Wat. Code, § 75480

(a) The North San Joaquin Water Conservation District, in addition to its other powers, may levy assessments as provided in this chapter.

(b) “District,” for the purposes of this chapter, means the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District.

(c) “Collected water” and “water that is collected,” for the purposes of this chapter, means the net acre-feet of water caused to be deposited onto land by the district. In determining the amount of collected water, both the amount of water entering the water system and the amount of water leaving the water system, having not been applied, shall be measured. The amount of water that leaves the system, having not been applied, shall be subtracted from the amount of water that enters the system. The difference shall be reduced by the amount of water lost due to evaporation and further reduced for water subject to export from the district. The sum difference is the amount of collected water.

(d) “Applied,” for the purposes of this chapter, means that the water has been used for irrigation, recharge, in lieu of flooding, deposited into an area for storage, or held in an area for percolation purposes.

(e) “System,” for the purposes of this chapter, means all of the physical apparatus owned, operated, or maintained by the district for the purpose of moving or holding water.