AB 1413: Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: groundwater adjudication.

(b) “Best available information” has the same meaning as the term is used in the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to Section 10733.2 of the Water Code.

(c) “Best available science” has the same meaning as defined in Section 351 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(i)

“Groundwater” means water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water that flows in known and definite channels.

(j) “Groundwater extraction facility” means a device or method for extracting groundwater in a basin.

(k) “Groundwater recharge” means the augmentation of groundwater, by natural or artificial means.

(l) “Person” includes, but is not limited to, counties, local agencies, state agencies, federal agencies, tribes, business entities, and individuals.

(m) “Plaintiff” means the person filing the complaint initiating a comprehensive adjudication and includes a cross-complainant who initiates a comprehensive adjudication by cross-complaint.

(n) “Public water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.

(o) “State small water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.

(p) “Sustainable Groundwater Management Act” means Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code.

834.

(a) In a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter, the court may determine all groundwater rights of a basin, whether based on appropriation, overlying right, or other basis of right, and use of storage space in the basin.

(b) Subject to the limitations in Section 850, the court’s final judgment in a comprehensive adjudication, for the groundwater rights of each party, may declare the priority, amount, purposes of use, extraction location, place of use of the water, and use of storage space in the basin, together with appropriate injunctive relief, subject to terms adopted by the court to implement a physical solution in the comprehensive adjudication.

838.

(a) (1) In a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter, a judge of a superior court of a county that overlies the basin or any portion of the basin shall be disqualified. The Chairperson of the Judicial Council shall assign a judge to preside in all proceedings in the comprehensive adjudication.

(2) A judge of the superior court in which an action is filed may, on the court’s own motion or the motion of a party, determine if the action is a comprehensive adjudication under Section 833. A motion for a determination pursuant to this paragraph shall receive calendar preference within the action and shall be resolved before other procedural or dispositive motions.

(b) A comprehensive adjudication is presumed to be a complex action under Rule 3.400 of the California Rules of Court.

(c) Sections 170.6 and 394 shall not apply in a comprehensive adjudication.

(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 10726.6 of the Water Code, an action against a groundwater sustainability agency that is located in a basin that is being adjudicated pursuant to this chapter shall be consolidated with the comprehensive adjudication if the action concerns the adoption, substance, or implementation of a groundwater sustainability plan, or the groundwater sustainability agency’s compliance with the timelines in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

(2) In an action where consolidation occurs pursuant to paragraph (1), the court shall try the cause of action for judicial review of the groundwater sustainability plan’s determination of a basin’s sustainable yield before trying any other issue in the action.

849.

(a) The court shall have the authority and the duty to impose a physical solution on the parties in a comprehensive adjudication where necessary and consistent with Article 2 of Section X of the California Constitution.

(b) Before adopting a physical solution, the court shall consider any existing groundwater sustainability plan or program. The requirements in Section 850 for a judgment shall also apply to any physical solution imposed by the court.

850.

(a) The court may enter a judgment in a comprehensive adjudication if the court finds that the judgment meets all of the following criteria:

(1) It is consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution.

(2) It is consistent with the water right priorities of all nonstipulating parties and any persons who have claims that are exempted pursuant to Section 833 in the basin.

(3) It treats all objecting parties and any persons who have claims that are exempted pursuant to Section 833 equitably as compared to the stipulating parties.

(4) It considers the water use of and accessibility of water for small farmers and disadvantaged communities. This consideration shall be consistent with the conditions identified in this subdivision.

(b) (1) The court may enter judgment in an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, if in addition to the criteria enumerated in subdivision (a), the court also finds that the judgment will not substantially impair the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the department to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and to achieve sustainable groundwater management.

(2) A judgment substantially impairs the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the department to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and to achieve sustainable groundwater management if it permits more total pumping from the basin annually or on average than the sustainable yield of the basin established in the latest groundwater sustainability plan or plans covering the basin and the groundwater sustainability plan or plans have received a determination from the department, pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10733) of Part 2.74 of Division 6 of the Water Code, including a determination under Section 10733, that the plan or plans are likely to achieve the sustainability goal for the basin and either of the following apply:

(A) The groundwater sustainability plan or plans have been validated by a final judgment issuing from a validation action brought pursuant to Section 10726.6 of the Water Code.

(B) The groundwater sustainability plan or plans have been validated by operation of law because no validation action was filed.

(c) (1) In order to assist the court in making the findings required by this section, the court may refer the matter to the State Water Resources Control Board for investigation and report pursuant to Section 2001 of the Water Code. A party may request that the court refer the matter to the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to this subdivision.

(2) Notwithstanding any inconsistencies with Article 2 (commencing with Section 2010) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Water Code, for a reference undertaken by the State Water Resources Control Board under paragraph (1), the State Water Resources Control Board and the department shall jointly investigate and submit the report under paragraph (1).

(d) If a party or group of parties submits a proposed stipulated judgment that is supported by more than 50 percent of all parties who are groundwater extractors in the basin or use the basin for groundwater storage and is supported by groundwater extractors responsible for at least 75 percent of the groundwater extracted in the basin during the five calendar years before the filing of the complaint, the court may adopt the proposed stipulated judgment, as applied to the stipulating parties, if the proposed stipulated judgment meets the criteria described in subdivision (a). A party objecting to a proposed stipulated judgment shall demonstrate, by a preponderance of evidence, that the proposed stipulated judgment does not satisfy one or more criteria described in subdivision (a) or that it substantially violates the water rights of the objecting party. If the objecting party is unable to make this showing, the court may impose the proposed stipulated judgment on the objecting party. An objecting party may be subject to a preliminary injunction issued pursuant to Section 847 while their objections are being resolved.

(e) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:

(1) “Disadvantaged communities” means communities identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency as disadvantaged communities pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Small farmers” means farmers with between ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) in gross farm sales, as referenced in the Department of Food and Agriculture’s California Underserved and Small Producers Program.

10726.6.

(a) (1) A groundwater sustainability agency that adopts a groundwater sustainability plan may file an action to determine the validity of the plan pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure within 180 days following the adoption of the plan.

(2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for any groundwater basin in which a comprehensive groundwater adjudication was filed prior to January 1, 2025, pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, any party that has timely appeared in that adjudication may file an action pursuant to paragraph (1) on or before March 2, 2026.

(B) That action shall be consolidated with the adjudication and have priority over any other issue pending in the adjudication.

(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to a comprehensive adjudication in which a court has issued a final determination on the basin’s safe or sustainable yield prior to January 1, 2026.

(b) Subject to Sections 394 and 397 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the venue for an action pursuant to this section shall be the county in which the principal office of the groundwater management agency is located.

(c) Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the ordinance or resolution imposing a new, or increasing an existing, fee imposed pursuant to Section 10730, 10730.2, or 10730.4 shall be commenced within 180 days following the adoption of the ordinance or resolution.

(d) Any person may pay a fee imposed pursuant to Section 10730, 10730.2, or 10730.4 under protest and bring an action against the governing body in the superior court to recover any money that the governing body refuses to refund. Payments made and actions brought under this section shall be made and brought in the manner provided for the payment of taxes under protest and actions for refund of that payment in Article 2 (commencing with Section 5140) of Chapter 5 of Part 9 of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as applicable.

(e) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, actions by a groundwater sustainability agency are subject to judicial review pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure and an action is required to be filed within 90 days of the challenged action or determination by the agency.

(2) To the extent judicial review is sought regarding an action or determination that is concurrently being reviewed by either the department or board pursuant to the procedures in this part, the court shall promptly consider whether, in the interests of efficiency or justice, to stay that challenge until the department or board have completed their evaluation or related procedure.

10728.2.

(a) A groundwater sustainability agency shall periodically evaluate its groundwater sustainability plan, assess changing conditions in the basin that may warrant modification of the plan or management objectives, and may adjust components in the plan. An evaluation of the plan shall focus on determining whether the actions under the plan are meeting the plan’s management objectives and whether those objectives are meeting the sustainability goal in the basin.

10737.2.

(a) In an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan under this part, the court shall manage the proceedings in a manner that minimizes interference with the timely completion and implementation of a groundwater sustainability plan, avoids redundancy and unnecessary costs in the development of technical information and a physical solution, and is consistent with the attainment of sustainable groundwater management within the timeframes established by this part.

(b) (1) (A) In an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to this part, the court shall not establish a safe yield or sustainable yield for the basin that exceeds the sustainable yield of the basin as established in a valid groundwater sustainability plan for the basin. A groundwater sustainability plan for a basin shall be presumed valid unless the groundwater sustainability plan has been ruled invalid pursuant to Section 10726.6 or has been referred to the board pursuant to Section 10735.2. basin unless a party claims, and the court determines, that the sustainable yield determination was not made based on the best available information and the best available science at the time the groundwater sustainability plan was adopted.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a comprehensive adjudication in which a court has issued a final determination on the basin’s safe or sustainable yield prior to January 1, 2026.

10737.8.

(a) In addition to making any findings required by subdivision (a) of Section 850 of the Code of Civil Procedure or any other law, the court shall not approve entry of judgment in an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan under this part unless the court finds that the judgment will not substantially impair the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the board, or the department to comply with this part and to achieve sustainable groundwater management.

(b) (1) A judgment substantially impairs the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the board, or the department to comply with this part if it allows more total pumping from the basin annually or on average than the sustainable yield of the basin established in the latest groundwater sustainability plan or groundwater sustainability plans covering the basin.

(2) The judgment described in paragraph (1) is not intended to be the exclusive manner by which a court may substantially impair the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the board, or the department to comply with this part.