For the purpose of approving projects pursuant to this article, the department shall give priority to those projects for which there is available third-party funds from any source other than the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund authorized by the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. The department shall also take into consideration all of the following with regard to each proposed project:

(a) The magnitude of the actual increase in water supply yield and reliability compared to preexisting conditions.

(b) The consistency with the plans or recommendations proposed by CALFED.

(c) The distribution of the benefits to water supply and to the environment.

(d) The availability of the storage for conserved water.

(e) The technical and environmental suitability of the groundwater basin for conjunctive use.

(f) The potential to reduce critically overdrafted conditions in a groundwater basin.

(g) The need for the project.

(h) The potential to alleviate salt water intrusion into groundwater basins or other groundwater quality degradation.

(i) The economic, engineering, and hydrogeologic justification for the project.

(j) The availability of third-party or local matching funds from any source other than the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund authorized by the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.

(k) The involvement of one or more local agencies whose jurisdiction or water service area overlies or is adjacent to the aquifer utilized to store water.

(l) The potential to reduce dry year demand for surface water under existing contracts.

(m) The existence of a system for the recovery of the stored water or an agreement with the department or a local agency for the installation of that system.

(n) Whether the project is located in an area that is subject to a groundwater management program.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 725, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 13 at the March 7, 2000, election.)