(a) For the purposes of this article, “protected area”, means all of lands which normally drain to the ocean, to a hydraulic sink, or to another state within any of the following, and only the following, river systems:
(1) The Sacramento River System.
(2) The Mokelumne River System.
(3) The Calaveras River System.
(4) The San Joaquin River System.
(5) The Mono Lake System.
(6) The combined Truckee, Walker, and Carson River Systems.
(7) The combined river systems which drain to the ocean from and including the Russian River System northward to the California-Oregon border.
(b) The confluences of the Sacramento, Mokelumne, Calaveras, and San Joaquin River Systems are within the delta, as defined in Section 12220, and the delta shall be considered to be within each of these protected areas.
(Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1655, Sec. 2.)