BILL NUMBER: SCR 43	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 28, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Huff, Cogdill, Harman, and Strickland
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Conway, Gilmore, Harkey, Ma,
Nestande, Niello, and Silva)

                        MAY 6, 2009

   Relative to California Water Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 43, as amended, Huff. California Water Awareness Month.
   This  bill  measure  would proclaim May
2009 as California Water Awareness Month, and encourage all
Californians to participate in a statewide campaign that focuses on
educating Californians about the value of water in everyday life.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, California's 37 million residents and its agricultural,
industrial, commercial, and recreational industries rely on the
availability of water to support beneficial uses of water; and
   WHEREAS, California's hydrologic and geographic diversity requires
the implementation of multiple strategies to ensure adequate, timely
supplies of water throughout the state; and
   WHEREAS, Snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada has historically
yielded 18.5 million acre-feet of California's average annual runoff
that benefits riparian species and habitat, as well as the state's
urban and agricultural users, and yet is a limited resource; and
   WHEREAS, The Colorado River has historically supplied water to
about 20 million water users throughout southern California, but
provides uncertain reliability; and
   WHEREAS, Groundwater reserves provide vital flexibility to water
users throughout the state, and must be managed to maintain this
flexibility; and
   WHEREAS, The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a key natural
estuary and the pathway through which more than 25 million
Californians and 2.5 million acres of productive farmland receive
water, is in an ecological crisis that threatens people as well as
the environment; and
   WHEREAS, California is now in its third consecutive year of
drought; and
   WHEREAS, Much of California has a semiarid climate that provides
limited precipitation even in wet years, and further urgent action is
needed to address water shortages and to protect the people of, and
property in, California; and
   WHEREAS, The first step toward ensuring the availability of water
is to understand  from  the sources from which it
comes; and
   WHEREAS, There are many simple actions each Californian can take
to conserve water without an appreciable effect on their lives; and
   WHEREAS, At least 22 local water agencies throughout the state
have already implemented mandatory water conservation measures, and
61 local water agencies have implemented other water conservation
programs or restrictions on water deliveries, with many agencies
considering additional rationing and water supply reductions in 2009;
and
   WHEREAS, Many of California's water agencies have acted locally to
diversify their water portfolios and to implement water conservation
measures to ensure greater reliability of their supplies; and
   WHEREAS, The circumstances of the severe drought conditions, by
reason of their magnitude, are beyond the control of the services,
personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single county or city and
therefore require mutual and regional action; and
   WHEREAS, The Governor has directed the Department of Water
Resources, in partnership with other appropriate agencies, to launch
a statewide water conservation campaign calling for all Californians
to immediately decrease their water use; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims May 2009 as
California Water Awareness Month, and encourages all Californians to
participate in a statewide campaign that focuses on educating
Californians about the value of water in everyday life; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.