BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
458 (Wolk)
Hearing Date: 05/11/2009 Amended: 04/2/2009
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: NR&W, 7-3
SB 458 (Wolk)
Page 2
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: SB 458 would establish a new conservancy in state
government, with jurisdiction limited to the Sacramento/San
Joaquin River Delta.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Annual staff costs Up to $15,000 per year Special
*
Developing a strategic plan Up to $150Special
*
Making grants and acquiring Potentially in the hundreds of
millions Special *
property
* New special fund. Source of revenues for the new fund are
unknown.
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense file.
During its 2005-2006 Regular Session, the Legislature passed and
the Governor signed AB1200 (Laird), SB1574 (Kuehl), and AB1803
(Committee on Budget). Together, these bills required an
assessment of the potential impacts on water supplies of
catastrophic failures in the Delta, identification and
evaluation of options to protect water supplies and the
ecosystem of the Delta, the development of a vision for a
sustainable Delta, and a strategic plan to achieve a sustainable
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Additionally, SB 1574 created a
Delta Vision Committee to develop the vision and strategic plan.
On September 28, 2006, the Governor issued an Executive Order
that, among other things, established a Blue Ribbon Task Force
and directed it to develop a vision for the sustainable
management of the Delta.
SB 458 (Wolk)
Page 2
In October 2008, the Blue Ribbon Task Force published its Delta
Vision Strategic Plan. According to the plan, in order to
achieve a healthy Delta and a more reliable water system for
Californians, policy makers must:
Legally acknowledge the co-equal goals of restoring the Delta
ecosystem and creating a more reliable water supply for
California.
Recognize and enhance the unique cultural, recreational, and
agricultural values of the California Delta as an evolving
place, an action critical to achieving the co-equal goals.
Restore the Delta ecosystem as the heart of a healthy estuary.
Promote statewide water conservation, efficiency, and
sustainable use.
Build facilities to improve the existing water conveyance
system and expand statewide storage, and operate both to
achieve the co-equal goals.
Reduce risks to people, property, and state interests in the
Delta by effective emergency preparedness, appropriate land
uses, and strategic levee investments.
Establish a new governance structure with the authority,
responsibility, accountability, science support, and secure
funding to achieve these goals.
The report of the Blue Ribbon Task force can be considered a
starting point for several bills under consideration by this
committee relating to the Delta.
This bill would establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Conservancy in state government. The purpose of the Conservancy
would be to support efforts that advance both environmental
protection and the economic well-being of Delta residents. The
Conservancy would be governed by a board of eleven voting
members and four non-voting members. Because the scope of
activities that would be undertaken by the Conservancy are
unknown, costs to operate the Conservancy can not be determined.
Staff notes that the State Coastal Conservancy, an existing body
with a substantial geographic jurisdiction and complex
regulatory issues has an ongoing budget for staff and operations
of more than $11 million per year.
The bill would authorize the Conservancy to provide grants and
loans to various entities and authorize it to acquire property
from willing sellers. The bill creates a new special fund for
these purposes, but does not specify a revenue source for the
SB 458 (Wolk)
Page 2
fund. Staff notes that the CalFed program has spent over $570
million over the past decade on programs relating to ecosystem
restoration in the Delta. While the scope of activities
authorized under this bill is unknown, efforts to protect
environmental attributes of the Delta in the past have proved
very costly.
The Conservancy would be required to develop a strategic plan
that would be consistent with Resource Management Plan developed
by the Delta Protection Commission and the Central Valley Flood
Protection Plan.
Staff notes that this bill is one of several bills relating to
the Delta that will be before this committee, including SB 12
(Simitian), SB 229 (Pavley), and SB 457 (Wolk).