CHAPTER 2. Formation [56010. - 56020.]

Cal. Water Code - WAT 2.

in effect

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56010. Section 56010.

Proceedings for the formation of a county drainage district shall be instituted by the board of supervisors of a county when a petition requesting the institution of such proceedings and signed by the requisite number of owners of real property is filed with the board. The petition may consist of any number of separate instruments, each of which must comply with all of the requirements of a petition except as to the number of signatures.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56011. Section 56011.

A petition requesting the institution of proceedings for the formation of a county drainage district shall: (a) Request the board of supervisors of a county in which the district will be located to institute proceedings to form a county drainage district pursuant to this part; (b) Describe the boundaries of the territory which is proposed for the district; (c) Be signed by not less than 100 owners of real property within the proposed district unless the total number of owners of real property within the proposed district does not exceed 200, in which case the petition shall be signed by a majority of such owners. If the board of supervisors finds that the petition is signed by the requisite number of owners of real property residing within the territory to be included within the proposed district, that finding shall be final and conclusive.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56012. Section 56012.

Proceedings for the formation of a county drainage district shall be instituted by the board of supervisors by the adoption of a resolution of its intention to do so. The resolution shall contain all of the following: (a) A statement of the intention to form the district; (b) The boundaries of the proposed district or some other designation of its territorial extent; (c) The name of the proposed district; (d) The time and place where objections to the formation of the district or to its extent will be heard; (e) Instructions to the clerk of the board to publish the resolution and notices of hearing.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56013. Section 56013.

The district as formed may include unincorporated or incorporated and contiguous unincorporated territory. The incorporated territory included in the district may include the whole or part of one or more cities. However, the whole or part of a city shall not be included in a district except by the vote of a majority of the governing board of the city. The district shall not include the whole or any part of any other district formed for similar purposes unless the governing body of such other district shall consent thereto and the board of supervisors shall find and determine by resolution duly adopted that the proposed inclusion of the whole or part of such other district is in the best public interest and the territory affected will be benefited thereby.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56014. Section 56014.

The time to be fixed for the hearing of objections to the formation or extent of the district shall be not less than 30 days after the adoption of the resolution of intention to form the district by the board of supervisors. The hearing shall be held at the regular meeting place of the board of supervisors or at some place within the proposed district as specified by the board in the resolution of intention to form the district.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56015. Section 56015.

Prior to the time of hearing, the resolution shall be published at length in the proposed district pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. Brief notices of the passage of the resolution and the time and place of the hearing may be published in the proposed district pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56016. Section 56016.

At the time provided in the resolution of intention or at any time to which the hearing is continued, the board of supervisors shall hear any objections to the formation of the district or to its extent. At the hearing the board of supervisors shall exclude any territory that in its opinion will not be benefited by being in the district.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56017. Section 56017.

If written objection to the formation of the district signed by 10 percent of the voters registered in the district is filed with the board of supervisors, it shall, and in any event it may, either adopt an order abandoning the formation of the district or order the matter of the formation of the district with the boundary lines determined at the close of the hearing submitted to the voters of the proposed district at an election.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56018. Section 56018.

At the election only voters registered in the proposed district may vote. Election precincts shall be established by the board of supervisors, and precinct boards, composed of one inspector, one judge, and one clerk shall be appointed. At least one week prior to the election notice of the election shall be published in the proposed district pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code. In other particulars the election shall be conducted in the manner ordered by the board of supervisors.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56018.1. Section 56018.1.

Within five days after the district formation election has been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the county or principal county in which the territory or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the district formation election. The executive officer, within five days after being notified that a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis of the proposed district formation. The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the district proposed to be formed. The local agency formation commission, within five days after the receipt of the executive officer’s analysis, shall approve or modify the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting the district formation election.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56018.2. Section 56018.2.

The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument against the proposed district formation. Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than 54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56018.3. Section 56018.3.

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against the proposed district formation is filed with the election officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the following: (a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board. (b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a combination of such voters and associations.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56018.4. Section 56018.4.

The officials in charge of conducting the election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to vote on the district formation question. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following in the order prescribed: (a) The complete text of the proposition. (b) The impartial analysis of the proposition prepared by the local agency formation commission. (c) The argument for the proposed district formation. (d) The argument against the proposed district formation. The elections officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is “official matter” within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56019. Section 56019.

At the conclusion of the hearing, or if an election is held and the canvass of the election returns shows that a majority of all the votes cast in the entire proposed district were in favor of the formation of the district, the board of supervisors may, if it deems best, make an order forming the district.

Cal. Water Code - WAT § 56020. Section 56020.

The order of formation shall contain the name of the district, and a description of the boundaries or otherwise indicate its territory. The order is conclusive evidence of the regularity of all prior proceedings, except the adoption and publication in full of the resolution of intention and of the fact of the hearing.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026