Bill Text: CA AB2463 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Water: plans.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-23 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [AB2463 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2463-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2463 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 85320 of add
Section 12659.1 to the Water Code, relating to the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2463, as amended, Dickinson. Delta plan: Bay Delta
Conservation Plan: hearings. Water: plans.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update,
every 5 years, the plan for the orderly and coordinated control,
protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources
of the state, which is known as The California Water Plan. Existing
law requires the department to include a discussion of various
strategies in the plan, including, but not limited to, strategies
relating to the development of new water storage facilities, water
conservation, water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, water
transfers, and alternative pricing policies that may be pursued in
order to meet the future needs of the state.
This bill would require the department to partner with the
Regional Water Authority, water suppliers in El Dorado, Placer,
Sacramento, and Placer counties, and other interested agencies to
develop a plan for investing in water supplies and other facilities
in order to contribute to the reliability of water supplies for the
Sacramento region's communities and environmental resources while
also generating statewide benefits. The bill would require the plan
to address certain matters, and would require the department to
submit the plan to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. To
the extent this bill would impose new duties on local officials, it
would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Existing law, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009,
establishes the Delta Stewardship Council, which is required to
develop, adopt, and commence implementation of a comprehensive
management plan for the Delta, known as the Delta Plan, by January 1,
2012. Existing law requires the council to consider for inclusion in
the Delta Plan the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, a multispecies
conservation plan, and requires the incorporation of the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan into the Delta Plan if the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan meets certain requirements. Under existing law, if the
Department of Fish and Wildlife approves the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan as a natural community conservation plan, the council is
required to have at least one public hearing concerning the
incorporation of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan into the Delta Plan.
This bill would require the council to have at least 5 public
hearings concerning the incorporation of the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan into the Delta Plan if the Department of Fish and Wildlife
approves the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as a natural community
conservation plan.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The region surrounding the state capital of Sacramento
naturally depends on the American and Sacramento Rivers as local
sources of water supplies.
(b) The region depends on the Folsom Reservoir to provide the
storage necessary to support the region's water supply during dry
seasons and dry years.
(c) The historically severe drought conditions in 2013 and 2014
have demonstrated that the Sacramento region is uniquely vulnerable
to severe dry conditions. In January 2014, the water levels in Folsom
Reservoir dropped so low that the municipal water supply intake in
the reservoir that over 500,000 people depend on was dangerously
close to going dry, and low water levels downstream on the American
River compelled emergency measures to allow for continued diversions
by the City of Sacramento.
(d) In 1972, under the California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, the
Legislature designated the lower American River as a recreational
river, and in 1981, at the request of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.,
the river was also designated as a recreational river under the
federal Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. The extraordinary value of the
American River, which supported the river's designation as a federal
and state wild and scenic river, depends on water being stored in,
and released from, the Folsom Reservoir.
(e) The lower American River supports a large part of the Central
Valley's iconic Chinook salmon and steelhead populations, which
depend on management of cold water stored in, and released from, the
Folsom Reservoir.
(f) While the Sacramento region has faced uniquely pressing water
issues in 2013 and 2014, in other dry years, the region's water
suppliers have been able to conjunctively manage their surface and
groundwater resources to make water available for transfer to other
water-short regions of the state, and produced statewide benefits in
doing so.
(g) The Sacramento region has been one of California's leaders in
developing integrated regional water management plans through the
Regional Water Authority, a joint powers authority, and the American
River Basin plan was recognized as one of the state's Regional
Success Stories in the Delta Plan adopted by the Delta Stewardship
Council.
(h) Under the federal Water Resources Development Act of 1999, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Bureau
of Reclamation are preparing an update to Folsom Reservoir's water
control manual that could improve both flood control and water supply
reliability by enabling the reservoir to be operated with the latest
real-time weather prediction technology.
(i) It is possible for the Department of Water Resources to
simultaneously improve the reliability of the Sacramento region's
water supply to meet the current and future needs of its communities
and support environmental resources while generating statewide water
supply benefits by assisting the Regional Water Authority and the
region's water suppliers in developing multibenefit projects and
programs, and helping to identify available funding for those
projects and programs.
SEC. 2. Section 12659.1 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
12659.1. (a) The department shall partner with the Regional Water
Authority, a specific joint powers authority in the Sacramento area;
the water suppliers in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo
counties; and other interested agencies to develop a plan for
investing in water supplies and other facilities in order to
contribute to the reliability of water supplies for the Sacramento
region's communities and environmental resources while also
generating statewide benefits. The matters that the plan shall
address shall include, but are not limited to, conjunctive use
measures and facilities, water efficiency and reuse, measures to
integrate surface water supplies, drought response measures, and
potential funding sources.
(b) The department shall submit the plan to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2017.
(c) A plan to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d) This section shall be repealed on January 1, 2021, unless a
later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes
or extends that date.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 85320 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
85320. (a) The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) shall be
considered for inclusion in the Delta Plan in accordance with this
chapter.
(b) The BDCP shall not be incorporated into the Delta Plan and the
public benefits associated with the BDCP shall not be eligible for
state funding, unless the BDCP does all of the following:
(1) Complies with Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) Complies with Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of
the Public Resources Code, including a comprehensive review and
analysis of all of the following:
(A) A reasonable range of flow criteria, rates of diversion, and
other operational criteria required to satisfy the criteria for
approval of a natural community conservation plan as provided in
subdivision (a) of Section 2820 of the Fish and Game Code, and other
operational requirements and flows necessary for recovering the Delta
ecosystem and restoring fisheries under a reasonable range of
hydrologic conditions, which will identify the remaining water
available for export and other beneficial uses.
(B) A reasonable range of Delta conveyance alternatives, including
through-Delta, dual conveyance, and isolated conveyance alternatives
and including further capacity and design options of a lined canal,
an unlined canal, and pipelines.
(C) The potential effects of climate change, possible sea level
rise up to 55 inches, and possible changes in total precipitation and
runoff patterns on the conveyance alternatives and habitat
restoration activities considered in the environmental impact report.
(D) The potential effects on migratory fish and aquatic resources.
(E) The potential effects on Sacramento River and San Joaquin
River flood management.
(F) The resilience and recovery of Delta conveyance alternatives
in the event of catastrophic loss caused by earthquake or flood or
other natural disaster.
(G) The potential effects of each Delta conveyance alternative on
Delta water quality.
(c) The department shall consult with the council and the Delta
Independent Science Board during the development of the BDCP. The
council shall be a responsible agency in the development of the
environmental impact report. The Delta Independent Science Board
shall review the draft environmental impact report and submit its
comments to the council and the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
(d) If the Department of Fish and Wildlife approves the BDCP as a
natural community conservation plan pursuant to Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game
Code, the council shall have at least five public hearings concerning
the incorporation of the BDCP into the Delta Plan.
(e) If the Department of Fish and Wildlife approves the BDCP as a
natural community conservation plan pursuant to Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game
Code and determines that the BDCP meets the requirements of this
section, and the BDCP has been approved as a habitat conservation
plan pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C.
Section 1531 et seq.), the council shall incorporate the BDCP into
the Delta Plan. The Department of Fish and Wildlife's determination
that the BDCP has met the requirements of this section may be
appealed to the council.
(f) The department, in coordination with the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, or any successor agencies charged with BDCP
implementation, shall report to the council on the implementation of
the BDCP at least once a year, including the status of monitoring
programs and adaptive management.
(g) The council may make recommendations to BDCP implementing
agencies regarding the implementation of the BDCP. BDCP implementing
agencies shall consult with the council on these recommendations.
These recommendations shall not change the terms and conditions of
the permits issued by state and federal regulatory agencies.
