BILL NUMBER: AB 984	CHAPTERED  09/29/06

	CHAPTER  710
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 24, 2006
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 23, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 4, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 25, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Laird

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2005

   An act to add Part 11 (commencing with Section 12999) to Division
6 of the Water Code, relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 984, Laird  Tamarisk plant control.
   Existing law grants to the Department of Water Resources various
duties relating to the supervision of the state's water resources.
   This bill would authorize the department, in collaboration with
other entities, to cooperate with the federal government, other
Colorado River Basin states, and other entities for the purpose of
preparing a plan to control or eradicate tamarisk plants in the
Colorado River watershed. The bill would require the department, the
Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game,
and the Colorado River Board of California to seek to collaborate
with affected California water agencies and other appropriate
entities in that preparation.
   The bill would require the department, in collaboration with other
entities, to implement the plan within California upon the
appropriation of funds for that purpose. The bill would require the
department, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of
Fish and Game, and the Colorado River Board of California to seek to
collaborate with affected California water agencies and other
appropriate entities in that implementation.


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


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Tamarisk is a small tree or large shrub that was imported from
Eastern Europe in the 1800s for use as windbreaks and erosion
control.
   (b) Tamarisk is spreading across the west, including covering
hundreds of thousands of acres in the Colorado River Basin, almost
entirely along waterways.
   (c) Tamarisk easily out-competes native habitat, such as willows
and cottonwoods, and has very little habitat value compared to native
vegetation.
   (d) Because of its delicate and expansive leaf structure, tamarisk
on a per-acre basis takes up and evaporates substantially more water
than native vegetation.
   (e) Colorado River flows have been very low for the last six years
because of increasing human uses and very low rainfall, and because
tamarisk is taking up significantly more water than the native
vegetation that it replaces.
   (f) If low riverflows continue, dwindling reservoir storage will
be insufficient to continue historical levels of diversions and
diversions will have to be curtailed, with substantial impacts to the
economies of the seven states in the Colorado River watershed.
   (g) Environmental mitigation and restoration programs, such as the
lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program and
environmental mitigation measures for the Quantification Settlement
Agreement on the lower Colorado River, may include projects that will
replace invasive exotic vegetation with native vegetation. The state
supports the eradication of invasive species by the Colorado River
Multi-Species Conservation Program and other programs and encourages
cooperation with these programs to increase the available native
wetland and riparian vegetation in the Colorado River watershed.
   (h) The state seeks to encourage the federal government, basin
states, and water agencies to develop a program to control or
eradicate tamarisk within each state's jurisdiction.
   (i) Controlling tamarisk in the Colorado River watershed entails a
large and costly task, but if it is not undertaken, there will be
significant economic and environmental consequences for California
and the other basin states.
  SEC. 2.  Part 11 (commencing with Section 12999) is added to
Division 6 of the Water Code, to read:

      PART 11.  TAMARISK PLANT CONTROL

   12999.  (a) The department, in collaboration with the Department
of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, and the
Colorado River Board of California may cooperate with the federal
government, the other Colorado River Basin states, and other entities
for the purpose of preparing a plan to control or eradicate tamarisk
in the Colorado River watershed. The department, the Department of
Food and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, and the
Colorado River Board of California shall seek to collaborate with
affected California water agencies and other appropriate entities in
that preparation. The plan shall include the reestablishment of
native vegetation and the identification of potential federal and
nonfederal funding sources for implementation pursuant to subdivision
(b).
   (b) The department, in collaboration with the Department of Food
and Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, the Colorado River
Board of California, and appropriate federal agencies, shall
implement the plan within California upon the appropriation of funds
for that purpose. The department, the Department of Food and
Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Colorado River
Board of California shall seek to collaborate with affected
California water agencies and other appropriate entities in the
implementation of the plan.
   (c) This section does not preclude the department or any other
entity from expending bond funds or nonstate funds for the control or
eradication of tamarisk in the Colorado River watershed.