BILL NUMBER: AB 1739 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Rendon)
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to add Section 10750.3 to amend
Section 65302.2 of, and to add Section 56878 to, the Government Code,
and to amend Section 10795.4 of, and to add Part 2.74 (commencing
with Section 10720) to Division 6 of, the Water Code, relating
to groundwater.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1739, as amended, Dickinson. Groundwater basin management:
sustainability.
(1) Existing law authorizes local agencies, as defined, to adopt
and implement a groundwater management plan. Existing law requires a
groundwater management plan to contain specified components and
requires a local agency seeking state funds administered by the
Department of Water Resources for groundwater projects or groundwater
quality projects to do certain things, including, but not limited
to, prepare and implement a groundwater management plan that includes
basin management objectives for the groundwater basin.
This bill would require a sustainable groundwater management plan
to be adopted, except as provided, for each high or medium priority
groundwater basin by any groundwater management agency, defined as a
special district authorized to provide water for beneficial uses or
with specific authority to conduct groundwater management, a city, a
county, a city and county, or certain joint powers authorities. This
bill would require a sustainable groundwater management plan to meet
certain requirements, including, but not limited to, that the plan
contain sustainable groundwater management objectives to achieve
sustainable groundwater management in the groundwater basin within 20
years of the implementation of the plan but would allow the
department to grant an extension beyond 20 years to 30 years based on
groundwater basin circumstances, and that the plan contain the
components required of a groundwater management plan seeking the
above-described state funds. This bill would require a sustainable
groundwater management plan to be submitted by the groundwater
management agency to the department for technical review.
This bill, as of an unspecified date or as of a date adopted by
the groundwater management agency, whichever is earlier, would
prohibit the extraction of groundwater within a groundwater basin for
new commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial development,
except for the use of a single-family domestic well, unless the
groundwater basin has a sustainable groundwater management plan. This
bill would authorize a groundwater management agency to establish,
assume, or cooperatively manage well permitting programs to provide
essential management information to implement a sustainable
groundwater management plan and basin management objectives, and to
regulate the pumping of groundwater. This bill would require the
process for developing or revising a sustainable groundwater
management plan, or revising a groundwater management plan to meet
sustainable groundwater management plan requirements, to meet
specified requirements for public notification, hearing, and protest.
(2) Existing law provides that moneys in the Local Groundwater
Assistance Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, are
authorized to be used by the Department of Water Resources to assist
local public agencies to conduct groundwater studies, to carry out
groundwater monitoring and management activities, and to assist in
the development of groundwater management plans.
This bill would authorize the department to use moneys in the
fund, upon appropriation, to conduct groundwater studies or to carry
out groundwater monitoring and management activities described in
paragraph (1).
(3) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government
Reorganization Act of 2000, sets forth the powers and duties of a
local agency formation commission and governs the procedures for the
formation, change of organization, and reorganization of cities and
special districts.
This bill would authorize the local agency formation commission to
provide special technical assistance and an expedited timeline to
facilitate the formation of a local and regional groundwater
management agency if there is no local and regional groundwater
management agency existing in a defined groundwater basin.
(4) Existing law requires the legislative body of each county and
city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the
physical development of the county or city with specified elements,
including, among others, land use and conservation elements. Existing
law requires a city or county, upon the adoption or revision of its
general plan, on or after January 1, 1996, to utilize as a source
document any urban water management plan submitted to the city or
county by a water agency.
This bill would require a city or county, upon the adoption or
revision of its general plan, to reference as a source document any
sustainable groundwater management plan or groundwater management
plan for a groundwater basin or subbasin within the jurisdiction of
the city or county. By imposing a new requirement on a city or
county, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Existing law, the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001,
requires the State Water Resources Control Board to integrate
existing monitoring programs and design new program elements, as
necessary, to establish a comprehensive monitoring program capable of
assessing each groundwater basin in the state through direct and
other statistically reliable sampling approaches. The act requires
the state board, in establishing the comprehensive monitoring
program, to prioritize groundwater basins that supply drinking water.
This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board,
in consultation with the Department of Water Resources, to develop
thresholds for the sustainable management of the priority groundwater
basins.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 56878 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
56878. If there is no local and regional groundwater management
agency existing in a groundwater basin, as defined in subdivision (b)
of Section 10720 of the Water Code, the commission may provide
special technical assistance and an expedited timeline to facilitate
the formation of a local and regional groundwater management agency.
SEC. 2. Section 65302.2 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
65302.2. (a) Upon the adoption, or
revision, of a city or county's general plan, on or after January 1,
1996, the city or county shall utilize as a source document any urban
water management plan submitted to the city or county by a water
agency.
(b) Upon the adoption, or revision, of a city or county's general
plan, the city or county shall utilize as a source document the
following plans for a groundwater basin or subbasin within the
jurisdiction of the city or county:
(1) A sustainable groundwater management plan adopted pursuant to
Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water
Code.
(2) A groundwater management plan adopted pursuant to Part 2.75
(commencing with Section 10750) of Division 6 of the Water Code.
SEC. 3. Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720)
is added to Division 6 of the Water Code , to
read:
PART 2.74. Groundwater Sustainability
10720. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this part:
(a) "Bulletin No. 118" means the department's bulletin entitled
"California's Ground Water," dated September 1975, and any amendments
to that bulletin.
(b) "Groundwater" means all water beneath the surface of the earth
within the zone below the water table in which the soil is
completely saturated with water, but does not include water that
flows in known and definite channels.
(c) "Groundwater basin" means any groundwater basin or subbasin
identified in Bulletin No. 118 that the department identifies as a
high or medium priority groundwater basin as part of the California
Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program in accordance with
Sections 10933 and 12924.
(d) "Groundwater management agency" means a special district
authorized to provide water for beneficial uses or with specific
authority to conduct groundwater management, a city, a county, a city
and county, or a joint powers authority comprised of any or all of
the these.
(e) "Groundwater management program" means a coordinated and
ongoing activity undertaken for the benefit of a groundwater basin,
or a portion of a groundwater basin, based on the best available
science, monitoring, forecasting, and use of technological resources,
pursuant to a sustainable groundwater management plan.
(f) "Recharge" means the augmentation of groundwater, by natural
or artificial means, with surface water or recycled water.
(g) "Sustainable groundwater management" means the management and
use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the
planning and implementation horizon without resulting in a
significant adverse overdraft-related environmental, social, or
economic effect, as determined by the groundwater management agency.
10725. (a) A sustainable groundwater management plan shall be
adopted for each groundwater basin by any overlying groundwater
management agency. A sustainable groundwater management plan shall
meet the following requirements:
(1) Include the components set forth in Section 10753.7.
(2) Be adopted on or before January 1, 2020, and updated every
five years thereafter.
(3) Contain sustainable groundwater management objectives to
achieve sustainable groundwater management in the groundwater basin
within 20 years of the implementation of the plan, include an
analysis demonstrating how the objectives will achieve sustainable
groundwater management, and identify the parties responsible for
achieving the objectives. The department may grant an extension
beyond the 20-year sustainability timeframe if necessary based on
groundwater basin circumstances, but in no case may a sustainable
management plan contemplate that more than 30 years are required to
achieve sustainable groundwater management.
(4) Provide a planning and implementation horizon of at least 50
years.
(5) Annually submit a performance report comparing the status of
the groundwater basin to the sustainable groundwater management
objectives.
(6) Provide summaries of monitoring data regularly to the
department for the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation
Monitoring Program and locally to the groundwater basin stakeholders
through an Internet Web site or similar method.
(b) A sustainable groundwater management plan shall not be
required for a groundwater basin, or a portion of a groundwater
basin, that is subject to groundwater management pursuant to other
provisions of law or a court order, judgment, or decree.
(c) If multiple sustainable groundwater management plans cover
different portions of a groundwater basin, each sustainable
groundwater management plan shall not conflict with or impede
sustainable groundwater management relating to the other sustainable
groundwater management plans in the groundwater basin.
(d) (1) A groundwater management agency may incorporate into a
sustainable groundwater management plan a neighboring area overlying
the groundwater basin not already covered by another sustainable
groundwater management plan.
(2) A groundwater basin boundary, as defined in Bulletin No. 118,
may be adjusted by a groundwater management agency, in consultation
with adjacent groundwater basin groundwater management agencies and
the department, to address hydrologic conditions and other features
of the subbasin based on a technical analysis supporting the boundary
adjustment.
10726. The process for developing or revising a sustainable
groundwater management plan, or revising a groundwater management
plan adopted pursuant to Part 2.75(commencing with Section 10750) to
meet the requirements of this part, shall meet the requirements on a
local agency for public notification, hearing, and protest set forth
in Sections 10753.2 to 10753.6, inclusive.
10730. (a) A sustainable groundwater management plan shall be
submitted by the groundwater management agency to the department for
technical review.
(b) The department shall subject the sustainable groundwater
management plan to technical review for adequacy and do one of the
following:
(1) Approve the sustainable groundwater management plan.
(2) Conditionally approve the sustainable groundwater management
plan.
(3) Determine the sustainable groundwater management plan to be
inadequate and allow six months for resubmission of the sustainable
groundwater management plan with revisions.
10735. A groundwater management agency may do all of the
following:
(a) Enter into a joint powers authority, participate in a
memorandum of understanding among existing agencies, participate in
an integrated regional water management planning group, any of which
may include a locally authorized watermaster, or establish another
form of appropriate local or regional sustainable groundwater
management entity.
(b) Raise funds for the purposes of this chapter.
(c) Regulate the pumping of groundwater.
(d) Establish, assume, or cooperatively manage well permitting
programs to provide essential management information to implement a
sustainable groundwater management plan and basin management
objectives. The well permitting program may include, but is not
limited to, information about the location, depth, water quality,
construction, and production of a well and shall ensure that well
abandonment standards are enforced.
(e) Enforce the agency's sustainable groundwater management plan.
10740. (a) As of ____ date or as of the date adopted by the
groundwater management agency, whichever is earlier, a person or
entity shall not extract groundwater within a groundwater basin for
new commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial development,
unless a groundwater basin has a sustainable groundwater management
plan.
(b) This section does not apply to the use of a single-family
domestic well.
SEC. 4. Section 10795.4 of the Water
Code is amended to read:
10795.4. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the money in the
fund may be used by the department to assist local public agencies by
awarding grants to those agencies to conduct groundwater studies or
to carry out groundwater monitoring and management activities in
accordance with Part 2.75 (commencing with Section 10750) , Part
2.74 (commencing with Section 10720), or other authority
pursuant to which local public agencies manage groundwater resources,
or both, any combination of these
including the development of groundwater management plans, as
provided for in subdivision (a) of Section 10753.7.
SEC. 5. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 10750.3 is added to the
Water Code, to read:
10750.3. The state board, in consultation with the department,
shall develop thresholds for the sustainable management of the
priority groundwater basins listed pursuant to the Groundwater
Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 (Part 2.76 (commencing with Section
10780)), as that list may be amended.