§ 850. — 850. (Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 665, Sec. 3.)

(a)
The court may enter a judgment in a comprehensive adjudication if the court finds that the judgment meets all of the following criteria:
(1)
It is consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution.
(2)
It is consistent with the water right priorities of all nonstipulating parties and any persons who have claims that are exempted pursuant to Section 833 in the basin.
(3)
It treats all objecting parties and any persons who have claims that are exempted pursuant to Section 833 equitably as compared to the stipulating parties.
(4)
It considers the water use of and accessibility of water for small farmers and disadvantaged communities. This consideration shall be consistent with the conditions identified in this subdivision.
(b)
The court may enter judgment in an adjudication action for a basin required to have a groundwater sustainability plan under the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code), if in addition to the criteria enumerated in subdivision (a), the court also finds that the judgment will not substantially impair the ability of a groundwater sustainability agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the department to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and to achieve sustainable groundwater management.
(c)
(1)
In order to assist the court in making the findings required by this section, the court may refer the matter to the State Water Resources Control Board for investigation and report pursuant to Section 2001 of the Water Code. A party may request that the court refer
the matter to the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to this subdivision.
(2)
Notwithstanding any inconsistencies with Article 2 (commencing with Section 2010) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Water Code, for a reference undertaken by the State Water Resources Control Board under paragraph (1), the State Water Resources Control Board and Department of Water Resources shall jointly investigate and submit the report under paragraph (1).
(d)
If a party or group of parties submits a proposed stipulated judgment that is supported by more than 50 percent of all parties who are groundwater extractors in the basin or use the basin for groundwater storage and is supported by groundwater extractors responsible for
at least 75 percent of the groundwater extracted in the basin during the five calendar years before the filing of the complaint, the court may adopt the proposed stipulated judgment, as applied to the stipulating parties, if the proposed stipulated judgment meets the criteria described in subdivision (a). A party objecting to a proposed stipulated judgment shall demonstrate, by a preponderance of evidence, that the proposed stipulated judgment does not satisfy one or more criteria described in subdivision (a) or that it substantially violates the water rights of the objecting party. If the objecting party is unable to make this showing, the court may impose the proposed stipulated judgment on the objecting party. An objecting party may be subject to a preliminary injunction issued pursuant to Section 847 while their objections are being resolved.
(e)
For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
(1)
“Disadvantaged communities” means communities identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency as disadvantaged communities pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)
“Small farmers” means farmers with between ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) in gross farm sales, as referenced in the Department of Food and Agriculture’s California Underserved and Small Producers Program.

Legislative History

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 665, Sec. 3. (AB 779) Effective January 1, 2024.