BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 565
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 565 (Monning) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the State Coastal Conservancy to award a
grant to the for-profit company, California American Water
(CAW), for removal or alteration of the San Clemente Dam on the
Carmel River.
FISCAL EFFECT
Expands, in a limited instance, the conservancy's grant-making
authority, which may result in grants to CAW totaling in the
millions of dollars. (Special fund or bond funds.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author, citing conservancy documents and other
resources, describes CAW's San Clemente Dam and reservoir as
filled with sediment, not useful as a water supply, and a
potential safety risk in the case of a moderately severe
earthquake. The author contends CAW has several options to
remedy these problems. However, the author describes only one
option-dam removal and/or alteration-as providing substantial
public benefits, including restoration of habitat for the
endangered steelhead trout. The author notes that current law
allows the conservancy to make grants to public agencies and
nonprofit entities. The author contends that, because CAW
will manage any project to remove or alter the San Clemente
Dam, it is appropriate to make an exception, in this limited
case, to allow the conservancy to make a grant to a specific
for-profit entity to ensure realization of public benefits
that would otherwise not occur.
AB 565
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2)Background . The San Clemente Dam is a 90-year-old, 106-foot
high concrete dam on the Carmel River owned and operated by
the for-profit CAW. The policy committee analysis describes
the reservoir as being over 90 % filled with sediment, no
longer useful for supplying water, and identified by the
Department of Water Resources as potentially unstable in an
earthquake of a magnitude likely to occur in region where the
dam is located. The policy committee analysis also cites the
Planning and Conservation League's description of the dam as a
barrier to threatened steelhead trout.
CAW has several options to resolve the problems with the San
Clemente Dam. The least costly option is to buttress the dam
at a cost of approximately $49 million, which would provide no
opportunity for habitat restoration. A more expensive option,
costing roughly $83 million, is to reroute the Carmel River
and remove the existing dam, which would also provide
environmental benefits.
Despite the public benefits that would result from dam
removal, the conservancy is unable to make a grant to CAW to
cover the additional costs of the more expensive dam removal
project. This is because existing law allows the conservancy
to make grants only to public agencies and nonprofits. The
conservancy reports that, absent the grant, CAW likely will
not undertake the dam removal project.
3)Support. This bill is supported by the Monterey County Board
of Supervisors, the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy and the
Planning and Conservation League.
4)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081