The State has a primary and supreme interest in having erected, maintained and protected on the banks of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, their tributaries, by-passes, overflow channels and basins, good and sufficient levees and embankments or other works of reclamation, adequately protecting the lands overflowed or subject to overflow, and confining the waters of the rivers, tributaries, by-passes, overflow channels, and basins within their respective channels and boundaries.