1. (a) Measurement Options at the Delivery Point or Farm-gate of a Single Customer

   1. (1) An existing measurement device shall be certified to be accurate to within ±12% by volume. and,

   2. (2) A new or replacement measurement device shall be certified to be accurate to within:

      1. (A) ±5% by volume in the laboratory if using a laboratory certification;
      2. (B) ±10% by volume in the field if using a non-laboratory certification.

   An agricultural water supplier shall measure water delivered at the delivery point or farm-gate of a single customer using one of the following measurement options. The stated numerical accuracy for each measurement option is for the volume delivered. If a device measures a value other than volume, for example, flow rate, velocity or water elevation, the accuracy certification must incorporate the measurements or calculations required to convert the measured value to volume as described in § 597.4(e).

2. (b) Measurement Options at a Location Upstream of the Delivery Points or Farm-gates of Multiple Customers

   1. (1) An agricultural water supplier may measure water delivered at a location upstream of the delivery points or farm-gates of multiple customers using one of the measurement options described in § 597.3(a) if the downstream individual customer's delivery points meet either of the following conditions:

      1. (A) The agricultural water supplier does not have legal access to the delivery points of individual customers or group of customers needed to install, measure, maintain, operate, and monitor a measurement device.

         Or,

      2. (B) An engineer determines that, due to small differentials in water level or large fluctuations in flow rate or velocity that occur during the delivery season at a single farm-gate, accuracy standards of measurement options in § 597.3(a) cannot be met by installing a measurement device or devices (manufactured or on-site built or in-house built devices with or without additional components such as gauging rod, water level control structure at the farm-gate, etc.). If conditions change such that the accuracy standards of measurement options in § 597.3(a) at the farm-gate can be met, an agricultural water supplier shall include in its Agricultural Water Management Plan, a schedule, budget and finance plan to demonstrate progress to measure water at the farm-gate in compliance with § 597.3(a) of this article.

   2. (2) An agricultural water supplier choosing an option under paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall provide the following current documentation in its Agricultural Water Management Plan(s) submitted pursuant to Water Code § 10826:

      1. (A) When applicable, to demonstrate lack of legal access at delivery points of individual customers or group of customers downstream of the point of measurement, the agricultural water supplier's legal counsel shall certify to the Department that it does not have legal access to measure water at customers delivery points and that it has sought and been denied access from its customers to measure water at those points.
      2. (B) When applicable, the agricultural water supplier shall document the water measurement device unavailability and that the water level or flow conditions described in § 597.3(b)(1)(B) exist at individual customer's delivery points downstream of the point of measurement as approved by an engineer.

      3. (C) The agricultural water supplier shall document all of the following criteria about the methodology it uses to apportion the volume of water delivered to the individual downstream customers:

         1. (i) How it accounts for differences in water use among the individual customers based on but not limited to the duration of water delivery to the individual customers, annual customer water use patterns, irrigated acreage, crops planted, and on-farm irrigation system, and;
         2. (ii) That it is sufficient for establishing a pricing structure based at least in part on the volume delivered, and;
         3. (iii) That it was approved by the agricultural water supplier's governing board or body.

An agricultural water supplier subject to this article shall measure surface water and groundwater that it delivers to its customers pursuant to the accuracy standards in this section. The supplier may choose any applicable single measurement option or combination of options listed in paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section. Measurement device accuracy and operation shall be certified, tested, inspected and/or analyzed as described in § 597.4 of this article.

Note: Authority cited: Section 10608.48, Water Code. Reference: Sections 531.10, 10608.48(i)(1) and 10826, Water Code.

History

1. New section filed 7-11-2012; operative 7-11-2012 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2012, No. 28).