, except for the
territory of the Zone 7 Water Agency , as established by the
Zone 7 Water Agency Act, and on January 1, 2013, save
as may be modified by the Local Agency Formation Commission of
the County of Alameda. As used in this act "district" means the
Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.
SEC. 3. Section 36 of the Alameda County Flood Control and Water
Conservation District Act (Chapter 1275 of the Statutes of 1949) is
repealed.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or
because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to
pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.