CA AB1024

Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to prioritize adopting general conditions by June 30, 2027 that allow small irrigation water users to store water during high streamflow periods in exchange for reducing diversions during low streamflow periods for coastal and San Francisco Bay streams.

Exempts entities from obtaining lake or streambed alteration agreements with the Department of Fish and Wildlife if they submit board-approved water use registrations in specified counties (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, and Sonoma) and pay required fees.

Limits exempted registrations to 100 per calendar year for the first year of implementation, with authority for the department to increase or eliminate this limit thereafter.

Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to establish instream flow requirements before authorizing new registrations for stream segments where the Director of Fish and Wildlife has proposed streamflow requirements, effective for registrations issued on or after January 1, 2024.

Allows registrations filed before streamflow requirements are proposed to be renewed even without adopted instream flow requirements, with potential conditions added by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to protect stream-related fish and wildlife resources.