BILL NUMBER: AB 1200 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add and repeal Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section
13590) of Division 7 of the Water Code, relating to recycled water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1200, as amended, Levine. Recycled water: agricultural
irrigation impoundments: pilot project.
Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board
and the California regional water quality control boards as the
principal state agencies with authority over matters relating to
water quality.
This bill would, before October 1, 2014, require the San Francisco
Bay Regional Water Quality Board to authorize a voluntary pilot
project for the purposes of investigating potential water quality
impacts associated with maximizing the supplementation of
agricultural irrigation impoundments with disinfected tertiary
treated recycled water, if the regional board finds that the proposed
pilot project satisfies specified criteria. This bill would require
the pilot project to include a stakeholder advisory group, composed
as prescribed, to review and provide input on pilot project design,
implementation, and data analysis. This bill would require a
prescribed final report to be issued to the San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board and the state board, as
specified. This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1,
2018.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California faces increasing demands on its freshwater
resources. These demands are compounded by a growing state
population, limited groundwater and surface water supplies, increased
ecosystem conflicts, and a changing climate.
(b) Water recycling represents a tremendous opportunity to
increase California's water supply and to overcome the growing water
resource challenges that threaten continued economic, ecosystem, and
community prosperity.
(c) Recognizing the opportunity presented by water recycling, the
State Water Resources Control Board adopted a recycled water policy
in 2009 that mandates an increase in annual recycled water use by
200,000 acre-feet by 2020. The board also adopted a goal of
increasing the use of recycled water over 2002 levels by one million
acre-feet per year by 2020.
(d) Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District in the County of
Sonoma produces an average of 3.5 million gallons of tertiary
recycled water daily, much of which is produced in the winter months
and discharged to a tributary to San Pablo Bay.
(e) The Napa Sanitation District in the County of Napa produces
612 million gallons annually of tertiary treated recycled water.
(f) In order to maximize the beneficial use of this resource in
the Counties of Napa and Sonoma and in order to help inform future
regulatory frameworks for the use of recycled water across
California, it is in the state's interest to promote pilot projects
intended to quantify the impacts and benefits of innovative recycled
water projects.
SEC. 2. Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section 13590) is added to
Division 7 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER 7.7. AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION IMPOUNDMENTS PILOT
PROJECT
13590. Before October 1, 2014, the San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Quality Control Board shall authorize a voluntary pilot project
for the purposes of investigating potential water quality impacts
and water supply benefits associated with maximizing the
supplementation of agricultural irrigation impoundments with
disinfected tertiary treated recycled water, if the San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board finds that the proposed pilot
project satisfies all of the following criteria:
(a) The pilot project is consistent with any applicable waste
discharge requirements.
(a)
( b) The pilot project is designed to
measure, analyze, and report water quality data collected upstream
and downstream of agricultural irrigation impoundments before,
during, and following at least five storm events that result in the
release of commingled disinfected tertiary recycled water and surface
water runoff from up to four agricultural irrigation impoundments
into waters of the state.
(b)
( c) The pilot project includes a process
for selecting up to four existing agricultural irrigation
impoundments within the Counties of Napa and Sonoma for the purposes
of the pilot project. A selected agricultural irrigation impoundment
shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Have existed prior to January 1, 2013.
(2) Be not more than 200 acre-feet in volume.
(3) Be within a primarily agricultural region that currently
receives disinfected tertiary treated recycled water, consistent with
any waste discharge requirements, for the purposes of discharge,
agricultural irrigation, and ecosystem restoration.
(c)
( d) The pilot project is designed to
measure, analyze, and report at least the following water quality and
environmental parameters:
(1) Constituents addressed by total maximum daily loads completed
for the San Francisco Bay, Napa River watershed, and the Sonoma Creek
watershed, including, but not limited to, mercury, Polychlorinated
biphenyls, pathogens, nutrients, and selenium.
(2) Constituents associated with municipal recycled water,
including, but not limited to, total suspended solids, total ammonia,
copper, pH, temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, total chlorine
residual, copper, nickel, and cyanide.
(d)
( e) The pilot project incorporates a
stakeholder advisory group to review and provide input on pilot
project design, implementation, and data analysis, and consists of
the following membership:
(1) One representative from each of three nongovernmental
organizations focused on San Francisco Bay region water quality and
habitat issues.
(2) One representative from a regional agricultural organization.
(3) Two private landowners.
(4) A representative from the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation
District.
(5) A representative from the Napa Sanitation District.
(6) A representative from the Sonoma County Water Agency.
(7) A representative from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Control Board.
(e)
( f) The pilot project will include an
analysis of local water management implications associated with
increasing the use of recycled water for agricultural irrigation
impoundments, including, but not limited to, reduced reliance on
surface and groundwater resources, reduced ecosystem conflicts, and
increased local resilience to climate change.
(f)
( g) The proposed pilot project identifies
all costs associated with the pilot project and project proponents
will have secured funding, such as local funds and state bond funds,
prior to pilot project implementation.
13591. (a) Within 12 months of final data collection pursuant to
the pilot project authorized in Section 13590, data shall be analyzed
and compiled and a draft report shall be made available for
stakeholder advisory group review.
(b) A final report shall be issued to the San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board and the state board within three
months of the release of the draft report pursuant to subdivision
(a) and shall include consideration of comments made by the
stakeholder advisory group.
13592. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends
that date.