BILL NUMBER: AB 2304 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Eng and Ruskin)
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 10752, 10753.5, and 10753.7 of the Water
Code, relating to groundwater.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2304, as amended, Huffman. Groundwater management plans:
components.
Existing law authorizes specified local agencies that provide
water service to adopt and implement a groundwater management plan.
Existing law requires a local agency that elects to develop a
groundwater management plan to hold a hearing prior to adopting a
resolution of intention to draft a plan and, after the plan is
prepared, to hold a second hearing to determine whether to adopt the
plan. Existing law requires the local agency to publish a specified
notice before each of these hearings.
This bill would require the local agency, upon written request,
to provide specified information relating to
a copy of the proposed groundwater management plan to an
interested person. The bill would require the local agency to provide
each of those interested persons with a specified notice at least 30
days prior to the commencement of the second hearing to determine
whether to adopt the plan. The bill would also authorize an
interested person to contact the Department of W ater
Resources for, and would also authorize the department to provide,
specified information relating to groundwater management plans.
Existing law requires a local agency seeking specified state funds
to include in a groundwater management plan various components,
including components relating to the monitoring and management of
groundwater levels within the groundwater basin.
This bill would add to the list of components that are required to
be included in a groundwater management plan for the specified
funding purposes a map identifying the recharge areas, as defined,
for the groundwater basin.
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. Section 10752 of the Water Code is amended to read:
10752. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this part:
(a) "Groundwater" means all water beneath the surface of the earth
within the zone below the water table in which the soil is
completely saturated with water, but does not include water which
flows in known and definite channels.
(b) "Groundwater basin" means any basin or subbasin identified in
the department's Bulletin No. 118, dated September 1975, and any
amendments to that bulletin, but does not include a basin in which
the average well yield, excluding domestic wells that supply water to
a single-unit dwelling, is less than 100 gallons per minute.
(c) "Groundwater extraction facility" means a device or method for
the extraction of groundwater within a groundwater basin.
(d) "Groundwater management plan" or "plan" means a document that
describes the activities intended to be included in a groundwater
management program.
(e) "Groundwater management program" or "program" means a
coordinated and ongoing activity undertaken for the benefit of a
groundwater basin, or a portion of a groundwater basin, pursuant to a
groundwater management plan adopted pursuant to this part.
(f) "Groundwater recharge" means the augmentation of groundwater,
by natural or artificial means, with surface water or recycled water.
(g) "Local agency" means a local public agency that provides water
service to all or a portion of its service area, and includes a
joint powers authority formed by local public agencies that provide
water service.
(h) "Recharge area" means the area that supplies water to an
aquifer in a groundwater basin and includes multiple wellhead
protection areas.
(i) "Watermaster" means a watermaster appointed by a court or
pursuant to other provisions of law.
(j) "Wellhead protection area" means the surface and subsurface
area surrounding a water well or well field that supplies a public
water system through which contaminants are reasonably likely to
migrate toward the water well or well field.
SEC. 2. Section 10753.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
10753.5. (a) After a groundwater management plan is prepared, the
local agency shall hold a second hearing to determine whether to
adopt the plan. Notice of the hearing shall be given pursuant to
Section 6066 of the Government Code. The notice shall include a
summary of the plan and shall state that copies of the plan may be
obtained for the cost of reproduction at the office of the local
agency.
(b) At the second hearing, the local agency shall consider
protests to the adoption of the plan. At any time prior to the
conclusion of the second hearing, any landowner within the local
agency may file a written protest or withdraw a protest previously
filed.
(c) (1) Upon receipt of a written request prior to the
commencement of the second hearing, the local agency shall provide an
interested person with information about a
copy of the proposed groundwater management plan and maps
identifying recharge areas that are prepared pursuant to this part.
(2) At least 30 days prior to the commencement of the second
hearing, the local agency shall provide notice of the date, time, and
place of the second hearing, either by mail or electronically, to
each interested person who requests information pursuant to paragraph
(1) prior to that date.
(3) An interested person may contact the department, either
directly or through its Internet Web site, to obtain information
regarding which local agency has jurisdiction to develop a
groundwater management plan or map in the area in which the person is
interested. The department may provide whatever information is
readily available to it, including information it has collected
pursuant to Section 10928, and may post that information on its
Internet Web site consistent with Section 10930.
SEC. 3. Section 10753.7 of the Water Code is amended to read:
10753.7. (a) For the purposes of qualifying as a groundwater
management plan under this section, a plan shall contain the
components that are set forth in this section. In addition to the
requirements of a specific funding program, a local agency seeking
state funds for the construction of groundwater projects or
groundwater quality projects, excluding programs that are funded
under Part 2.78 (commencing with Section 10795), shall do all of the
following:
(1) Prepare and implement a groundwater management plan that
includes basin management objectives for the groundwater basin that
is subject to the plan. The plan shall include components relating to
the monitoring and management of groundwater levels within the
groundwater basin, groundwater quality degradation, inelastic land
surface subsidence, and changes in surface flow and surface water
quality that directly affect groundwater levels or quality or are
caused by groundwater pumping in the basin.
(2) For purposes of implementing paragraph (1), the local agency
shall prepare a plan to involve other agencies that enables the local
agency to work cooperatively with other public entities whose
service area or boundary overlies the groundwater basin.
(3) For purposes of implementing paragraph (1), the local agency
shall prepare a map that details the area of the groundwater basin,
as defined in the department's Bulletin No. 118, and the area of the
local agency, that will be subject to the plan, as well as the
boundaries of other local agencies that overlie the basin in which
the agency is developing a groundwater management plan.
(4) (A) For purposes of implementing paragraph (1), the
groundwater management plan shall include a map identifying the
recharge areas for the groundwater basin.
(B) The local agency shall provide the map required pursuant to
subparagraph (A) to the appropriate local planning agencies after
adoption of the groundwater management plan.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph, "map identifying the recharge
areas" means a map that identifies, or maps that identify, the
current recharge areas that substantially contribute to the
replenishment of the groundwater basin. The map shall include a
description of how the recharge areas substantially contribute to the
replenishment of the groundwater basin.
(5) The local agency shall adopt monitoring protocols that are
designed to detect changes in groundwater levels, groundwater
quality, inelastic surface subsidence for basins for which subsidence
has been identified as a potential problem, and flow and quality of
surface water that directly affect groundwater levels or quality or
are caused by groundwater pumping in the basin. The monitoring
protocols shall be designed to generate information that promotes
efficient and effective groundwater management.
(6) Local agencies that are located in areas outside the
groundwater basins delineated on the latest edition of the department'
s groundwater basin and subbasin map shall prepare groundwater
management plans incorporating the components in this subdivision,
and shall use geologic and hydrologic principles appropriate to those
areas.
(b) (1) (A) A local agency may receive state funds for the
construction of groundwater projects or for other projects that
directly affect groundwater levels or quality if it prepares and
implements, participates in, or consents to be subject to, a
groundwater management plan, a basinwide management plan, or other
integrated regional water management program or plan that meets, or
is in the process of meeting, the requirements of subdivision (a). A
local agency with an existing groundwater management plan that meets
the requirements of subdivision (a), or a local agency that completes
an upgrade update of its plan to meet
the requirements of subdivision (a) within one year of applying for
funds, shall be given priority consideration for state funds
administered by the department over local agencies that are in the
process of developing a groundwater management plan. The department
shall withhold funds from the project until the upgrade
update of the groundwater management plan is
complete.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a local agency that manages
groundwater under any other provision of existing law that meets the
requirements of subdivision (a), or that completes an
upgrade update of its plan to meet the
requirements of subdivision (a) within one year of applying for
funding, shall be eligible for funding administered by the
department. The department shall withhold funds from a project until
the upgrade update of the groundwater
management plan is complete.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a local agency that conforms
to the requirements of an adjudication of water rights in the
groundwater basin is in compliance with subdivision (a). For purposes
of this subparagraph, an "adjudication" includes an adjudication
under Section 2101, an administrative adjudication, and an
adjudication in state or federal court.
(D) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) do not apply to proposals for
funding under Part 2.78 (commencing with Section 10795), or to funds
authorized or appropriated prior to September 1, 2002.
(E) A local agency may request state funds to map groundwater
recharge areas pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) to the
extent that the request for state funds is consistent with
eligibility requirements that are applicable to the use of the
requested funds.
(2) Upon the adoption of a groundwater management plan in
accordance with this part, the local agency shall submit a copy of
the plan to the department, in an electronic format, if practicable,
approved by the department. The department shall make available to
the public copies of the plan received pursuant to this part.