For the purposes of this division, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Conservancy” means the San Diego River Conservancy established by this division.

(b) “Fund” means the San Diego River Conservancy Fund established pursuant to Section 32657.

(c) “Governing board” means the governing board of the conservancy.

(d) “Historic flumes” means both of the following:

(1) The Padre Dam flume built by Native Americans along the San Diego River to convey water from the Mission Dam to the Mission San Diego de Alcala in the early 1800s.

(2) The flume built by the San Diego Flume Company in the late 1880s to convey water from a diverting dam on the upper San Diego River to the eastern edge of the City of San Diego.

(e) “Local public agency” means a city, county, district, or joint powers agency.

(f) “Nonprofit organization” means a private, nonprofit organization that qualifies for exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and that has among its principal charitable purposes the preservation of land for scientific, historic, educational, recreational, scenic, or open-space opportunities, the protection of the natural environment, or preservation or enhancement of wildlife.

(g) “San Diego River area” or “area” means those lands located within the watershed of the San Diego River, from its headwaters near Julian to the Pacific Ocean at Dog Beach in San Diego.

(h) “Tribal nation” means a Kumeyaay Band that is a federally recognized tribe or a nonfederally recognized California Native American tribe that is on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission. The Kumeyaay Band must be located within traditionally and culturally affiliated ancestral Kumeyaay territory within the County of San Diego.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 448, Sec. 1. (SB 1027) Effective January 1, 2023.)