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DIVISION 2. WATER 1000-5951›PART 2. APPROPRIATION OF WATER 1200-1851›CHAPTER 1. General Provisions 1200-1248›ARTICLE 4. Beneficial Use 1240-1244

§ 1242.3

California Water Code · 2026-09 edition · updated 2026-10-03 · California

(a) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(1) California’s central valley has one of the highest flood risks in the United States. Recognizing this risk and in response to the Court of Appeal decision in Paterno v. State of California (2003) 113 Cal. App.4th 998, in 2007, the Legislature enacted the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008, which along with other provisions requires the projected impacts of climate change on the State Plan of Flood Control to be included the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan and each five-year update to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan.

(2) According to the 2022 Update of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, by 2072, climate change is predicted to increase peak floodflows up to five times in the central valley compared to past recorded events, and the anticipated peak flows by 2072 will only exacerbate this risk unless urgent action is taken. Climate change science predicts that atmospheric rivers will become stronger and wetter, increasing their potential to cause catastrophic events that could overwhelm many parts of the current flood system, if improvements and other strategies are not implemented.

(3) The Legislature enacts Section 1242.1, as applied in the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds, with the intention of adapting the State Plan of Flood Control to continuing climate change with a reasonable plan for quickly reducing the level of floodflows by diverting water, where feasible, to lands adjacent to watercourses and state-federal levees for recharging groundwater.

(4) Given rapidly changing hydrologic conditions, Section 1242.1 establishes a reasonable plan for reducing risk of flood damages to lands within the State Plan of Flood Control. Risk of flooding may remain and may be incidental to the actions authorized by Section 1242.1, but the state is acting to reduce that risk.

(b) The state shall not be liable for flood damages related to actions authorized by Section 1242.1.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 51, Sec. 27. (SB 122) Effective July 10, 2023.)

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