(a) The legislative body of a local agency may adopt an ordinance requiring the payment of a fee as a condition of approval of a subdivision requiring a final or parcel map, or as a condition of issuing a building permit in an area of benefit under a groundwater recharge facility plan adopted as provided in this section, for the purpose of constructing recharge facilities for the replenishment of the underground water supply in that area of benefit. The ordinance may require payment of fees pursuant to this section if, at the time of payment, all of the following requirements are satisfied:
(1) A groundwater recharge facility plan for the area to be benefited has been adopted by the legislative body of the local agency. The legislative body shall not adopt the plan until it has given notice to, and consulted with, the water agency then obligated to furnish water to the area to be benefited and the water agency has formally and in writing approved the plan.
(2) The ordinance has been in effect for a period of at least 30 days prior to the filing of the tentative map, parcel map if no tentative map is required, or the application for a building permit.
(3) The ordinance provides that before any groundwater recharge facility plan is adopted there will be a public hearing held by the legislative body for the proposed area of benefit.
Notice of the hearing on a proposed area of benefit shall be given pursuant to Section 65091 and shall include preliminary information concerning the groundwater recharge facility plan, including the proposed boundaries of the area of benefit, the availability of surface water, the planned facilities for the area of benefit, estimated costs, and the proposed method of fee apportionment.
Written notice of the public hearing shall be given by personal service or mail to the water agency responsible for furnishing water to the area of benefit involved in the hearing prior to or at the time notice is given by mail or by publication and posting. The proposal contained in the mailed, published, or posted notice shall be jointly prepared and agreed upon by the local agency and the water agency before that notice is given. The water agency may participate in the hearings.
(4) The ordinance provides that the groundwater recharge facility plan shall be established at the public hearing and, if approved, adopted by the legislative body. The plan shall include the boundaries of the area of benefit, the availability of surface water, the planned facilities for the area of benefit and the estimated cost thereof, a fair method of allocating the costs within the area of benefit, and the apportionment of fees within the area. The plan, as adopted by the local agency and approved by the water agency, shall be incorporated in a resolution of the legislative body and a certified copy of the plan shall be recorded with the county recorder. The apportioned fees shall be applicable to all property within the area of benefit and shall be payable as a condition of approval of a final map or a parcel map or as a condition of issuing a building permit for the property or portions of the property. Where the area of benefit includes lands not otherwise subject to the payment of fees pursuant to this section, the legislative body shall make provision for payment of the share of improvement costs apportioned to that land by other means.
(5) The ordinance provides that if, within the time when protests may be filed under the provisions of the ordinance, there is a written protest, filed with the clerk of the legislative body, by the owners of more than one-half of the area of the property to be benefited by the improvement, and sufficient protests are not withdrawn so as to reduce the area represented to less than one-half of the property to be benefited, then the proposed proceedings shall be abandoned, and the legislative body shall not, for one year from the filing of that written protest, commence or carry on any proceedings for the same improvement or acquisition under the provisions of this section.
(b) Any protests may be withdrawn in writing by the owner who made the protest, at any time prior to the conclusion of a public hearing held pursuant to the ordinance.
(c) If any majority protest is directed against only a portion of the improvement, then all further proceedings under this section as to that portion of the improvement so protested against shall be barred for a period of one year. The legislative body, however, may commence new proceedings which do not include the area, acquisitions, or improvements which were the subject of the successful protest. Nothing in this section prohibits the legislative body, within that one-year period, from commencing and carrying on new proceedings for that portion of the improvement so protested against if it finds, by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of its members, that the owners of more than one-half of the area of the property to be benefited are in favor of going forward with that portion of the improvement or acquisition.
(d) Nothing in this section precludes the processing and recordation of maps in accordance with other provisions of this division if proceedings are abandoned.
(e) Subsequent to the adoption of a plan, the local agency may itself construct, operate, and maintain the groundwater recharge facilities, or it may designate the water agency furnishing the water or designate or create another agency to do all or any one of these things as authorized by law. In the event any agency other than the local agency adopting such ordinances is so designated, the services so rendered shall be pursuant to a written agreement entered into between the local agency and the other agency.
(f) Fees paid pursuant to an ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a planned recharge facility fund. A fund shall be established for each area of benefit. Money in the fund shall be expended solely for the construction or reimbursement for construction of the improvement serving the area to be benefited.
The fees shall not be expended to reimburse the cost of recharge facilities in existence prior to the adoption of the groundwater recharge facility plan for that area.
(g) An ordinance adopted pursuant to this section may provide for the acceptance of considerations in lieu of the payment of fees.
(h) A local agency imposing fees pursuant to this section may advance money from its general fund to pay the cost of constructing the improvements and may reimburse the general fund for those advances from planned recharge facility funds collected to finance the construction of these improvements.
(i) A local agency imposing fees pursuant to this section may incur an interest-bearing indebtedness for the construction of recharge facilities. However, the sole security for repayment of that indebtedness shall be money in planned recharge facility funds.
(j) Recharge facilities shall not be constructed unless the water agency approves the design of the facilities to be constructed and has reached an agreement with the local agency establishing the terms and conditions under which the water will be furnished. If the water agency finds that the facilities have been constructed in accordance with the approved design, the agency shall furnish water for the groundwater recharge facilities.
(k) If the water agency is an irrigation district or other entity obligated by law to apportion water among the landowners within the area of benefit, the water agency shall receive credit upon the obligation for any water delivered for groundwater recharge under the agreement and shall be relieved of any further obligation to deliver the amount of water for which it has received such credit to the landowners or lands within that area.
(l) Nothing contained in this section entitles a local agency to collect a fee from a landowner who presently receives and continues to receive and use the landowner’s pro rata share of surface water from the agency responsible for that area or from a landowner who has not applied for approval of a final or parcel map or a building permit.
(m) A credit for fees paid as authorized by this section shall be applied against any assessment levied by the local agency to construct the planned recharge facilities.
(n) The term “construction,” as used in this section, includes design, acquisition of land or easements, administration of construction contracts, and actual construction.
(o) The term “water agency,” as used in this section, means the public or other entity that will furnish water for the operation and use of a recharge facility under a groundwater recharge facility plan adopted by a local agency pursuant to this section.
(p) Nothing in this section precludes a county or city from providing funds for the construction of recharge facilities to defray costs not allocated to the area of benefit.
(Amended by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1009, Sec. 36.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018