BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 565
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 565 (Monning)
As Amended September 1, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |58-19|(May 31, 2011) |SENATE: |31-3 |(September 7, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy)
to award a grant not to exceed $25 million to a for-profit
entity to accomplish removal or alteration of the San Clemente
Dam if the Conservancy finds that the project is of regional or
statewide significance and that a grant to a public agency or
nonprofit organization would not achieve removal or alteration
of the dam.
The Senate amendments restrict the total expenditures of state
funds for the removal or alteration of the San Clemente Dam and
related activities to $25 million.
EXISTING LAW : Authorizes the Conservancy to undertake or award
grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for
projects related to coastal watershed and coastal and marine
habitat water quality, sediment management, and living marine
resources protection and restoration.
FISCAL EFFECT : The Senate Appropriations Committee analyzed a
version of the bill that included an $18 million limit on the
grant issued by the Conservancy. According to the Senate
Appropriation Committee, the bill had costs not to exceed $18
million in various general obligation bond funds and $7 million
in federal monies. Since the bill was amended to increase the
$18 million limit to $25 million, the bill now has costs not to
exceed $25 million in various general obligation funds and $7
million in federal monies.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill authorized the Conservancy
to award a grant to a for-profit entity to accomplish removal or
alteration of the San Clemente Dam if the Conservancy finds that
the project is of regional or statewide significance and that a
grant to a public agency or nonprofit organization would not
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achieve removal or alteration of the dam.
COMMENTS : According to documents on the Conservancy's Web site,
the San Clemente Dam is a 90 year old, 106-foot high concrete
dam located approximately 18.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean on
the Carmel River. California American Water (CAW), a for-profit
company, owns and operates the dam. Currently, the reservoir is
over 90% filled with sediment and is no longer useful for
supplying water to the Monterey Peninsula's population.
In the early 1990s, the Division of the Safety of Dams in the
Department of Water Resources issued a safety order determining
that the San Clemente Dam structure could potentially fail in
the event of either the maximum credible earthquake or probable
maximum flood. The public safety risk posed by the dam
currently threatens 1,500 homes and other buildings. If the dam
were to fail, 2.1 million cubic yards of sediment and over 40
million gallons of water would rush downstream, giving residents
little time to evacuate.
According to the Planning and Conservation League, the San
Clemente Dam is also a barrier to threatened steelhead trout,
which have significant natural spawning habitat and natural
rearing habitat located above the dam. A steep 85-foot fish
ladder prevents many of the fish from accessing these critical
upstream areas and steelhead numbers have suffered as a result.
CAW's least costly option to address the safety issues with the
San Clemente Dam is to buttress the dam-a cost of approximately
$49 million. A draft Environmental Impact Report highlighted
four alternatives to buttressing, including the rerouting of the
Carmel River and removal of the dam. This alternative would
provide a solution to the dam safety issues while also
benefiting the environment by, for example, providing unimpaired
access for steelhead trout to over 25 miles of spawning and
rearing habitat.
The Conservancy, CAW, and the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) have outlined key elements of the implementation strategy
for the river reroute and dam removal project. Under this
strategy, the Conservancy and CAW would manage project planning
and design; the Conservancy, with assistance of NMFS, would
coordinate with the regulatory agencies to secure all permits
and expeditious approval of the project; CAW would manage the
project construction; and, upon completion of the project, CAW
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would transfer the project area lands, approximately 928 acres,
to a public entity or non-profit organization for watershed
conservation and compatible public access.
The total project cost is currently estimated at $83 million,
which factors in a 25% contingency and other costs. The
implementation agreement would have CAW pay $49 million, which
is the amount equivalent to buttressing the dam. The
Conservancy, with assistance from NMFS, is working to secure the
additional $34 million from federal, state, and private
foundation sources.
The Conservancy has the authority under existing law to make
grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for
projects that restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat
within coastal watersheds. A grant for the rerouting of the
Carmel River and removal of the San Clemente Dam would be an
ideal project for the Conservancy's grant program because of the
significance it would have on the protection and restoration of
steelhead trout habitat. However, since existing law only
authorizes the Conservancy to make grants to public agencies and
nonprofit organizations, and since CAW, a for-profit
corporation, will be managing the construction of the project,
the Conservancy cannot award grant funds to CAW. Without a
Conservancy grant, the project would likely not happen-- the dam
would remain in place, the steelhead trout protection and
restoration project plans would not be implemented, and the
public would not receive the 928 acres of project land for
conservation and public access.
This bill authorizes the Conservancy to award a grant to a
for-profit entity to accomplish removal or alteration of a dam.
With this authorization, the Conservancy can grant funds to CAW
and ultimately improve the coastal watershed in the Monterey
region.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0002683
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