BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
BILL NO: SB 821 HEARING: 4/25/07
AUTHOR: Kuehl FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 4/23/07 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
DEVELOPMENT DECISIONS AND WATER SUPPLY
Background and Existing Law
Urban water suppliers with more than 3,000 customers must
adopt urban water management plans (AB 797, Klehs, 1983).
An important component of these plans is an assessment of
water reliability service during normal, dry, and
multiple-dry years (AB 1845, Cortese, 1995). Urban water
suppliers must review their plans in years that end in "0"
and "5" (AB 2552, Bates, 2000).
Urban water management plans are source documents for
cities and counties' general plans. Before they adopt or
amend their general plans, city and county planners must
notify urban water suppliers and follow a standardized
process for determining the adequacy of water supplies (AB
455, Cortese, 1992).
Cities and counties must consider information provided by
water suppliers when they act on proposals for large-scale
residential, commercial, hotel, industrial, or mixed-use
projects (SB 901, Costa, 1995). Concerned that local
agencies weren't implementing the 1995 requirements,
legislators broadened its application and increased the
required information. Every large-scale development
project must have a water supply assessment (SB 610, Costa,
2001).
The Subdivision Map Act requires cities and counties to
include as a condition in their approval of a tentative map
for a subdivision with more than 500 dwelling units that a
sufficient water supply must be available (SB 221, Kuehl,
2001). More specifically, the 2001 Kuehl bill:
Required that proof of the availability of a
sufficient water supply must be based on a written
verification from the applicable public water system.
Allowed either the applicant or the city or county
to request the written verification and gave the
public water system 90 days to respond.
SB 821 -- 4/23/07 -- Page 2
Allowed the city or county or any other interested
party to seek a writ of mandate if the public water
system fails to deliver the water supply assessment.
Allowed a city or county to find that sufficient
water supplies will be available, even if the public
water system does not provide written verification.
Required that, when a public water system's written
verification relies on projected water supplies, the
verification must be based on written contracts,
adopted capital outlay programs, and infrastructure
construction permits.
Required that, when a public water system's written
verification relies on groundwater, the public water
system must evaluate whether the landowner has
additional groundwater rights.
Applied these requirements to residential
subdivisions with more than 500 dwelling units. The
requirements also apply to subdivisions that increase
service connections by 10% or more in public water
systems with less than 5,000 connections.
Applied this same requirement to development
agreements that include larger residential
subdivisions.
Exempted certain residential projects from these
requirements.
Exempted the County of San Diego under certain
conditions.
In October 2003, the Senate Local Government Committee and
the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee held a
joint hearing on "Water and Land Use Planning" in Tracy.
After two hours of comments from 14 witnesses, the
committees' staffs identified five findings:
Local officials have not fully implemented SB 221
and SB 610.
There is support for including water supply and
water demand information in city and county general
plans.
Urban water management plans and agricultural water
management plans were a good start, but more needs to
be done.
Legislators should amend the water and land use
planning statutes to improve the law's clarity and
effectiveness.
Legislators should consider lowering the threshold
SB 821 -- 4/23/07 -- Page 3
that triggers a water supply and demand analysis for
proposed development projects.
Six years after the enactment of the 2001 bills, some
legislators want to review the statutory connections
between land use decisions and water supplies.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 821 requires the California Research Bureau
(CRB) to report to the Legislature by July 1, 2008.
Covering 2004, 2005, and 2006, CRB's report must:
Determine the number of subdivisions, determine the
number of dwelling units, and estimate the amount of
water affected by the Map Act's requirements that
apply to subdivisions of 500 or more dwelling units.
Determine the number of subdivisions, determine the
number of dwelling units, and estimate the amount of
water that would have been affected if the threshold
had been 250 dwelling units instead of 500 dwelling
units.
Estimate the number of large-scale, non-residential
projects and the amount of water affected by the
statutory requirement to prepare water supply
analyses.
Present options for statutory changes to the Map
Act requirements, the water supply planning statutes,
and related laws.
In preparing this report, CRB must consult with the State
Clearinghouse in the Governor's Office of Planning and
Research. CRB may consult with other public agencies and
private organizations with expertise in water supply or
land use planning and development.
Comments
1. Knowledge is power . Even though it's been six years
since the 2001 Kuehl bill required cities and counties to
put water supply conditions on residential subdivisions
with more than 500 units, there are no reliable data on the
law's effectiveness. No one can say for certain how many
subdivisions or how many residential units have come under
SB 821 -- 4/23/07 -- Page 4
the existing requirements. Have local officials faithfully
followed the law, or did they find ways to dodge the
statutory requirements? Without knowing the answers to
those questions, it's premature to reduce the size
threshold for residential subdivisions or to extend those
requirements to nonresidential projects. Before
legislators can take the next step, they need to know how
the existing laws work. SB 821 provides the descriptive
foundation for future discussions.
2. Asking the right questions . In a semi-arid state with
a growing population and an expanding economy, it only
makes sense to know where the water is coming from before
approving more residential, commercial, and industrial
development projects. By telling the California Research
Bureau to produce a report, legislators may have enough
information in time to consider statutory changes next
summer. The Committee may wish to consider if legislators
need more information than the nine topics listed in SB
821. If so, now is the time to add more items to CRB's
assignment.
3. Legislative history . When the Senate Local Government
Committee heard SB 821 on April 18, the bill would have
extended the existing statutory requirements to smaller
subdivisions and nonresidential projects. In response to
the testimony and legislators' comments, the April 23
amendments converted the bill into a requirement for a
detailed study.
Support and Opposition (4/19/07)
Support : Planning and Conservation League.
Opposition : California Building Industry Association,
California Chamber of Commerce.