Any person or operator who augments the water supplies for use within the United Water Conservation District or a zone or zones thereof, by importing water from sources outside the district, and who stores that water in a basin within the district, may apply to the Board of Directors of the United Water Conservation District for a determination exempting that operator from the payment of any groundwater charge based upon the extraction of that water. The exemption shall be based upon the filing of an application for exemption and submission to the board of reasonable evidence of the following:
(a)
The amount of water of acceptable quality imported into the district and spread or injected into a basin within the district.
(b)
The portion of that imported water that effectively recharges the basin underlying the zone or zones into which it is injected or percolates.
(c)
The amount of water produced by the applicant from the zone or zones overlying the areas effectively recharged by the importation and spreading or injection of that water.
(d)
Even if the applicant had not imported and stored the water, it had a separate legal right and the ability to produce the quantity of water for which it seeks exemption, in addition to all other water produced by the applicant from the zone or zones involved.
