BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2304
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared William Huffman, Chair
AB 2304 (Huffman) - As Amended: April 6, 2010
SUBJECT : Groundwater management plans
SUMMARY : Adds protection of priority groundwater recharge
areas to the components which may be included in groundwater
management plans. Specifically, this bill:
1) Defines prime groundwater recharge areas as areas where the
surface topography, subsurface geologic composition and
structures, and rates of water infiltration render the area a
principal contributor to the replenishment of the groundwater
basin, either under natural conditions, artificially
augmented groundwater recharge, or both.
2) Requires a public water system with 3,000 or more service
connections to provide a city or county which is proposing to
adopt or substantially amend a general plan with a
description of prime recharge areas, as appropriate and
relevant.
3) Requires a local agency to include a map of prime recharge
areas in its groundwater management plan and an
identification of any potential threats to the capability of
the prime recharge areas to continue to replenish
high-quality groundwater due to future changes in land use,
urban development, or instream flow modifications.
4) Allows a local agency to include, as a groundwater
management plan component, coordination with local planning
agencies to develop and implement land use strategies that
protect prime recharge areas.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Encourages local agencies to work cooperatively to manage
groundwater resources within their jurisdictions and, if not
otherwise required by law, to voluntarily adopt groundwater
management plans.
2)Requires a groundwater plan contain components related to
AB 2304
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funding, management, and monitoring in order for a local
agency to be eligible for groundwater project funds
administered by the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
3)Allows a groundwater plan to voluntarily contain additional
listed components.
4)Requires all of the groundwater basins identified in DWR's
Bulletin 118 to be regularly and systematically monitored and
the information to be readily and widely available.
5)Makes entities managing groundwater, including local agencies
that are monitoring groundwater pursuant to a groundwater
management plan, eligible for state water grants and loans.
FISCAL EFFECT : Nonfiscal
COMMENTS : Groundwater is one of California's most important
natural resources and our reliance on it continues to grow.
Periodically, DWR produces a report on California's groundwater
entitled Bulletin 118. In the most recent version of Bulletin
118, produced in 2003, California was not only the single
largest user of groundwater in the nation, extracting 14.5
million acre-feet annually, but that use represented 20% of all
the groundwater extracted in the entire United States.
Protecting the quality, quantity, and sustainability of
groundwater is critical. Bulletin 118 estimated that 43% of all
Californians obtain their drinking water from groundwater. Yet,
despite California's heavy reliance on groundwater, basic
information for many of the groundwater basins is lacking.
Bulletin 118 highlighted the need for water managers and local
land use planners to identify groundwater recharge areas and
protect them from paving and contamination in order to ensure
they could continue to replenish high quality groundwater.
Supporters of this bill feel it takes modest but important steps
and will "provide for increased coordination and consultation
between California's water supply agencies and land use approval
agencies and the protection of prime recharge areas in
California's groundwater basins."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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California Groundwater Coalition (Sponsor)
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Sierra Club of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096