BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1774
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1774 (Saldana)
As Amended May 28, 2010
Majority vote
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 12-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Huffman, Fuller, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Ammiano, |
| |Anderson, Arambula, Tom | | |
| |Berryhill, Blumenfield, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Caballero, De La Torre, | |Calderon, Coto, |
| |Bill Berryhill, Bonnie | |Davis, Monning, Ruskin, |
| |Lowenthal, Salas, Yamada | |Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes the use of potable water for landscaping an
unreasonable use of water if recycled water is available and
allows public agencies to require the use of recycled water for
the irrigation of landscaping by a state agency. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes the existing declaration, that the use of potable water
for residential landscaping is unreasonable if recycled water
is available, applicable to landscaping generally.
2)Allows any public agency, including a state or local agency,
to require the use of recycled water for irrigation of
landscaping by a state agency if certain requirements are met,
including that the recycled water is available at equal or
less cost than potable water.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Recognizes the need to develop recycled water supplies to
supplement existing surface and groundwater supplies in order
to meet future state water needs.
AB 1774
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2)Declares the use of potable domestic water for nonpotable
uses, including cemeteries, golf courses, parks, highway
landscaped areas, and industrial and irrigation uses is an
unreasonable use of water if recycled water is available which
meets specified quality, cost, and health requirements.
3)Allows any public agency, including a state or local agency,
to require the use of recycled water for residential
landscaping if recycled water is available which meets
specified quality, cost, and health requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible costs if any.
COMMENTS : AB 331 (Goldberg), Chapter 590, Statutes of 2001,
requires the Department of Water Resources to convene a task
force to look at ways to increase the use of recycled water in
order to meet the Legislature's adopted goal of recycling one
million acre-feet by the year 2010. Their 2003 Report, Water
Recycling 2030: Recommendations of California's Recycled Water
Task Force, recognized that California has the ability to
recycle up to 1.5 million acre feet of water per year, yielding
about 1.2 million acre feet of new water.
SB 7 (Steinberg), Chapter 5, 7th Extraordinary Session, Statutes
of 2009, requires all agencies to reduce their potable water use
20% by 2020. Using recycled water for landscape irrigation can
be a relatively inexpensive means of conserving potable water
and could be an important part of reaching this goal.
As the author points out, the current statutory scheme requiring
state agencies to increase their use of recycled water has not
succeeded despite the fact that state agencies, in some areas,
can be using the largest amounts of water. In San Diego, for
example, Caltrans is a major water user and most of that use is
for irrigation needs on approximately 3,000 acres of landscaping
along roads and highways. The author concludes that given the
considerable amount of landscaping irrigated by state agencies,
this bill could result in significant potable water savings.
This bill has no formal opposition.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
AB 1774
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319-2096
FN: 0004730