(a) A written protest filed by a landowner shall include the landowner’s signature and a description of the land owned sufficient to identify the land. A public agency owning land is deemed to be a landowner for the purpose of making a written protest.
(b) The secretary of the local agency shall compare the names and property descriptions on the protest against the property ownership records of the county assessors.
(c) (1) A majority protest shall be determined to exist if the governing board of the local agency finds that the protests filed and not withdrawn prior to the conclusion of the second hearing represent more than 50 percent of the assessed value of the land within the local agency subject to groundwater management pursuant to this part.
(2) If the local agency determines that a majority protest exists, the groundwater plan may not be adopted and the local agency shall not consider adopting a plan for the area proposed to be included within the program for a period of one year after the date of the second hearing.
(3) If a majority protest has not been filed, the local agency, within 35 days after the conclusion of the second hearing, may adopt the groundwater management plan.
(Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 947, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1993.)