BILL NUMBER: AB 858 CHAPTERED 09/27/02 CHAPTER 985 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 28, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 5, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 27, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 6, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 16, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wiggins (Principal coauthor: Senator Chesbro) FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 6930) to Chapter 8 of Part 1 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to fish. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 858, Wiggins. Salmon and steelhead: effect of reduced waterflow. The existing Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and Anadromous Fisheries Program Act requires the Department of Fish and Game, with the advice of the Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout and the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee, to prepare and maintain a detailed and comprehensive program for the protection and increase of salmon, steelhead trout, and anadromous fisheries. This bill would require the department, subject to the availability of funds, to contract with the University of California to conduct a study of the effects that reduced water flows at the mouths and upstream estuaries of certain rivers selected by the department would have on existing salmon and steelhead populations and on existing or prospective salmon and steelhead population restoration or reintroduction programs. The bill would require the department to limit its selection to rivers that are within the combined river systems that drain to the ocean from and including the Russian River System northward to the California-Oregon border and that are the subject of an application that has been filed with the State Water Resources Control Board to appropriate water in an amount that equals more than 3 cubic feet per second or more than 500 acre feet per annum of storage. The bill would require the findings of the study to be the primary factor in any decision of the board to approve or deny an application to appropriate water from any river selected for the study. The bill would prohibit the board from approving that application until after the study has been completed, if the application involves the delivery of water, by means other than a pipeline or aqueduct, to any place of use that is outside the combined river systems that drain to the ocean from and including the Russian River Systems northward to the California-Oregon border. These provisions would apply to the university only if the Regents of the University of California, by resolution, make them applicable to the university. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Article 4 (commencing with Section 6930) is added to Chapter 8 of Part 1 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code, to read: Article 4. Effect of Reduced Water Flows 6930. (a) Subject to the availability of funds for the purposes of this section, the department shall contract with the University of California to conduct a study of the effects that reduced waterflows at the mouths and upstream estuaries of rivers selected under subdivision (b) would have on existing salmon and steelhead populations and on existing or prospective salmon and steelhead population restoration or reintroduction programs. (b) The department shall select the rivers to be included in the study and shall limit its selection to rivers that are within the combined river systems described in paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 1215.5 of the Water Code, and that are the subject of an application that has been filed with the State Water Resources Control Board to appropriate water in an amount equal to more than three cubic feet per second or more than 500 acre feet per annum of storage. (c) The findings of the study conducted under this section shall be a factor in any decision of the State Water Resources Control Board to approve or deny an application to appropriate water from any river selected under this section. If the application involves the delivery of water, by means other than a pipeline or aqueduct, to any place of use that is outside of the protected area described in paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 1215.5 of the Water Code, the board may not approve that application until after the study has been completed. (d) Any study conducted pursuant to this section shall conclude within five years of the start of that study. (e) This section applies to the University of California only if the Regents of the University of California, by resolution, make it applicable to the university.