California Water Code § 10721

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this part: (a) “Adjudication action” means an action filed in the superior or federal district court to determine the rights to extract groundwater from a basin or store water within a basin, including, but not limited to, actions to quiet title respecting rights to extract or store groundwater or an action brought to impose a physical solution on a basin. (b) “Basin” means a groundwater basin or subbasin identified and defined in Bulletin 118 or as modified pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10722). (c) “Bulletin 118” means the department’s report entitled “California’s Groundwater: Bulletin 118” updated in 2003, as it may be subsequently updated or revised in accordance with Section 12924. (d) “Coordination agreement” means a legal agreement adopted between two or more groundwater sustainability agencies that provides the basis for coordinating multiple agencies or groundwater sustainability plans within a basin pursuant to this part. (e) “De minimis extractor” means a person who extracts, for domestic purposes, two acre-feet or less per year. (f) “Governing body” means the legislative body of a groundwater sustainability agency. (g) “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 unless included pursuant to Section 10722.5. (h) “Groundwater extraction facility” means a device or method for extracting groundwater from within a basin. (i) “Groundwater recharge” or “recharge” means the augmentation of groundwater, by natural or artificial means. (j) “Groundwater sustainability agency” means one or more local agencies that implement the provisions of this part. For purposes of imposing fees pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10730) or taking action to enforce a groundwater sustainability plan, “groundwater sustainability agency” also means each local agency comprising the groundwater sustainability agency if the plan authorizes separate agency action. (k) “Groundwater sustainability plan” or “plan” means a plan of a groundwater sustainability agency proposed or adopted pursuant to this part. (l) “Groundwater sustainability program” means a coordinated and ongoing activity undertaken to benefit a basin, pursuant to a groundwater sustainability plan. (m) “In-lieu use” means the use of surface water by persons that could otherwise extract groundwater in order to leave groundwater in the basin. (n) “Local agency” means a local public agency that has water supply, water management, or land use responsibilities within a groundwater basin. (o) “Operator” means a person operating a groundwater extraction facility. The owner of a groundwater extraction facility shall be conclusively presumed to be the operator unless a satisfactory showing is made to the governing body of the groundwater sustainability agency that the groundwater extraction facility actually is operated by some other person. (p) “Owner” means a person owning a groundwater extraction facility or an interest in a groundwater extraction facility other than a lien to secure the payment of a debt or other obligation. (q) “Personal information” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1798.3 of the Civil Code. (r) “Planning and implementation horizon” means a 50-year time period over which a groundwater sustainability agency determines that plans and measures will be implemented in a basin to ensure that the basin is operated within its sustainable yield. (s) “Public water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code. (t) “Recharge area” means the area that supplies water to an aquifer in a groundwater basin. (u) “Sustainability goal” means the ex

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