A district may do any act necessary to furnish sufficient water in the district for any present or future beneficial use.

A district may store water for the benefit of the district, conserve water for future use, and appropriate, acquire, and conserve water and water rights for any useful purpose.

A district may operate water rights, works, property, rights, and privileges useful or necessary to convey, supply, store, or make use of water for any purpose authorized by this division.

A district may sell water or the use thereof for any useful purpose and whenever there is a surplus, dispose of the surplus to municipalities, public agencies, or consumers located without the district.

A district may establish rules and regulations for the sale, distribution, and use of water and may therein provide that water shall not be furnished to persons against whom there are delinquent water rates.

The district shall fix and through the general manager collect the water rates.

A district shall have the power to restrict the use of district water during any emergency caused by drought, or other threatened or existing water shortage, and to prohibit the wastage of district water or the use of district water during such periods, for any purpose other than household uses or such other restricted uses as may be determined to be necessary by the district and may prohibit use of such water during such periods for specific uses which the district may from time to time find to be nonessential.

A district shall have power to make findings upon each and all of the matters referred to in Section 31026. A finding by the board of directors upon the existence, threat or duration of an emergency or shortage or upon the matter of necessity or any other matter or condition shall be made by resolution or ordinance, and shall be prima facie evidence of the fact or matter so found, and such fact or matter shall be presumed to continue unchanged unless and until a contrary finding shall have been made by the board by resolution or ordinance. Such finding shall be received in evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding in which it may be offered, and shall be proof and evidence of the fact or matter found until rebutted or overcome by other sufficient evidence received in such proceeding. Copy of any resolution or ordinance setting forth any finding shall, when certified by the secretary of the district, be evidence that the finding was made by the district as shown by the resolution or ordinance and certification.

After the publication or posting of any ordinance as provided in Section 31027, it is a misdemeanor for any person to use or apply water received from the district contrary to or in violation of the restriction or prohibition, until the ordinance has been repealed or the emergency or threatened emergency has ceased, and, upon conviction thereof, that person shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days or by fine of not more than six hundred dollars ($600), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

A district may, pursuant to the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code, fix, on or before the first day of July in each calendar year, a water standby or availability charge. The water standby or availability charge shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) per acre per year for each acre of land, or ten dollars ($10) per year for each parcel of land less than an acre within the district to which water is made available for any purpose by the district, whether the water is actually used or not, unless the standby charge is imposed pursuant to the Uniform Standby Charge Procedures Act (Chapter 12.4 (commencing with Section 54984) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). The board of directors of a district which fixes such a charge may establish schedules varying such charge according to the land uses and the degree of availability or quantity of use of such water to the affected lands, and may restrict such charge to lands lying within one or more improvement districts within such district. If the procedures set forth in this section as it read at the time a standby or immediate availability charge was established were followed, the board of directors may, by resolution, continue the charge in successive years at the same rate. If new, increased, or extended assessments are proposed, the board shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code.

Notwithstanding Sections 31031 and 31032.1 in the Coachella Valley Water District, the water standby or availability charge or assessment shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for land on which the charge or assessment is levied, or thirty dollars ($30) per year for a parcel less than one acre.

This section applicable only to the Coachella Valley Water District is necessary because of the unique and special water management and financing problems of the area included within the district.

Notwithstanding Sections 31031 and 31032.1, the water standby or availability charge or assessment in the Twentynine Palms Water District shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for land on which the charge or assessment is levied or thirty dollars ($30) per year for a parcel less than one acre.

This section, applicable only to the Twentynine Palms Water District, is necessary because of the unique and special water management and financing problems of the area included within the district.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the Tuolumne Regional Water District may, pursuant to the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code, fix, levy, and collect a water standby or availability charge. The water standby or availability charge shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for each acre of land, or thirty dollars ($30) per year for each parcel of land less than an acre, to which water is made available for any purpose by the district, unless the standby charge is imposed pursuant to the Uniform Standby Charge Procedures Act (Chapter 12.4 (commencing with Section 54984) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). If the procedures set forth in this section as it read at the time a standby charge was established were followed, the Tuolumne Regional Water District may, by a four-fifths vote of the members of the board of directors, continue the charge pursuant to this section in successive years at the same rate. If new, increased, or extended assessments are proposed, the board shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code.

In case any water standby charge remains unpaid on the first day of the month before the month in which the board of supervisors of the county in which the district or any part thereof is located is required by law to levy the amount of taxes required for county purposes, a 6 percent penalty thereon shall accrue. The amount of the unpaid standby charge plus the said penalty shall be added to and become a part of the annual tax levied upon the land to which water for which the standby charge is unpaid was available and same shall constitute a lien on that land.

If a district collects taxes pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 31700) of Part 7 of this division, the amount of tax attributable to unpaid water standby charges, and the penalty thereon, shall be stated on the tax bill separately from all other taxes.

If a district collects taxes pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 31730) of Part 7 of this division, it shall provide each person whose property is subject to taxation for unpaid water standby charges, and the penalty thereon, with a tax bill stating the amount of such charges and penalty separately.

In such case and at least fifteen (15) days before the first day of the month in which said board of supervisors is required by law to levy the amount of taxes required for county purposes, the board of directors of the district shall furnish in writing to the board of supervisors and to the county auditor, respectively, a description of each and every parcel of land within the district upon which a standby charge remains unpaid, together with the amount of said unpaid charge plus said penalty on each said parcel of land. Whenever land in two or more counties is included in a district, the board of directors of the district shall furnish in writing to the board of supervisors and to the county auditor of each of said counties, respectively, a description of each and every parcel within said county upon which a standby charge remains unpaid, together with the amount of said unpaid standby charge plus penalty thereon.

A district may, pursuant to the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code, fix, as an alternative to the charge prescribed by Section 31031, in each fiscal year, water standby or availability assessments of not to exceed thirty dollars ($30) per acre per year for each acre of land, or thirty dollars ($30) per year for each parcel of land less than an acre within the district to which water is made available for any purpose by the district, whether the water is actually used or not, unless the standby charge is imposed pursuant to the Uniform Standby Charge Procedures Act (Chapter 12.4 (commencing with Section 54984) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). The board of directors of a district that fixes the assessment may establish schedules varying the assessment according to the land uses and the degree of availability or quantity of use of water to the affected lands, and may restrict the assessment to lands lying within one or more improvement districts within the district. If the procedures set forth in this section as it read at the time a standby charge was established were followed, the board of directors may, by resolution, continue the charge pursuant to this section in successive years at the same rate. If new, increased, or extended assessments are proposed, the board shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code.

A district may elect to have the assessments for the fiscal year collected on the tax roll in the same manner, by the same persons and at the same time as, together with and not separately from, its general taxes. In that event, it shall cause a written report to be prepared and filed with the secretary which report shall contain a description of each parcel of real property and the amount of the assessment for each parcel for the year.