BILL NUMBER: AB 2121	CHAPTERED  09/30/04

	CHAPTER  943
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 30, 2004
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 28, 2004
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 25, 2004
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 23, 2004
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 27, 2004

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Budget

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2004

   An act to add Sections 1259.2 and 1259.4 to the Water Code,
relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2121, Committee on Budget.  Water resources.
   Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board is
responsible for the administration of water rights.
   This bill would require the board to prepare annually a written
summary, in chart form, of pending applications to appropriate water
in the Counties of Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Humboldt, and
would require certain information to be included in that summary.
The bill would authorize the board to post that information on its
Web site.  The bill would require the board, on or before January 1,
2007, to adopt principles and guidelines for maintaining instream
flows in certain streams in accordance with state policy for water
quality control, for the purposes of water right administration, and
would authorize the board to adopt principles and guidelines for
maintaining instream flows in other streams for those purposes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In 1997, the State Water Resources Control Board prepared a
staff report that broadly analyzed water right permit matters
relating to the Russian River basin.
   (b) From 1997 to 2002, the board, the Department of Fish and Game,
the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Trout Unlimited debated
the necessary flow requirements, and other biological and
fish-related conditions that are appropriate for inclusion in water
right permits.
   (c) In June 2002, state and federal fish agencies released their
updated "Guidelines for Maintaining Instream Flows to Protect
Fisheries Resources Downstream of Water Diversions in Mid-California
Coastal Streams."  These joint guidelines represent the first time
state and federal fish agencies presented to the board specific fish
measures in guideline format that are the minimum necessary
conditions to preserve a level of stream flow that ensures that
anadromous salmonids will not be adversely impacted by diversions.
   (d) The board has not formally adopted the management objectives
set forth in those joint guidelines, even though the adoption would
significantly advance the effort to ensure that appropriate fish
measures are included in new water right permits and that cumulative
impacts are considered.
   (e) The adoption of these joint guidelines is necessary for the
protection of fishery resources even if these guidelines are required
to be amended from time to time.
   (f) Pending before the board are more than 276 applications to
appropriate water from streams in the Counties of Marin, Napa,
Sonoma, Mendocino, and Humboldt.
   (g) Many of these applications have been pending for a decade.
Most of these applications have been pending for at least five years.
  These delays are inappropriate, and they produce regulatory
uncertainty for the water user community and the conservation and
fishing communities.  All interested stakeholders would benefit if
information was available with regard to these applications to
appropriate water, including, but not limited to, the number of
pending applications, the proposed source of water for each
application, and the status of each application.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1259.2 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   1259.2.  (a) The board shall annually prepare a written summary,
in chart form, of pending applications to appropriate water in the
Counties of Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Humboldt.  The
summary shall include a description of the status of each pending
application, the actions taken in the preceding year, proposed
actions for the upcoming year, and the proposed date for final action
with regard to that application.
   (b) For the purposes of carrying out subdivision (a), the board
may post the information described in subdivision (a) on its Web
site.
  SEC. 3.  Section 1259.4 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   1259.4.  (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2007, the board shall
adopt principles and guidelines for maintaining instream flows in
coastal streams from the Mattole River to San Francisco and in
coastal streams entering northern San Pablo Bay, in accordance with
state policy for water quality control adopted pursuant to Article 3
(commencing with Section 13140) of Chapter 3 of Division 7, for the
purposes of water right administration.
   (2) The board may adopt principles and guidelines for maintaining
instream flows not described in paragraph (1), in accordance with
state policy for water quality control adopted pursuant to Article 3
(commencing with Section 13140) of Chapter 3 of Division 7, for the
purposes of water right administration.
   (b) Prior to the adoption of principles and guidelines pursuant to
subdivision (a), the board may consider the 2002 "Guidelines for
Maintaining Instream Flows to Protect Fisheries Resources Downstream
of Water Diversions in Mid-California Coastal Streams" for the
purposes of water right administration.