A water supplier, individually or in cooperation with other public agencies or persons, may institute a water conservation or efficient water management program, including, but not limited to, all of the following components:

(a) Providing irrigation and other water use management services to persons served by the water supplier, including, but not limited to, all of the following services:

(1) Providing information on historic and current crop water use data for crops grown in the area served by the water supplier, including evapotranspiration and leaching requirements of those crops.

(2) Providing irrigation consulting services to monitor on-farm water use practices and to provide information to improve on-farm water management.

(3) Monitoring salinity to obtain favorable salt balances.

(4) Recommending more efficient techniques for preplanting irrigation of the crop root zone.

(5) Providing evaluations of the operation and efficiency of individual on-farm irrigation systems and animal sanitation systems and similar uses, and making recommendations for improvement of those systems.

(6) Providing irrigation management improvement services during the growing season.

(b) Making physical and structural improvements to the water supplier’s delivery system, and aiding in the improvement of on-farm systems, including, but not limited to, all of the following improvements:

(1) Using flow measuring devices in the delivery system and providing to farmers, or assisting farmers in the use of, on-farm flow measurement devices.

(2) Lining ditches and canals or providing pipelines in the supplier’s delivery system and helping farmers to take these actions, except where seepage is desirable for groundwater recharge or environmental purposes.

(3) Evaluating the storage, conveyance, and drainage systems of the water supplier and the farmers served by the water supplier and the application systems of the farmers served by the water supplier to maximize efficient water management.

(4) Assisting farmers technically and financially with installation and operation of on-farm conservation equipment if the installation and operation is economically feasible for the water supplier.

(c) Making institutional and operational adjustments, including, but not limited to, all of the following adjustments:

(1) Allowing changes or flexibility in the water contract year to more closely fit water-use characteristics of the crops being grown.

(2) Establishing a pricing structure for water delivered to encourage conservation.

(3) Maximizing flexibility, to the extent economically and otherwise feasible, in water delivery to farmers to enable them to optimize their irrigation efficiency.

(4) Developing education programs for farmers relating to on-farm conservation.

(5) Promoting or developing conjunctive use programs for use of groundwater and surface water.

(6) Encouraging voluntary exchanges of water between water suppliers which have surplus water and suppliers which have a water shortage.

(Added by Stats. 1991, Ch. 184, Sec. 1.)