(a) The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District, and any successor thereto, with respect to treated wastewater produced by the sanitation district that meets the requirements of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley, as may be amended or modified, and that is discharged into the Sacramento River, may file an application for a permit to appropriate an amount of water up to the amount of treated wastewater that is discharged into the Sacramento River, less diminution by seepage, evaporation, transportation, or other natural causes between the point of discharge from the wastewater treatment plant and the point of diversion out of the Sacramento River or the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
(b) Upon application for a permit to appropriate water pursuant to subdivision (a), the board may grant the permit subject to the terms and conditions as in the board’s judgment are necessary for the protection of the rights of any legal user of the water.
(c) Prior to the board granting a permit under subdivision (b), the board shall comply with the provisions of Part 2 (commencing with Section 1200) of Division 2, and other applicable law, and may impose terms and conditions authorized thereunder.
(d) Water appropriated in accordance with this section may be sold or utilized for any beneficial purpose.