(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), upon the request of an Indian tribe and the satisfaction of the conditions stated in subdivision (b), a district shall provide service of water at substantially the same terms applicable to the customers of the district to an Indian tribe’s lands that are not within a district as if the lands had been fully annexed into the district and into any other public agencies required for the provision of water service if the Indian tribe’s lands meet all of the following requirements:

(A) The lands were owned by the tribe on January 1, 2016.

(B) The lands are contiguous with at least two districts.

(C) The lands lie within the special study area of at least one district.

(D) At least 70 percent of the Indian tribe’s total Indian lands are currently within the boundaries of one or more districts.

(2) (A) Upon the request of an Indian tribe that does not meet the requirements of paragraph (1) and upon the satisfaction of the conditions stated in subdivision (b), a district may, until January 1, 2027, apply to the applicable local agency formation commission to extend water service at substantially the same terms applicable to customers of the district to Indian lands that are not within a district as if the lands had been fully annexed into the district and into any other public agencies required for the provision of water service. The local agency formation commission shall approve the application and may impose conditions on the district with regard to the extension of service in accordance with § 56886 of the Government Code, as long as those terms and conditions do not impair the provision of water service to Indian lands pursuant to this section and are similar to those imposed on all agency service recipients without discrimination. A district shall provide the water extension agreement to the local agency formation commission.

(B) A local agency formation commission shall not approve an application on or after January 1, 2027. A district that received authorization to extend water service to Indian lands pursuant to subparagraph (A) may continue to do so after January 1, 2027, provided that the district continues to comply with the conditions imposed by the local agency formation commission.

(C) For purposes of this subdivision, “Indian lands” means Indian lands, as defined in Section 2703 of Title 25 of the United States Code, that are part of a reservation or held in trust.

(b) Before a district provides service of water pursuant to this section, the Indian tribe shall satisfy all of the following conditions:

(1) The Indian tribe complies with all federal and tribal laws.

(2) The Indian tribe acquires all federal and tribal approvals necessary for the applicable district to provide water service to the tribal lands on substantially the same terms applicable to customers of the district.

(3) The Indian tribe accepts, by agreement, all terms of, and payments, including service payments, to, the district and any public agency providing water to said district, as if the Indian tribe’s lands were fully annexed into the district and into the service area of any other public agency, which terms and payments are also a condition of continued service by a district and by any public agency providing water to said district.

(c) If a district provides service of water to an Indian tribe’s lands pursuant to this section, the service areas of the district and of any public agencies providing water to the district are deemed for all purposes to include the Indian tribe’s lands for the longest of the following periods of time:

(1) The time service of water is provided by the district to the Indian tribe.

(2) The time moneys are owed by the Indian tribe to the district for the service of water.

(3) The term of any agreement between the district and the Indian tribe.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 480, Sec. 1. (AB 2081) Effective January 1, 2023.)