BILL NUMBER: AB 1834 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Solorio
FEBRUARY 12, 2010
An act to add Section 10540.1 to the Water Code, relating
to stormwater. An act to add Part 2.4 (commencing
with Section 10570) to Division 6 of the Water Code, relating to
water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1834, as amended, Solorio. Regional water management:
stormwater. Rainwater Capture Act of 2010.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and
the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste
discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater in accordance
with the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES)
permit program and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
Existing law authorizes a regional water management group, as
defined, to adopt an integrated regional water management plan that
addresses specified matters. Existing law authorizes a city, county,
or special district to develop, jointly or individually, stormwater
resource plans that meet certain standards.
This bill would enact the Rainwater Capture Act of 2010, which
would authorize a landowner to install, maintain, and operate, on the
landowner's property, a rainwater capture system meeting specified
requirements. The bill would require the State Water Resources
Control Board to initiate a stakeholder process to develop guidelines
for local agencies to address issues arising out of rainwater
capture for nonpotable uses, and would require the board to submit
recommendations as to the appropriate guidelines to the Legislature
and the Governor by December 31, 2011.
The Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Act of 2002
authorizes a regional water management group to prepare a regional
plan for the implementation or operation of specified qualified
projects or programs relating to water supply, water quality, flood
protection, or related matters. A regional water management group is
authorized to coordinate its planning activities to address or
incorporate specified activities, including, among others, stormwater
resource planning into its plan.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would encourage California water agencies that
develop integrated regional water management plans retain as much
stormwater runoff as reasonably possible to fulfill the water supply
needs of their communities and reduce downstream water quality
problems and that would require the costs of stormwater retention
projects be borne equitably by all those who benefit from those
projects.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 2.4 (commencing with Section
10570) is added to Division 6 of the Water Code
, to read:
PART 2.4. Rainwater Capture Act of 2010
10570. This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Rainwater Capture Act of 2010.
10571. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) As California has grown and developed, the amount of
stormwater flowing off impervious surfaces into surface water streams
and flood channels has increased, thereby reducing water allowed to
infiltrate into groundwater aquifers and increasing water flowing to
the ocean.
(b) Historical patterns of precipitation are predicted to change
and an increasing amount of California's water is predicted to fall
not as snow in the mountains, but as rain in other areas of the
state. This will likely have a profound and transforming effect on
California's hydrologic cycle and much of that water will no longer
be captured by California's reservoirs, many of which are located to
capture snow melt.
(c) Rainwater, captured and properly managed, can contribute
significantly to local water supplies through onsite storage and use,
or percolation into the ground to recharge groundwater aquifers,
thereby increasing available supplies of drinking water.
(d) Expanding reliance on rainwater capture for water supply needs
will require efforts at all levels, from individual landowners to
local agencies and watershed managers.
10572. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this part:
(a) "Rainwater" means rain or snow that has not entered an
off-site drainage system, stormwater facility, or other stream
channel, and has not previously been put to beneficial use.
(b) "Rainwater capture system" means a facility designed to
capture and retain rainwater for either subsequent outdoor
landscaping uses or infiltration into a groundwater aquifer on or
under the property where the rainwater was captured.
(c) "Stormwater" means temporary water flows generated by
immediately preceding storms that flow in natural or artificial
channels designed to divert excess water away from urban areas.
10573. (a) A landowner may install, maintain, and operate, on the
landowner's property, a rainwater capture system connected to
artificial, impervious surfaces that prevent natural groundwater
recharge. If a local agency has a program to promote rainwater or
stormwater capture and use, the landowner shall comply with
applicable requirements of the program, including, but not limited
to, a stormwater resource plan adopted pursuant to Part 2.3
(commencing with Section 10560).
(b) Financing pursuant to Chapter 29 (commencing with Section
5898.10) of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Streets and Highways Code
shall be available to landowners who install a rainwater capture
system, if a local agency authorizes and arranges that financing
consistent with the requirements of that chapter.
10574. A state or local agency shall not impose requirements on
rainwater capture systems, or rainwater capture use, for landscaping
purposes that include water quality requirements that are the same as
those imposed for use as potable water.
10575. It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
collaboration among regional and local agencies with responsibilities
for flood protection, water supply, or land use to promote greater
capture of rainwater and stormwater for water supply purposes.
10576. (a) The board shall initiate a stakeholder process to
develop guidelines for local agencies to address issues arising out
of rainwater capture for nonpotable uses, including, but not limited
to, all of the following:
(1) Vector control.
(2) Water quality.
(3) Safe installation, maintenance, and operation of rainwater
capture systems.
(4) Water rights.
(5) Vegetation and habitat management in flood facilities and
rainwater capture systems.
(b) The board shall invite all stakeholders and agencies concerned
about rainwater and stormwater capture to participate in the process
described in subdivision (a). The board shall invite local,
regional, state, and federal agencies, including, but not limited to,
the Department of Water Resources and the United States Army Corps
of Engineers. The board may appoint a local agency or another state
agency to lead the stakeholder process if that agency can provide
funding for the process, but the board shall retain responsibility
for the outcome of the process.
(c) The board shall submit recommendations, arising out of the
stakeholder process described in subdivision (a), as to the
appropriate guidelines for rainwater capture for nonpotable uses, to
the Legislature and the Governor by December 31, 2011. These
recommendations may include recommendations for additional
legislation, including amendments to this part, or other state agency
actions to implement the guidelines.
(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (c) is inoperative on January 1, 2015, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 10540.1 is added to the
Water Code, to read:
10540.1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would encourage California water agencies that develop
integrated regional water management plans to retain as much
stormwater runoff as reasonably possible to fulfill the water supply
needs of their communities and reduce downstream water quality
problems. It also is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to require that the costs of stormwater retention
projects be borne equitably by all those who benefit from those
projects.