California Water Code GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Section 1.
  This act shall be known as the Water Code.(Enacted By Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 2.
  The provisions of this code, in so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter, shall...
• Section 3.
  All persons who, at the time this code takes effect, hold office under any of the acts repealed by this code, which offices are continued...
• Section 4.
  No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by this code, but all procedure thereafter taken therein...
• Section 5.
  Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these definitions, rules of construction, and general provisions shall govern the construction of this code.(Enacted by Stats....
• Section 6.
  Division, part, chapter, article, and section headings do not in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of this code.(Enacted by...
• Section 7.
  Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty may be...
• Section 8.
  Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement, petition, or record is required or...
• Section 9.
  Whenever reference is made to any portion of this code or of any other law of this State, the reference applies to all amendments and...
• Section 10.
  “Section” means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned. “Subdivision” means a subdivision of the section in which that term...
• Section 11.
  The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future, the present.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 12.
  The masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 12.2.
  “Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code.(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 118. (SB 1005) Effective January...
• Section 13.
  The singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the singular.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 14.
  “County” includes city and county.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 15.
  “Shall” is mandatory and “may” is permissive.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 16.
  “Oath” includes affirmation.(Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 368.)
• Section 17.
  “Signature” or “subscription” includes mark when the signer or subscriber can not write, such signer’s or subscriber’s name being written near the mark by a...
• Section 18.
  “State” means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. In the latter case, it includes the District of...
• Section 19.
  “Person” means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company.(Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1010, Sec. 226. Effective January...
• Section 20.
  “United States” means the United States of America, and in relation to any particular matter includes the officers, agents, employees, agencies, or instrumentalities authorized to...
• Section 21.
  If any provision of this code, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the code, or the...
• Section 22.
  “Department,” unless otherwise specified, means the Department of Water Resources.(Amended by Stats. 1956, 1st Ex. Sess., Ch. 52.)
• Section 23.
  “Director,” unless otherwise specified, means the Director of Water Resources.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1956, 1st Ex. Sess., Ch. 52.)
• Section 24.
  The standard miner’s inch of water is equivalent to one and one-half cubic feet of water per minute, measured through any aperture or orifice.(Enacted by...
• Section 25.
  “Board,” unless otherwise specified, means the State Water Resources Control Board.(Added by Stats. 1967, Ch. 284.)
• Section 26.
  For the purposes of this code, “recycled water” or “reclaimed water” has the same meaning as recycled water as defined in subdivision (n) of Section...

Last modified: October 22, 2018