republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/sb-779.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Water."
description: "(1) Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water. Existing law authorizes an applicant, permittee, or licensee to change the point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use from that specified in the application, permit, or license, upon permission of the board, as specified. Existing law after a hearing authorizes the board to grant or refuse as the facts warrant permission to change the point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 779"
citation: "California SB 779 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Water."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Natural Resources and Water"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-02-27"
last_action: "2019-09-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9985fc55-094d-4caf-8daa-92b3babf59e1"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779"
source_hash: "4dfe3a908ef6b1e6f21f88587330b0bbedee01fad236d3737845e3bc68003fab"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 779 (20192020) — Water.

(1) Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water. Existing law authorizes an applicant, permittee, or licensee to change the point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use from that specified in the application, permit, or license, upon permission of the board, as specified. Existing law after a hearing authorizes the board to grant or refuse as the facts warrant permission to change the point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/27/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779&version=20190SB77999INT)
2. **04/29/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779&version=20190SB77998AMD)
3. **09/05/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779&version=20190SB77996CHP)
4. **SB779** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779)
5. **08/23/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB779&version=20190SB77997ENR)

## Votes

- SB 779 N.R. & W. Senate Third Reading By GARCIA, E. — **75–0** (pass) · lower
- Consent Calendar SB779 N.R. & W. — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Committee on Natural Resources and Water — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-27** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-28** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 30.
- **2019-03-14** Referred to Com. on N.R. & W. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-15** Set for hearing April 23.
- **2019-04-25** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 778.) (April 23). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2019-04-29** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-05-03** Set for hearing May 13.
- **2019-05-13** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-05-14** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-16** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1059.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-16** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-30** Referred to Com. on W., P., & W. `referral-committee`
- **2019-07-02** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (July 2). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-08-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (August 14). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-08-22** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 2811.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-22** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2019-08-27** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2019-09-05** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-09-05** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 255, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9985fc55-094d-4caf-8daa-92b3babf59e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).