Water policy: California Native American tribes.

Header changed from amendment tracking format (showing 'Amended in Senate July 2, 2026' and 'Amended in Assembly April 16, 2026') to enrolled bill format showing passage dates: 'Passed the Assembly August 26, 2026' and 'Passed the Senate August 25, 2026', plus a governor receipt line.

Line number annotations (e.g., 'line 1', 'line 2') that were present in the amended version for tracking changes were removed from the enrolled version.

The vote and fiscal information line ('Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.') was removed, as is standard when a bill moves to enrolled status.

Page numbers shifted from 97 to 96 due to reformatting of the enrolled bill layout.

The policy statement in Section 106.2(a) was reworded from 'acknowledge and correct' to 'recognize and address,' and the list of remedies shifted from 'compensation, legal recognition of rights, or replacement of benefits lost' to 'financial assistance, protection of tribal water beneficial uses, consultation on water projects, plans, and policies, and incorporation of indigenous knowledge to restore and protect ecosystems.'

The Department of Water Resources was removed from the list of agencies required to implement the policy. The obligation was also strengthened from 'consider and incorporate' to 'implement,' and the phrase 'rights' was removed from the types of actions (policies, regulations, permits, or grant criteria) that must reflect the policy.

A new subdivision (c) establishes a mandatory mediation process. If a tribe disputes a state agency's implementation of the policy, the matter must go to the Governor's Office of Tribal Affairs before any court challenge. The office must convene a meeting within 30 days, the disputed agency action is stayed during mediation, the office has up to 60 days to gather information plus 30 days to reach reconciliation, and if unresolved the stay extends another 60 days before the office issues a letter documenting exhaustion of administrative remedies. A tribe may withdraw at any point if it believes the agency is not negotiating in good faith.

A duplicate word ('to to') was corrected in the act's short description, and Senator McGuire was added as a coauthor reflecting the Senate amendment.

New Government Code Section 187 adds a formal legislative apology to California Native Americans for over a century of depredations and prejudicial policies, including removal from ancestral land, and declares that the state government shall support tribes in maintaining cultural and linguistic traditions, practicing ecosystem stewardship, and engaging in good faith government-to-government consultations.

Water Code Section 106.2(a) changes the policy language from 'acknowledge and correct' to 'recognize and address,' adds the phrase 'regarding access to, and control over, water,' and expands the list of remedies to include financial assistance, protection of tribal water uses, consultation on water projects/plans/policies, and incorporation of indigenous knowledge to restore and protect ecosystems.

Water Code Section 106.2(b) replaces the vague 'all relevant state agencies' with a specific list: State Water Resources Control Board, regional water quality control boards, Natural Resources Agency and all its departments/conservancies/boards/commissions/councils, Delta Stewardship Council, and Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.

New Water Code Section 1051 amendment requires the State Water Resources Control Board, upon request during a water rights investigation, to consult with a California Native American tribe whose ancestral territory includes the water body at issue for the claimed riparian or appropriative right.

New paragraph (2) in Section 106.2(b) requires the listed state agencies to identify and offer financial assistance to California Native American tribes consistent with existing legal and policy requirements for financial assistance programs.

The new Section 1051 provisions add detailed rules for information orders: what information may be requested from right holders and diverters, protections for non-right-holders (information not binding on or treated as admission by the right holder), proportionality requirements (burden must bear reasonable relationship to need), and a requirement that the board provide written explanation and identify supporting evidence when making requests.

New Section 1051(d) provides that unauthorized diversion or use of water ascertained through the investigation process may be enforced as a trespass under Section 1052, following notice and opportunity for hearing.