Cal. WAT § 8401
This is the official text of Cal. WAT § 8401, 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
The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) A large portion of the state’s land resources is subject to recurrent flooding by overflow of streams and watercourses causing loss of life and property, disruption of commerce, and interruption of transportation and communications, all of which are detrimental to the health, safety, welfare, and property of the people of this state.
(b) The public interest necessitates sound development of land use, as land is a limited, valuable, and irreplaceable resource, and the flood plains of this state are a land resource to be developed in a manner which, in conjunction with economically justified structural measures for flood control, will result in (1) prevention of loss of life, and (2) prevention of economic loss caused by excessive flooding.
(c) The primary responsibility for planning, adoption, and enforcement of land use regulations to accomplish flood plain management rests with local levels of government.
(d) It is the policy of this state to encourage local levels of government to plan land use regulations to accomplish flood plain management and to provide state assistance and guidance therefor as appropriate.
(a) A large portion of the state’s land resources is subject to recurrent flooding by overflow of streams and watercourses causing loss of life and property, disruption of commerce, and interruption of transportation and communications, all of which are detrimental to the health, safety, welfare, and property of the people of this state.
(b) The public interest necessitates sound development of land use, as land is a limited, valuable, and irreplaceable resource, and the flood plains of this state are a land resource to be developed in a manner which, in conjunction with economically justified structural measures for flood control, will result in (1) prevention of loss of life, and (2) prevention of economic loss caused by excessive flooding.
(c) The primary responsibility for planning, adoption, and enforcement of land use regulations to accomplish flood plain management rests with local levels of government.
(d) It is the policy of this state to encourage local levels of government to plan land use regulations to accomplish flood plain management and to provide state assistance and guidance therefor as appropriate.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in California?
Find a California lawyer
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.