Water Code section 12200

The Legislature hereby finds that the water problems of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are unique within the State; the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers join at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to discharge their fresh water flows into Suisun, San Pablo and San Francisco Bays and thence into the Pacific Ocean; the merging of fresh water with saline bay waters and drainage waters and the withdrawal of fresh water for beneficial uses creates an acute problem of salinity intrusion into the vast network of channels and sloughs of the Delta; the State Water Resources Development System has as one of its objectives the transfer of waters from water-surplus areas in the Sacramento Valley and the north coastal area to water-deficient areas to the south and west of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta via the Delta; water surplus to the needs of the areas in which it originates is gathered in the Delta and thereby provides a common source of fresh water supply for water-deficient areas. It is, therefore, hereby declared that a general law cannot be made applicable to said Delta and that the enactment of this law is necessary for the protection, conservation, development, control and use of the waters in the Delta for the public good.

Source: Section 12200, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=WAT§ionNum=12200.­ (updated Jan. 1, 1959; accessed Jun. 18, 2026).

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Verified:
Jun. 18, 2026

§ 12200's source at ca​.gov