CA Penal Code Section 607

Every person who willfully and maliciously cuts, breaks, injures, or destroys, or who, without the authority of the owner or managing agent, operates any gate or control of, any bridge, dam, canal, flume, aqueduct, levee, embankment, reservoir, or other structure erected to create hydraulic power, or to drain or reclaim any swamp, overflow, tide, or marsh land, or to store or conduct water for mining, manufacturing, reclamation, or agricultural purposes, or for the supply of the inhabitants of any city or town, or any embankment necessary to the same, or either of them, or willfully or maliciously makes, or causes to be made, any aperture or plows up the bottom or sides in the dam, canal, flume, aqueduct, reservoir, embankment, levee, or structure, with intent to injure or destroy the same; or draws up, cuts, or injures any piles fixed in the ground for the purpose of securing any sea bank, sea wall, dock, quay, jetty, or lock; or who, between the first day of October and the fifteenth day of April of each year, plows up or loosens the soil in the bed on the side of any natural water course, reclamation ditch, or drainage ditch, with an intent to destroy the same without removing the soil within 24 hours from the water course, reclamation ditch, or drainage ditch, or who, between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of October of each year, plows up or loosens the soil in the bed or on the sides of the natural water course, reclamation ditch, or drainage ditch, with an intent to destroy the same and does not remove therefrom the soil so plowed up or loosened before the first day of October next thereafter, is guilty of vandalism under Section 594. Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to in any manner prohibit any person from digging or removing soil from any water course, reclamation ditch, or drainage ditch for the purpose of mining.

Source: Section 607, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=607.­.

Last Updated

Aug. 19, 2023

§ 607’s source at ca​.gov