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Cal. WAT § 12578

This is the official text of Cal. WAT § 12578, part of California’s Water Code — governs water rights and water resource management.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

It is hereby declared that the people of the State have a primary interest in the control and conservation of flood waters, prevention of damage by flood waters, the washing away of river and stream banks by floods, and in the determination of the manner in which flood waters shall be controlled for the protection of life and property and the control, storage, and use of the State’s water resources in the general public interest.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.