(a) For the purposes of carrying out Section 79560, the department shall award grants to eligible projects consistent with an adopted integrated regional water management plan.

(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), the department shall establish standards for integrated regional water management plans. At a minimum, these plans shall address the major water related objectives and conflicts of the watersheds in the region covered by the plan, including water supply, groundwater management, ecosystem restoration, and water quality elements, and may include other elements consistent with this chapter.

(c) The department may waive the requirement for consistency with an adopted integrated regional water management plan until January 1, 2007, if the applicant is engaged in the development of an integrated regional water management plan and indicates, within its grant application, how the project fits into achieving the integrated regional water management plan objectives.

(d) The department may waive the matching fund requirement for disadvantaged communities.

(e) For groundwater management and recharge projects and for projects with potential groundwater impacts, the board and the department shall give preference to eligible projects in areas subject to a groundwater management plan that meets the requirements of Section 10753.7, or that includes the development of a groundwater management plan as a project component.

(f) The maximum award for any single grant pursuant to this section may not exceed fifty million dollars ($50,000,000).

(g) The department shall require that eligible projects include a nonstate contribution.

(h) For the purposes of implementing Section 79563, and to the extent funds are expended for the purposes of Section 30947 of the Public Resources Code, those funds shall comply with the requirements of that section.

(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 240, Sec. 38. Effective August 13, 2003.)