Water theft: fire hydrants.

Senator Allen's legislation expands California's water theft prevention framework by establishing new civil and administrative remedies specifically targeting unauthorized use of fire hydrants. The bill adds tampering with fire hydrants, hydrant meters, and fire detector checks to the list of actions for which utilities can pursue civil damages, while creating a rebuttable presumption of violation when such tampering occurs without authorization or payment.

Local agencies that provide retail water services receive authority to adopt ordinances prohibiting unauthorized hydrant connections, with fines ranging from $2,500 for first violations to $10,000 for third and subsequent offenses. The bill also modifies existing water theft penalties by removing the one-year limitation period for enhanced fines on repeat violations. Public agencies conducting firefighting operations and qualified insurance resources responding to active fires maintain authorized access to hydrants with proper incident command approval.

The legislation requires local agencies to establish administrative procedures governing fine implementation, collection and review, including hardship waiver provisions for cases of undue financial burden. While agencies cannot impose duplicate penalties under both general water theft and hydrant-specific ordinances for the same offense, the bill preserves access to other civil and criminal remedies under existing law.