Consistent with Division 26.7 (commencing with Section 79700), the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) of the proceeds of bonds authorized to be issued and available for the purposes of Section 79746 shall be transferred to the fund and used by the department, upon appropriation, for loans for the following water conservation and water use efficiency projects and programs to achieve urban water use targets developed pursuant to Section 10608.20:

(a) (1) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) for a pilot project for local agencies to provide water efficiency upgrades to eligible residents at no upfront cost.

(2) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) for local agencies to provide low-interest loans to customers to finance the installation of onsite improvements to repair or replace, as necessary, cracked or leaking water pipes to conserve water.

(b) The department may implement this section by providing to a local agency a zero-interest loan of up to three million dollars ($3,000,000).

(c) A local agency that receives a loan pursuant to this section shall exercise reasonable efforts to recover the costs of the loan. However, the department may waive up to 10 percent of the repayment amount for costs that could not be recovered by the local agency.

(d) The department and a local agency that is an urban retail water supplier and that receives a loan pursuant to this section may enter into a mutually agreeable schedule for making loan repayments into the CalConserve Water Use Efficiency Revolving Fund.

(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 2, Sec. 9. (AB 92) Effective March 27, 2015.)