BILL NUMBER: AB 25	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gilmore

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act to relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 25, as introduced, Gilmore. Surface water storage.
   Existing law, the California Bay-Delta Authority Act, establishes
in the Resources Agency the California Bay-Delta Authority. The act
requires the authority and the implementing agencies to carry out
programs, projects, and activities necessary to implement the
Bay-Delta Program, defined to mean those projects, programs,
commitments, and other actions that address the goals and objectives
of the CALFED Bay-Delta Programmatic Record of Decision, dated August
28, 2000, or as it may be amended. Pursuant to the act, the
Department of Water Resources and the United States Bureau of
Reclamation are the implementing agencies for the water supply
reliability, storage, and conveyance elements of the program.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the
department complete, by the earliest possible date, the necessary
environmental documentation for the surface water storage projects
identified in the Programmatic Record of Decision in order to
expedite the construction of vitally needed surface water storage.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Safeguarding existing and creating new supplies of water for
California's homes, businesses, and farms is an essential
responsibility of government and critical to maintaining California's
strong economy and protecting the quality of life for Californians.
   (b) While water conservation measures and using recycled water are
both useful tools to increase the efficiency with which we use our
existing water supplies, we must use all of the tools in our
portfolio to increase our ability to capture water during wet seasons
for use in dry seasons.
   (c) Recent court decisions limiting the amount of water that may
be pumped from the Delta to destinations in the central valley and
southern California, have had a devastating impact on the
agricultural industry of the state and contribute to potential water
rationing in urban areas. To offset these impacts, the state has no
choice but to increase its investment in water storage facilities and
water delivery infrastructure.
   (d) Surface storage facilities are valuable water management tools
that not only provide flood protection, but also allow the state to
capture water in wet years and store it for use in dry years, in
keeping with Department of Water Resources projections of continued
loss of natural snowpack.
   (e) The surface storage projects identified in the CALFED
Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision have the added benefit of being
able to supply water for environmental purposes, which will help
offset the urban and agricultural water supply losses caused by the
environmental diversion mandates.
   (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Water Resources complete the necessary environmental documentation
for the surface storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta
Programmatic Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000, by the
earliest possible date, in order to expedite the construction of
vitally needed surface water storage for California.