California Public Resources Code

§ 80114

PRC § 80114 Effective Jan 1, 2020Div. 46 · Ch. 8

Statute text

(a)Of the amount made available pursuant to Section 80110, two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) is available to the Natural Resources Agency for implementation of voluntary agreements that provide multibenefit water quality, water supply, and watershed protection and restoration for the watersheds of the state to achieve the objectives of integrating regulatory and voluntary efforts, implementing an updated State Water Resources Control Board’s San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary Water Quality Control Plan, and ensuring ecological benefits. Expenditure of funds provided in this section shall be in accordance with the following:

(1)For the purposes of this section, watershed restoration includes activities to fund wetland habitat, salmon, steelhead, and fishery benefits, improve and restore river health, modernize stream crossings, culverts, and bridges, reconnect historical flood plains, install or improve fish screens, provide fish passages, restore river channels, restore or enhance riparian, aquatic, and terrestrial habitat, improve ecological functions, acquire from willing sellers conservation easements for riparian buffer strips, improve local watershed management, predation management, hatchery management, and remove sediment or trash.

(2)For purposes of this section, funds may be used for projects that measurably enhance streamflows at a time and location necessary to provide fisheries or ecosystem benefits or improvements that improve upon existing flow conditions. Project types that may be eligible include, but are not limited to, water transactions such as lease, purchase, or exchange, change of use petitions to benefit fish and wildlife, surface storage to be used to enhance streamflow, forbearance of water rights, changes in water management, groundwater storage and conjunctive use, habitat restoration projects that reshape the stream hydrograph, water efficiency generally, irrigation efficiency and water infrastructure improvements that save water and enable reshaping of the stream hydrograph, reconnecting flood flows with restored flood plains, and reservoir reoperations both at existing and new storage sites.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 497, Sec. 237. (AB 991) Effective January 1, 2020.