BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB1200
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1200
AUTHOR: Levine
AMENDED: May 22, 2013
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 26, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : RECYCLED WATER: AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION
IMPOUNDMENTS: PILOT PROJECT
SUMMARY :
Existing federal law , under the Clean Water Act (CWA), regulates
discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States and
sets quality standards for surface waters.
Existing California law :
1)Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, requires the State
Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the Regional Water
Quality Control Boards (regional boards) to enforce water
quality laws and regulations for the state's waterways.
2)Establishes the Water Recycling Act of 1991, creating a
statewide goal to recycle a total of 700,000 acre-feet of
water per year by 2000 and 1,000,000 acre-feet of water per
year by 2010.
3)Requires each urban water supplier to prepare, and update
every five years, an urban water management plan with
specified components, including information on recycled water
and its potential for use as a water source in the service
area of the urban water supplier.
This bill : Requires the San Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Control Board (SF Regional Board) to authorize a
five-year pilot project in Sonoma County that would study the
effects, if any, of allowing small agricultural irrigation ponds
containing recycled water to occasionally overflow during storm
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events into an area that is already irrigated by recycled water.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "Existing law
treats recycled water as a waste. Regional water quality
control boards issue permits with this in mind. The result
in Sonoma and Napa valleys, regulated under the San
Francisco Bay regional water quality control board, is that
storage is underutilized and use is not maximized. This is
a particularly poor use of resources because the use of
less recycled water means the use of more raw or
groundwater. The bill would allow for a pilot project that
examines from a scientific approach the effect of increased
storage in up to four small existing ponds.
The issue with current law is that the regional board does
not feel that they can move forward with allowing storage
until there is information about any impacts of recycled
water storage overflow. The regional board needs
information on the impacts of storage to approve storage,
but the only way to get the information on the impacts of
storage is to move forward with storage. This creates a
situation where it would be administratively possible to
move forward with a pilot project, but that administrative
possibility is not going to occur.
Recycled water is currently used in this watershed for
agricultural and habitat restoration. Recycled water that
is not used is discharged into the same watershed."
2) Recycled water . According to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), water recycling
is reusing treated waste water for beneficial purposes such
as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial
processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing a ground water
basin (ground water recharge). Water is sometimes recycled
and reused on site; for example, when an industrial
facility recycles water used for cooling processes. A
common type of recycled water is water that has been
reclaimed from municipal waste water, or sewage. The term
water recycling is generally used synonymously with water
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reclamation and water reuse.
US EPA notes that recycled water can satisfy most water
demands, as long as it is adequately treated to ensure
quality appropriate for the use. In uses where there is a
greater chance of human exposure to the water, more
treatment is required. As for any water source that is not
properly treated, health problems could arise from drinking
or being exposed to recycled water if it contains
disease-causing organisms or other contaminants.
3) Recycled water regulation in California . In California,
SWRCB establishes general policies governing the permitting
of recycled water projects consistent with its role of
protecting water quality and sustaining water supplies.
SWRCB exercises general oversight over recycled water
projects, including review of regional board permitting
practices (including National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permits), and leads the effort to meet
the recycled water use goals set forth in state recycled
water policy. SWRCB is also charged by statute with
developing a general permit for irrigation uses of recycled
water.
While SWRCB is responsible for the bulk of recycled water
regulation, it shares jurisdiction over the use of recycled
water with the regional boards and with the Department of
Public Health. In addition, the Department of Water
Resources and the California Public Utilities Commission
have roles to play in encouraging the use of recycled
water.
4) California's recycled water policy . On February 3,
2009, SWRCB adopted Resolution 2009-2011, a policy for
water quality control for recycled water. In adopting the
resolution, SWRCB made a finding that the Strategic Plan
Update 2008-2012 for the state and regional boards includes
a priority to increase sustainable local water supplies
available for meeting existing and future beneficial uses
and to ensure adequate water flows for fish and wildlife
habitat. SWRCB found that increasing the acceptance and
promoting the use of recycled water is a means towards
achieving sustainable local water supplies and can result
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in the reduction in greenhouse gases. It also found that
the recycled water policy is intended to encourage
beneficial use of, rather than solely disposal of, recycled
water.
According to SWRCB, the purpose of the Recycled Water
Policy (Policy) is to increase the use of recycled water
from municipal wastewater sources in a manner that
implements state and federal water quality laws. When used
in compliance with the Policy and applicable state and
federal water quality laws, SWRCB argues that recycled
water is safe for approved uses, and strongly supports
recycled water as a safe alternative to potable water for
such approved uses. The Policy establishes a mandate to
increase the use of recycled water in California by 200,000
acre-feet per year (afy) by 2020 and by an additional
300,000 afy by 2030.
5) Recycled water in the proposed pilot project region .
The Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District currently
holds a NPDES permit for point source discharges into
surface waters (Order No. R2-2008-0090). The Sonoma
Valley County Sanitation District owns and the Sonoma
County Water Agency operates wastewater treatment plant and
collection systems. The plant provides secondary treatment
to the wastewater collected from the City of Sonoma,
unincorporated areas of Glen Ellen, Boyes Hot Springs, El
Verano, and Agua Caliente. Treatment processes consist of
flow equalization; pretreatment by screening and grit
removal; extended aeration activated sludge treatment;
secondary sedimentation; and effluent disinfection by
chlorination and de-chlorination.
According to the Sonoma County Water Agency (Agency), the
sponsor of the bill, currently, the Agency and its
agricultural landowner partners risk being penalized if
small irrigation ponds storing high quality recycled water
overflow during a rain event, despite the fact that they
currently hold water quality permits allowing for
discharge, tidal habitat restoration, and agricultural
irrigation within the same watershed and using the same
recycled water. The Agency argues that the financial risk
to it and its landowner partners has limited its ability to
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use highly treated recycled water to its greatest
potential.
The Agency asserts that by authorizing a water quality
monitoring pilot project in the Los Carneros wine grape
region, AB 1200 can provide state and regional regulatory
entities, the public, and their partners in the
agricultural sector with data necessary to advance
innovative recycled water reuse projects.
6) Is it appropriate to require a pilot project ? This bill
requires the San Francisco Bay regional board to conduct
the desired pilot project without giving them the
discretion to determine whether this pilot project would be
done safely within the context of the Clean Water Act.
While the goal of this pilot project is laudable and could
help state recycled water policy progress, it needs to be
done in a way that is consistent with federal law and
regulation.
The bill needs to be amended to authorize the pilot project
and make explicit that NPDES permits are required for the
discharges pursuant to current law.
7) Value Added . The bill should be amended to:
a) Authorize the San Francisco Bay regional
water quality control board to conduct a pilot project
in cooperation with the Sonoma County Water Agency.
b) Specify the criteria of the pilot project:
i. Require the Sonoma County Water
Agency to seek NPDES permit(s) and all other
applicable permits for discharges covered by the
pilot project, and perform all tasks, including
pre-project modeling and habitat evaluations and
other data collection efforts as needed to obtain
the necessary permit(s) consistent with current
law;
ii. Require the Sonoma County Water
Agency to collect data (as currently specified in
bill) of specific discharges to evaluate efficacy
of the pilot project; and
iii. Encourage the regional board to
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work with the Sonoma County Water Agency, based
on the data collected from the pilot project, to
develop a formula for future permits to be issued
for similar purposes.
If the bill is amended to contain these provisions the
information gathered from the pilot project could go to
advise similar projects and expedite permits for similar
uses.
SOURCE : Sonoma County Water Agency
SUPPORT : California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California Farm Bureau Federation
Irvine Ranch Water District
Napa County Supervisor, District 1, Brad
Wagenknecht
North Bay Water Reuse Authority
Novato Sanitary District
Russian Riverkeeper
Wine Institute
OPPOSITION : None on file