Water Rights Fund: groundwater regulation.

Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources that are designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as specified. Existing law establishes groundwater reporting requirements for a person extracting groundwater in an area within a basin that is not within the management area of a groundwater sustainability agency or that is a probationary basin. Existing law establishes the Water Rights Fund, which consists of various fees and penalties. This bill would prohibit water rights fees from being available for expenditure by the board for the purposes of board enforcement of the provisions of the act and the groundwater reporting requirements.