Water Rights: Statement of Water Diversion and Use Program

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Business Information Contacts - If you need assistance from a water right attorney or consultant, the Division of Water Rights maintains a list for your convenience.
• Initial Statement of Water Diversion and Use Form
• Water Rights Online Forms Portal – submit an electronic version of the Initial Statement of Water Diversion and Use Form
• Supplemental Statement for Change form (Rev. 3/24/10)

After you file an initial Statement, there are two requirements you need to be aware of:

Supplemental Statements: A Supplemental Statement must be filed every year following the filing of an Initial Statement of Diversion and Use. The Division will NOT notify Statement holders when the annual report is due and we encourage anyone who would like to be notified of Online Reporting updates and news to subscribe to our Lyris list (Email Subscription) and selecting the "Water Rights Reporting Notification" under the "Water Rights" listing. The Division encourages you to keep your user ID and reporting identifier in a safe place for your annual reporting as you will not be supplied this information as in years past. Supplemental Statements or your annual reports must then be completed online through the eWRIMS Online Reporting prior to February 1 of that year (i.e. for water diverted during the 2016 Water Year, the Supplemental Statement is due by February 1, 2017). If the location of the existing point of diversion as identified on the Supplemental Statement has changed, the new location must be identified. If a new point of diversion has been added, resulting in more than one point of diversion, a separate Statement must be filed with the Division for the additional point of diversion.

Change of Diverter, Diverter Address or Responsible Party: Changes in the name and address of the person diverting water or a change in the Responsible Party should be made on the Supplemental Statement for Change form located at: Supplemental Statement for Change form so that the Division's database can be updated. The Division uses the Diverter information contained in the database to notify you of applications to appropriate water that may affect your supply, and also to notify you of any necessary news or information that might affect you as it relates to Statements of Water Diversion and Use. Failure to receive notification that a Supplemental Statement of Diversion and Use is due does not relieve you of the responsibility to report water diversion and use. It is your responsibility to notify the Division of Diverter/Address changes, of if for any reason a filing notification was not received. Penalties may be assessed if water is diverted but not reported.

  To file an online Supplemental Statement you can access the Report Management System (RMS) at eWRIMS Online Reporting.

In addition to showing intent to comply with the law, having a Statement on file with the State Water Board is beneficial for several reasons.

Read reporting requirements and Water Year Information at the Annual Water Diversion and Use Reporting Help page.

• The information collected from the Statements helps the Division to protect the rights of existing and known diverters and to evaluate whether there is a reasonable likelihood that water is available for appropriation for new applications.
• If the Division has a record of an active Statement with your contact information, the law requires the Division to notify you about applications to appropriate water that might affect your supply.
• Water use reported on Statements and in reports required under the appropriation process will also help the Division to ensure the proper allocation of the State’s water resources.
• If the water user meets the following three criteria:
  1. diversions and filings are in compliance with the Water Code;
  2. diversions occur under a valid water right; and
  3. Statements includes accurate monthly diversion amounts,
     

  ...then Statements create official documentation of compliance with water right laws.

In recent years, the California Legislature has made changes to the forty-five year old Statement program. The purpose of these changes is to make the Statement program more effective as a tool for determining the amount of water beneficially used. These changes include:

• Revisions to the types of diversions exempt from reporting.  NOTE: the exemptions at the top of this page are current.
  Reporting the following types of diversions is not required if the diversion occurred between December 31, 1965 and December 31, 2008:
• The diversion was covered by an application to appropriate water on file with the board;
• The diversion was included in the consumptive use data for the Delta lowlands published by the Department of Water Resources in its hydrologic data bulletins; or
• The Department of Water Resources reported the diversion in its annual hydrologic data bulletins.
• Revisions to the information required on a form, including accurate monthly measurements.
  See information regarding measurement requirements in the next section of this page.
• Revised penalties associated with reporting inaccurate information, including creating a new penalty for failure to file. This table summarizes the differences in the penalties:

Diverters of water who file Statements are required to measure their diversions in accordance with Senate Bill 88 and the Emergency Regulation for Measuring and Reporting the Diversion of Water. For additional information on the measurement regulations and requirements, please review the information on our website at Measurement Regulation and Measurement Information