Cal. PRC § 7601

Any person desiring to purchase any of the lands uncovered by the recession or drainage of the waters of inland lakes, and inuring to the State by virtue of her sovereignty, or the swamp and overflowed lands not segregated by the United States, shall make an application therefor to the commission. The application shall be accompanied by the applicant’s affidavit that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such, that he is a resident of this State, of lawful age, that he desires to purchase such lands (describing them by legal subdivisions, or by metes and bounds, if the legal subdivisions are unknown), under the provisions of this chapter, for his own use and benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person whomsoever, and that he has made no contract or agreement to sell the lands, and that he does not now own any State lands which, together with that now sought to be purchased, exceeds 640 acres.

This section shall not affect or apply to any land uncovered by the recession or drainage of the waters of any lake or other body of water, the waters of which are so impregnated with minerals as to be valuable for the purpose of extracting therefrom such minerals.