(a) A groundwater sustainability agency for the basin or a portion of the basin may intervene in a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter.
§ 837.Intervention
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 7. Actions Relating to Groundwater Rights · Article 4. Intervention · Enacted 2015 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 837 lets a groundwater sustainability agency or overlying city, county, or city and county intervene in a comprehensive adjudication as of right, lets any fee owner or groundwater extractor or storer intervene on a noticed ex parte application, and preserves the general intervention procedure under § 387.
Full Text of § 837
(b) A city, county, or city and county that overlies the basin or a portion of the basin may intervene in a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter.
(c) The court shall allow any person to intervene in a comprehensive adjudication conducted pursuant to this chapter upon an ex parte application that demonstrates that the person holds fee simple ownership in a parcel in the basin, or extracts or stores water in the basin. A person filing an ex parte application pursuant to this subdivision shall give notice to the plaintiff consistent with the California Rules of Court.
Plain-English Summary
Because a comprehensive adjudication can determine rights affecting an entire basin, this section gives several categories of interested parties a clear path to join the case even if they weren't named as defendants. Subdivisions (a) and (b) let a groundwater sustainability agency for the basin, and any overlying city, county, or city and county, intervene without needing to satisfy any additional showing.
Subdivision (c) opens intervention more broadly: the court must allow any person to intervene on an ex parte application showing that the person holds fee simple ownership of a parcel in the basin, or extracts or stores water there — as long as the applicant gives notice to the plaintiff consistent with the California Rules of Court. That mandatory language ("the court shall allow") reflects how central broad participation is to a comprehensive adjudication's fairness.
Subdivision (d) preserves the ordinary intervention procedure under § 387 as an additional avenue, so a person doesn't have to rely solely on the categories this section spells out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a groundwater sustainability agency join a comprehensive adjudication even if it wasn't sued?
Yes. Section 837(a) lets a groundwater sustainability agency for the basin intervene.
What must a landowner or extractor show to intervene under this section?
Fee simple ownership of a parcel in the basin, or that the person extracts or stores water in the basin, presented through an ex parte application with notice to the plaintiff.
Is the court required to allow this kind of intervention, or is it discretionary?
Section 837(c) says the court shall allow it once the required showing is made — it isn't left to the court's discretion.
Can someone still use the general intervention statute instead?
Yes. Subdivision (d) preserves the ordinary intervention procedure under § 387 as an alternative.
Amendment History
Added by Stats 2015 ch 672 (AB 1390),s 1, eff. 1/1/2016.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: intervene groundwater adjudication californiajoin groundwater lawsuit as landowner