BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2304
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 2304 (Huffman) - As Amended: May 3, 2010
SUBJECT : Groundwater management plans: components.
SUMMARY : 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 and potential threats to
those areas that have been identified in a groundwater
management plan adopted by a local agency or in other
groundwater management documents. 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 and potential threats to those areas
that have been identified in a groundwater management plan
adopted by a local agency or in other groundwater management
documents.
3)Requires a local agency to have a qualifying groundwater
management plan in order to be eligible for state funding for
the construction of groundwater projects or groundwater
quality projects.
4)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 groundwater.
5)Requires a local agency to provide the map of prime recharge
areas and the list of potential threats to groundwater
replenishment to the local planning agency.
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6)Authorizes a groundwater management plan to include components
relating to coordination with local planning agencies to
develop and implement land use strategies that protect prime
recharge areas.
7)Requires a local agency to update its groundwater management
plan at least once every five years on or before December 31,
in years ending in zero and five.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, prior to legislative body to adopting or
substantially amending a general plan, the planning agency to
submit copies of such plans to a public water system, as
defined, with 3,000 or more service connections, that serves
water to customers within the area covered by the proposal.
2)Provides that the public water system shall have at least 45
days to comment on the proposed plan and to provide the
planning agency with specified information.
3)Requires a public water system to provide a planning agency
with the following information, as is appropriate and
relevant:
a) The current version of its urban water management;
b) The current version of its capital improvement program
or plan;
c) A description of the source or sources of the total
water supply currently available to the water supplier by
water right or contract, taking into account historical
data concerning wet, normal, and dry runoff years;
d) A description of the quantity of surface water that was
purveyed by the water supplier in each of the previous five
years;
e) A description of the quantity of groundwater that was
purveyed by the water supplier in each of the previous five
years;
f) A description of all proposed additional sources of
water supplies for the water supplier, including the
estimated dates by which these additional sources should be
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available and the quantities of additional water supplies
that are being proposed;
g) A description of the total number of customers currently
served by the water supplier,
as identified by the following categories and by the amount
of water served to each category:
i) Agricultural users;
ii) Commercial users;
iii) Industrial users; and,
iv) Residential users;
h) Quantification of the expected reduction in total water
demand, identified by each customer category, associated
with future implementation of water use reduction measures
identified in the water supplier's urban water management
plan; and,
i) Any additional information that is relevant to
determining the adequacy of existing and planned future
water supplies to meet existing and planned future demands
on these water supplies.
4)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.
5)Requires a groundwater plan to contain components related to
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).
6)Allows a groundwater plan to voluntarily contain additional
listed components.
7)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.
8)Makes entities managing groundwater, including local agencies
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that are monitoring groundwater pursuant to a groundwater
management plan, eligible for state water grants and loans.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)According to the author's office, 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.
2)According to the author's office, the purpose of AB 2304 is to
increase the protection of prime groundwater recharge areas in
order to better manage and protect our groundwater supplies.
There is currently no mapping system in California which
identifies the state's prime groundwater recharge areas.
Without this information the ability to effectively protect
and manage a groundwater basin is seriously limited.
3)Support Arguments : 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." Supporters, including the California Groundwater
Coalition, state that "identifying and mapping prime recharge
areas is an important first step toward protecting and
maintaining prime recharge areas so that an important source
of water can be supplied." These tasks are in fact critical
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steps ensuring that adequate, clean water is supplied to the
underlying groundwater basins.
Opposition Arguments : The opposition, including the
California Building Industry Association, argues that their
"industries are keenly aware of the need to expand groundwater
recharge opportunities. However, with increasing regulatory
restrictions on traditional water supplies, it is important to
develop water solutions that increase water reliability but do
not unnecessarily lead to land use restrictions that may
stymie critically needed economic development activities in
California." Opposition argues introducing several new terms
and definitions to the water code, including "prime recharge
areas", "potential threat", and "principal contributor" to the
replenishment of groundwater basin, may lead to confusion and
inconsistency in groundwater management plans.
4)This bill was heard by the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee
on April 27, 2010, where it passed with a 7-3 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Groundwater Coalition [CO-SPONSOR]
Groundwater Resources Association of CA [CO-SPONSOR]
CA Coastkeeper Alliance
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sierra Club CA
Sonoma County
Opposition
CA Building Industry Association (unless amended)
CA Chamber of Commerce (unless amended)
CA Cattlemen's Association (unless amended)
CA Farm Bureau Federation (unless amended)
Western Growers Association (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958