1. (a) Diverters must complete and submit annual reports in accordance with chapter 2.7 of this title, regardless of whether they are subject to or exempted from any of the requirements under this chapter.

2. (b) Request for Additional Time. Diverters may submit a request for additional time on a form available through the board's online reporting platform to comply with the provisions of this chapter.

   1. (1) The deputy director may grant additional time not to exceed 24 months per extension.

   2. (2) Approval of a request for additional time is contingent on the following:

      1. (A) Financial considerations shall be considered only in cases where the diverter has requested agency funding and is awaiting a grant or loan award.
      2. (B) Additional time based on other considerations is limited to the minimum time needed to access the site due to weather conditions, minimum time needed to obtain necessary permits, minimum time needed to comply with construction time periods set in other agency permits, or unforeseen circumstances.
   3. (3) All requests for additional time must be accompanied by documentation of grant or loan requests or agency permit requests, as applicable. Funding and/or permit approval documents must be submitted to the board within 30 days of receipt. Requests for additional time based on unforeseen circumstances must be accompanied by a showing of good cause and a showing that all reasonable efforts have been made to comply with this chapter.
   4. (4) All requests for additional time must be accompanied by a plan documenting the additional time needed to comply with the provisions of this chapter. The plan must describe the interim measurement and reporting practices the diverter will implement while diligently pursuing compliance with this chapter.

3. (c) Temporary Exemption for No Diversions and No Withdrawals or Releases. The diverter is exempt from meeting measurement data submission requirements as follows:

   1. (1) No Diversions and No Withdrawals or Releases During the Twelve Month Reporting Period. If, during the entirety of the twelve month reporting period, no diversions are made under the claimed water right and no withdrawals or releases are made from qualifying reservoirs, diverters are not required to submit a general measurement datafile as described in subdivision (a) of section 935.

      1. (A) Diverters claiming a temporary exemption under this subdivision must indicate in the associated annual report for the claimed water right that no diversions were made and no water was withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs.
      2. (B) The general measurement datafile submission requirements described in section 935 shall resume for the claimed water right for any twelve month reporting period during which a diversion occurs or water is withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs.

   2. (2) No Large Diversions. For any claimed water right or point of diversion that meets the large diversion applicability criteria described in subdivision (b) of section 932, if no diversions are made and no water is withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs during the entirety of the week or other schedule for reporting as established under section 938, diverters are not required to submit the large diversion submissions described in subdivision (b) of section 935 for the corresponding week or other such large diversion submission schedule during which no diversions were made and no water was withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs.

      1. (A) Diverters claiming a temporary exemption under this subdivision must indicate in the online reporting platform that no diversions were made and no water was withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs during the time period.
      2. (B) The large diversion submission requirements described in section 935 shall resume once diversions or withdrawals or releases from qualifying reservoirs resume.

4. (d) Destruction of Diversion or Withdrawal or Release Infrastructure. If a natural disaster, emergency, or other unforeseen circumstance destroys the diversion or withdrawal or release infrastructure or equipment, or otherwise prevents any water from being diverted at a point of diversion or from being withdrawn or released from a qualifying reservoir, diverters may be temporarily exempt from certain requirements of this chapter as follows:

   1. (1) For destruction of diversion infrastructure or equipment:

      1. (A) Diverters are not required to submit diversion measurement data for the affected point of diversion covering the portion of the twelve month reporting period for which the diversion infrastructure or equipment was inoperable.
      2. (B) For any water that is withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs while the diversion infrastructure or equipment is inoperable, diverters must continue to measure withdrawals and releases and submit these measurement data in accordance with the general measurement requirements of this chapter.
      3. (C) Large Diversions. For any claimed water right or point of diversion that meets the large diversion applicability criteria described in subdivision (b) of section 932, diverters must continue to measure the total volume of water in qualifying reservoirs and the volume and rate of water leaving qualifying reservoirs and submit these measurement data in accordance with the large diversion requirements of this chapter.

   2. (2) For destruction of withdrawal or release infrastructure or equipment:

      1. (A) Diverters are not required to submit withdrawal or release measurement data for the affected location where water is withdrawn or released from qualifying reservoirs covering the portion of the twelve month reporting period for which the withdrawal or release infrastructure or equipment was inoperable.
      2. (B) For any water that is diverted at a point of diversion while the withdrawal or release infrastructure or equipment is inoperable, diverters must continue to measure diversions and submit these measurement data in accordance with the general measurement requirements of this chapter.
      3. (C) Large Diversions. For any claimed water right or point of diversion that meets the large diversion applicability criteria described in subdivision (b) of section 932, diverters must continue to measure the volume and rate of water diverted from the stream and the total volume of water in qualifying reservoirs and submit these measurement data in accordance with the large diversion requirements of this chapter.
   3. (3) Diverters must indicate in the associated annual report for the affected claimed water right when the diversion or withdrawal or release infrastructure or equipment was inoperable.
   4. (4) All requirements of this chapter shall resume when diversions or withdrawals or releases from qualifying reservoirs resume.

5. (e) Destruction of Measuring Device or Measurement Infrastructure. If a natural disaster, emergency, or other unforeseen circumstance destroys measuring devices or measurement infrastructure, or otherwise prevents measurement of any of the required measurement parameters described in section 933, diverters may request a temporary exemption from measuring the affected measurement parameter at the measurement location. Diverters must continue to measure and submit measurement data for each measuring device that remains operational.

   1. (1) Any temporary exemption requested under this subdivision must be submitted in writing to the board within 30 days of detecting that the measurement infrastructure or measuring device has become inoperable and must describe the reason for the request, which measurement parameters are affected, and a timeline in which the measurement infrastructure or measuring device will be repaired or replaced and become operational.
   2. (2) The deputy director may approve or reject any temporary exemption request on a case-by-case basis. Any rejection of a temporary exemption request must include an explanation for the rejection. If the deputy director does not issue a written notice of approval or rejection within 30 days of receipt of the temporary exemption request, the temporary exemption request shall be presumed to be provisionally approved until a written notice of approval or rejection is issued, up to a maximum of 180 days from the date the temporary exemption request was submitted.
   3. (3) Upon approval of a temporary exemption request, the diverter is not required to meet the general or large diversion measurement requirements described in section 933 or the large diversion submission requirements described in section 935 for the affected measurement parameter at the measurement location for up to 180 days after the measurement infrastructure or measuring device became inoperable.
   4. (4) Diverters must indicate in the associated annual report for the affected claimed water right when the measurement infrastructure or measuring device was inoperable and provide estimates of the values for the affected measurement parameters that occurred during the period of inoperability.
   5. (5) Diverters may submit a written request to extend the temporary exemption up to an additional 180 days. Any such time extension request must include an explanation for the time extension and a timeline in which the measurement infrastructure or measuring device will be operational. The deputy director will approve or reject any time extension requests for temporary exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
   6. (6) All requirements of this chapter that a diverter has been temporarily exempted from shall be reinstated 180 days after the measurement infrastructure or measuring device became inoperable, or on the expiration of any approval of a temporary exemption request pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subdivision, whichever comes earlier, or the expiration of any time extension approved pursuant to paragraph (5) of this subdivision.
   7. (7) Diverters are required to meet all requirements of this chapter if the temporary exemption request is denied.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 1058, 1840 and 1841, Water Code. Reference: Sections 13, 1846 and 5103, Water Code.

History

1. New section filed 3-21-2016 as an emergency; operative 3-21-2016 (Register 2016, No. 13). Pursuant to Water Code section 1841(b), the regulation shall remain in effect until revised by the State Water Resources Control Board.

2. Repealer and new section filed 1-21-2026; operative 2-1-2026 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2026, No. 4).