BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 561
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 13, 2011

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                                Cameron Smyth, Chair
                     AB 561 (Gorell) - As Amended:  April 4, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :  Ventura County Watershed Protection District: 
          indebtedness. 

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the Ventura County Watershed Protection 
          District (District) to borrow money and incur indebtedness to 
          finance the construction and reconstruction of District 
          facilities and specifies that each loan incurred shall be 
          authorized by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of the 
          board of supervisors.

           EXISTING LAW  establishes the District and gives the District 
          various powers including the power to incur indebtedness and to 
          issue bonds. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :   

          1)Existing law establishes the Ventura County Watershed 
            Protection District.  The purposes of the District are to 
            provide flood control within the District and to provide 
            protection against flood water that originates outside the 
            District but flows into the District.  The District is also 
            authorized to conserve flood water for beneficial use.  The 
            District may capture flood water for groundwater recharge.  
            The District may also conserve flood water in any manner that 
            protects life and property.

          2)Since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Federal Emergency 
            Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have 
            embarked on a comprehensive evaluation of flood control 
            infrastructure on a national, state-wide, and local level.  
            Through this joint technical assessment and re-evaluation 
            process with our federal partners, the District has identified 
            more than $200 million of flood protection capital projects 
            which need to be designed and built to protect more than $8 
            billion of property and improvements in Ventura County alone.  
            Flooding in Ventura County adversely affects thousands of 
            residents and disrupts major regional transportation 








                                                                  AB 561
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            corridors, hindering the vitality and growth of our 
            communities.

            Currently the District, like many other agencies, does not 
            have the revenues in hand to move forward with many of the 
            identified critical infrastructure improvements.  Based on the 
            current language of the District Act, it appears to provide 
            the District Board the discretion to incur debt only after the 
            existence of an emergency is declared.  The District Board 
            needs the ability to leverage current revenues through 
            borrowing to re-construct its flood control facilities to 
            proactively prevent damage; not wait until the damage has 
            occurred which increases the cost of reconstruction and unduly 
            burdens taxpaying constituents.  

            In January of 2009, the National Committee on Levee Safety 
            issued a draft report which recommended establishing the 
            National Levee Rehabilitation, Improvement, and Flood 
            Mitigation Fund to aid in the rehabilitation, improvement or 
            removal of deficient levees.  


            Although the National Committee did not define the mechanism 
            to be used to provide this aid, a portion of this aid could be 
            set up as a revolving loan program.  The District needs the 
            ability to react quickly to apply for state and federal 
            borrowing opportunities which may provide low and no interest 
            loans for levee rehabilitation work, further leveraging 
            existing revenues.

          3)Support arguments:  Supporters argue that having clear 
            discretion to incur indebtedness to prevent flood damages from 
            occurring is the best way to provide flood protection sooner 
            than later.  

            Opposition arguments:  Opposition could argue that the 
            District's enabling Act already allows for the District to 
            incur indebtedness and that the provisions of this measure are 
            not necessary. 

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 

          Calleguas Municipal Water District








                                                                  AB 561
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          Ventura County Board of Supervisors  
           
           Opposition 
           
          None on file 
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916) 
          319-3958