(a) The Georgetown Divide Public Utility District has the right to pursue, without any right of assignment to other parties, the district’s preliminary permit number 4287 which was issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the right to pursue a license from that commission for development of the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the “date when the federal application process is completed” shall be defined relative to the district’s preliminary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permit number 4287, any subsequent application for license, and any subsequent license for development of the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, as that date when the first of the following occur:

(1) The date when the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District’s preliminary permit number 4287 expires if it expires before the district makes an application for license to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

(2) The date when a final determination is made, either by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or by the court, upon rejection of the application for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license.

(3) The date when a final determination is made, either by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or by the court, upon issuance or denial of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license.

(4) Three years after the expiration date of preliminary permit number 4287.

(5) The date when the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District permanently and irrevocably withdraws its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission preliminary permit number 4287.

(c) Until the date when the federal application process is completed, no water rights application shall be accepted for filing, and no permit to appropriate water shall be issued, except from or to the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District, by the board for the purposes of any project which would directly divert water or divert water by storage for any beneficial use from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, except that this limitation on the filing or issuance of water rights does not apply to water rights applications or to the issuance of permits to appropriate water solely for consumptive use by residents of El Dorado County.

Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the exercise of riparian rights.

(d) For 10 years after the date when the federal application process is completed, no water rights application shall be accepted for filing, and no permit to appropriate water shall be issued, by the board for the purposes of any project which would directly divert water or divert water by storage for any beneficial use from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, except that this limitation on the filing or issuance of water rights does not apply to water rights applications or to the issuance of permits to appropriate water solely for consumptive use by residents of El Dorado County.

Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the exercise of riparian rights.

(e) Until 20 years after the date when the federal application process is completed, the statutory requirements of Part 2 (commencing with Section 1200) of Division 2 relating to diligence do not apply to applications from the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District for water rights from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, and those applications shall remain valid and shall retain and have the status and priority accorded to water rights applications by law other than this section until that date. After that date, all such requirements relating to diligence, as are now or hereafter provided, shall apply to the applications. No time requirement for acting on water rights applications, imposed on the board by any provision of law, shall apply to applications from the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District for water rights from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge until the diligence requirements identified in this subdivision become applicable to the applications.

(f) From 10 years after the date when the federal application process is completed, no water rights application shall be accepted for filing, and no permit to appropriate water shall be issued, except from or to the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District, by the board for the purposes of any project which would directly divert water or divert water by storage for any beneficial use from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, except that this limitation on the filing or issuance of water rights does not apply to water rights applications or to the issuance of permits to appropriate water solely for consumptive use by residents of El Dorado County.

Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the exercise of riparian rights.

This subdivision shall cease to be operative 20 years after the date when the federal application process is completed.

(g) Any applicant for water rights whose project on the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge would reduce river flows below the flows necessary to continue instream recreational beneficial uses on that portion of the river shall evaluate alternatives which would not reduce the flows below those necessary to continue instream recreational beneficial uses.

(h) Any person who after the effective date of this section receives a permit or license to appropriate water at any point on the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge and who is also an applicant receiving a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission power license for a project on the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge shall replace in-kind at the time of loss any instream navigation, fishery, and swimming uses which are lost as a result of the project. The in-kind replacement may include, but is not limited to, improvement in flow reliability which would offset adverse changes in flows. The requirements of this subdivision shall be applicable to the applicants and their assignees and successors. The board shall, in accordance with the provisions of Division 2 (commencing with Section 1000), include terms and conditions in any water rights permit or license issued on any application to implement the requirements of this subdivision.

This subdivision shall not be operative or cease to be operative, as the case may be, if the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District permanently and irrevocably withdraws its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission preliminary permit number 4287 not later than 10 days after the operative date of this section.

(i) The Georgetown Divide Public Utility District shall not transfer any Federal Energy Regulatory Commission License received for any project on the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, except that the district may transfer the license to a nongovernmental entity which is not a water purveyor or a power utility solely for the purpose of financing if the license is returned to the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District immediately after the financing purpose is accomplished.

The Georgetown Divide Public Utility District shall not transfer any water rights permit or license received for any project which would directly divert water or divert water by storage for any beneficial use from the South Fork of the American River between Chili Bar Reservoir and Salmon Falls Bridge, except that the district may transfer the permit or license to a nongovernmental entity which is not a water purveyor or a power utility solely for the purpose of financing if the permit or license is returned to the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District immediately after the financing purpose is accomplished.

(j) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1983, or on the date that the board issues a water rights permit or permits for the South Fork American River Project which is acceptable to the applicant, or on the date that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues a license for project number 2761, also known as the South Fork American River Project, which is acceptable to the applicant, or on the date when challenges or appeals to that issuance have been dismissed or the issuance has been sustained, whichever date occurs last.

(Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 122, Sec. 1. Operative on January 1, 1983, or later, as provided in subd. (j).)