(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in the County of Modoc is dissolved, and the Hot Spring Valley Water District is hereby formed in that county.

(b) The Hot Spring Valley Water District is declared to be, and shall be deemed, a water district as if the district had been formed pursuant to this division. The exterior boundary of the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be the exterior boundary of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.

(c) The Hot Spring Valley Water District succeeds to, and is vested with, all of the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and jurisdiction of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.

(d) The status, position, and rights of any officer or employee of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall not be affected by the transfer and shall be retained by the person as an officer or employee of the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

(e) The Hot Spring Valley Water District shall have ownership, possession, and control of all of the books, records, papers, offices, equipment, supplies, moneys, funds, appropriations, licenses, permits, entitlements, agreements, contracts, claims, judgments, land, and other assets and property, real or personal, owned or leased by, connected with the administration of, or held for the benefit or use of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District.

(f) The unexpended balance of any funds available for use by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall be available for use by the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

(g) No payment for the use, or right of use, of any property, real or personal, acquired or constructed by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall be required by reason of the succession pursuant to this act, nor shall any payment for the Hot Spring Valley Water District’s acquisition of the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, and jurisdiction be required by reason of that succession.

(h) All ordinances, rules, and regulations adopted by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District in effect immediately preceding January 1, 2009, shall remain in effect and shall be fully enforceable unless readopted, amended, or repealed by the Hot Spring Valley Water District, or until they expire by their own terms. Any statute, law, rule, or regulation now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted or adopted with reference to the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District, shall mean the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

(i) Any action by or against the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall not abate, but shall continue in the name of the Hot Spring Valley Water District, and the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be substituted for the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District by the court in which the action is pending. The substitution shall not in any way affect the rights of the parties to the action.

(j) No contract, lease, license, permit, entitlement, bond, or any other agreement to which the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District is a party shall be void or voidable by reason of this act, but shall continue in effect, with the Hot Spring Valley Water District assuming all of the rights, obligations, liabilities, and duties of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District. Bonds issued by the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District shall become the indebtedness of the Hot Spring Valley Water District. Any continuing obligations or responsibilities of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District for managing and maintaining bond issuances shall be transferred to the Hot Spring Valley Water District without impairment to any security contained in the bond instrument.

(k) (1) Notwithstanding Section 35003, each voter, as defined by Section 34027, of the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be entitled to cast only one vote, regardless of the value, acreage, or number of parcels of the voter’s land within the district.

(2) Voting in the Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be by electoral divisions in accordance with Article 2 (commencing with Section 35025) of Chapter 1 of Part 4. The Hot Spring Valley Water District shall be divided into the same electoral divisions, with the same division boundaries, as those established within the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District. Members of the former Hot Spring Valley Irrigation District Board of Directors who are serving on January 1, 2009, may continue to serve the balance of their current terms of office, representing the same electoral divisions, as members of the Board of Directors of the Hot Spring Valley Water District.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 140, Sec. 182. (AB 1164) Effective January 1, 2010.)