BILL NUMBER: AB 1739 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 17, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Pavley )
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Rendon)
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to amend Section 65302.2 of, and to add Section
56878 to, the Government Code, and to amend Section 10795.4 of,
Sections 65352 and 65352.5 of, and to add Section
65302.12 to, the Government Code, and to add Section 1242.1 to,
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. Groundwater management.
(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, preparing and implementing a groundwater management plan that
includes basin management objectives for the groundwater basin.
This bill would require all groundwater basins designated as high-
or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be
managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated
groundwater sustainability plans, with specified exceptions. This
bill would require a groundwater sustainability agency to certify
that its plan complies with the requirements of this bill no later
than January 31, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter. This bill would
encourage basins designated as low-priority basins by the department
to be managed under groundwater sustainability plans as soon as
possible. This bill, to the extent practicable, would require a
groundwater sustainability plan to be coterminous and augment a
groundwater management plan.
This bill would provide specific authority to a groundwater
sustainability agency including, but not limited to, the ability to
require the registration of a groundwater extraction facility, to
require that a groundwater extraction facility be measured with a
water-measuring device, to regulate groundwater pumping, and to
impose certain charges. This bill, after January 31, 2020, would
prohibit a person from increasing groundwater extractions on a
property within the basin, as specified, until a groundwater
sustainability agency or the State Water Resources Control Board
complies with the above-described requirements, unless the person
submits to the county a specified report. This bill would authorize a
groundwater sustainability agency to conduct inspections and would
require the inspection to be made with any necessary consent or with
an inspection warrant. Because the willful refusal of an inspection
lawfully authorized by an inspection warrant is a misdemeanor, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the
application of a crime.
This bill would authorize the department to provide technical
assistance to a groundwater sustainability agency upon the request of
the agency and would require, by January 1, 2017, the department to
submit to the Legislature and publish on its Internet Web site best
management practices for the sustainable management of groundwater.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to amend this
measure to provide that one or more state agencies act to ensure that
all basins in California are on track to achieve the sustainability
goal if local agencies are unable to adopt or implement groundwater
sustainability plans that achieve that goal. This bill would state
the intent of the Legislature to amend this measure to provide for
expedited adjudications of rights to extract and store water from and
in basins by enacting and directing the Judicial Council to develop
innovative judicial procedures to manage those adjudications as
quickly as reasonably feasible. This bill would state the intent of
the Legislature to amend this measure to provide that the State Water
Resources Control Board and the regional water quality control
boards must weigh the value of surface water for groundwater
replenishment and recharge to promote the state's interest in
groundwater sustainability.
(2) The California Constitution requires the reasonable and
beneficial use of water.
This bill would state the policy of the state to encourage
conjunctive use of surface and groundwater.
(3) 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, prior to the adoption or any substantial
amendment of a general plan, the planning agency to review, and if
necessary revise the land use, conservation, open space, or any other
element of the general plan to address a groundwater sustainability
plan, groundwater management plan, groundwater management court
order, judgment, or decree, adjudication of water rights, or a
certain order of the State Water Resources Control Board. This bill
would require the planning agency to refer a proposed action to adopt
or substantially amend a general plan to any local agency or joint
powers authority that has adopted a groundwater sustainability plan
or that otherwise manages groundwater and to the State Water
Resources Control Board if it has adopted a groundwater
sustainability plan that includes territory within the planning area.
Existing law requires a public water system to provide a planning
agency with certain information upon receiving notification of a city'
s or a county's proposed action to adopt or substantially amend a
general plan.
This bill would also require a public water system to provide a
report on the anticipated effect of the proposed action on
implementation of a groundwater sustainability plan. This bill would
require a groundwater sustainability agency to provide the planning
agency with certain information as is appropriate and relevant.
By imposing new duties on a city or county, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
(4) 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 with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(5) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that
limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the
writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings
demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need
for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
(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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65302.12 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
65302.12. Prior to the adoption or any substantial amendment of a
city or county's general plan, the planning agency shall review, and
if necessary, revise the land use, conservation, open space, or any
other element of the general plan to address any of the following:
(a) An adoption of, or update to, a groundwater sustainability
plan or groundwater management plan pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing
with Section 10720) or Part 2.75 (commencing with Section 10750) of
Division 6 of the Water Code or groundwater management court order,
judgment, or decree.
(b) An adjudication of water rights such as an adjudication
pursuant to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10742) of Part 2.74
of Division 6 of the Water Code.
(c) An order by the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant
to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 10738) of Part 2.74 of Division
6 of the Water Code.
SEC. 2. Section 65352 of the Government
Code is amended to read:
65352. (a) Prior to action by a legislative body to adopt or
substantially amend a general plan, the planning agency shall refer
the proposed action to all of the following entities:
(1) A city or county, within or abutting the area covered by the
proposal, and any special district that may be significantly affected
by the proposed action, as determined by the planning agency.
(2) An elementary, high school, or unified school district within
the area covered by the proposed action.
(3) The local agency formation commission.
(4) An areawide planning agency whose operations may be
significantly affected by the proposed action, as determined by the
planning agency.
(5) A federal agency if its operations or lands within its
jurisdiction may be significantly affected by the proposed action, as
determined by the planning agency.
(6) (A) The branches of the United States Armed Forces that have
provided the Office of Planning and Research with a California
mailing address pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 65944 when the
proposed action is within 1,000 feet of a military installation, or
lies within special use airspace, or beneath a low-level flight path,
as defined in Section 21098 of the Public Resources Code, provided
that the United States Department of Defense provides electronic maps
of low-level flight paths, special use airspace, and military
installations at a scale and in an electronic format that is
acceptable to the Office of Planning and Research.
(B) Within 30 days of a determination by the Office of Planning
and Research that the information provided by the Department of
Defense is sufficient and in an acceptable scale and format, the
office shall notify cities, counties, and cities and counties of the
availability of the information on the Internet. Cities, counties,
and cities and counties shall comply with subparagraph (A) within 30
days of receiving this notice from the office.
(7) A public water system, as defined in Section 116275 of the
Health and Safety Code, with 3,000 or more service connections, that
serves water to customers within the area covered by the proposal.
The public water system shall have at least 45 days to comment on the
proposed plan, in accordance with subdivision (b), and to provide
the planning agency with the information set forth in Section
65352.5.
(8) Any local agency or joint powers authority that has adopted a
groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing
with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code or that otherwise
manages groundwater pursuant to other provisions of law or a court
order, judgment, or decree within the planning area of the proposed
general plan.
(9) The State Water Resources Control Board if it has adopted a
groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing
with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code that includes
territory within the planning area of the proposed general plan.
(8)
(10) The Bay Area Air Quality Management District for a
proposed action within the boundaries of the district.
(9)
(11) On and after March 1, 2005, a California Native
American tribe, that is on the contact list maintained by the Native
American Heritage Commission, with traditional lands located within
the city or county's jurisdiction.
(10)
(12) The Central Valley Flood Protection Board for a
proposed action within the boundaries of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Drainage District, as set forth in Section 8501 of the Water
Code.
(b) Each entity receiving a proposed general plan or amendment of
a general plan pursuant to this section shall have 45 days from the
date the referring agency mails it or delivers it in which to comment
unless a longer period is specified by the planning agency.
(c) (1) This section is directory, not mandatory, and the failure
to refer a proposed action to the other entities specified in this
section does not affect the validity of the action, if adopted.
(2) To the extent that the requirements of this section conflict
with the requirements of Chapter 4.4 (commencing with Section 65919),
the requirements of Chapter 4.4 shall prevail.
SEC. 3. Section 65352.5 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
65352.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is vital
that there be close coordination and consultation between California'
s water supply or management agencies and California's
land use approval agencies to ensure that proper water supply
and management planning occurs in order to accommodate projects
that will result in increased demands on water supplies or
impact water resource management .
(b) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to provide a
standardized process for determining the adequacy of existing and
planned future water supplies to meet existing and planned future
demands on these water supplies and the impact of land use
decisions on the management of California's water supply resources
.
(c) Upon receiving, pursuant to Section 65352, notification of a
city's or a county's proposed action to adopt or substantially amend
a general plan, a public water system, as defined in Section 116275
of the Health and Safety Code, with 3,000 or more service
connections, shall provide the planning agency with the following
information, as is appropriate and relevant:
(1) The current version of its urban water management plan,
adopted pursuant to Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 10610) of
Division 6 of the Water Code.
(2) The current version of its capital improvement program or
plan, as reported pursuant to Section 31144.73 of the Water Code.
(3) A description of the source or sources of the total water
supply currently available to the water supplier by water right or
contract, taking into account historical data concerning wet, normal,
and dry runoff years.
(4) A description of the quantity of surface water that was
purveyed by the water supplier in each of the previous five years.
(5) A description of the quantity of groundwater that was purveyed
by the water supplier in each of the previous five years.
(6) A description of all proposed additional sources of water
supplies for the water supplier, including the estimated dates by
which these additional sources should be available and the quantities
of additional water supplies that are being proposed.
(7) A description of the total number of customers currently
served by the water supplier, as identified by the following
categories and by the amount of water served to each category:
(A) Agricultural users.
(B) Commercial users.
(C) Industrial users.
(D) Residential users.
(8) Quantification of the expected reduction in total water
demand, identified by each customer category set forth in paragraph
(7), associated with future implementation of water use reduction
measures identified in the water supplier's urban water management
plan.
(9) Any additional information that is relevant to determining the
adequacy of existing and planned future water supplies to meet
existing and planned future demands on these water supplies.
(10) A report on the anticipated effect of proposed action to
adopt or substantially amend a general plan on implementation of a
groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing
with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code.
(d) Upon receiving, pursuant to Section 65352, notification of a
city's or county's proposed action to adopt or substantially amend a
general plan, a groundwater sustainability agency, as defined in
Section 10720.5 of the Water Code, shall provide the planning agency
with the following information, as is appropriate and relevant:
(1) The current version of its groundwater sustainability plan
adopted pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of
Division 6 of the Water Code.
(2) If the groundwater sustainability agency manages groundwater
pursuant to a court order, judgment, decree, or agreement among
affected water rights holders, or if the State Water Resources
Control Board has adopted a groundwater sustainability plan pursuant
to Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the
Water Code, the groundwater sustainability agency shall provide the
planning agency with maps of recharge basins and percolation ponds,
extraction limitations, and other relevant information, or the court
order, judgment, or decree.
(e) A groundwater sustainability agency that has given notice of
intention to adopt a groundwater sustainability plan, but has not
adopted a plan, shall provide a report to the planning agency on the
anticipated effect of proposed action to adopt or substantially amend
a general plan on adoption of the groundwater sustainability plan
and on the impacts of the proposed action on sustainable management
of groundwater.
SEC. 4. Section 1242.1 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
1242.1. It is the policy of the state to encourage conjunctive
use of surface and groundwater. To that end, the Legislature declares
that the storage of water underneath the ground is a beneficial use
of water.
SEC. 5. Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720)
is added to Division 6 of the Water Code , to
read:
PART 2.74. Groundwater Sustainability Planning
CHAPTER 1. TITLE AND POLICY
10720. This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
"Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014."
10720.1. In enacting this part, it is the intent of the
Legislature that all of the following occur:
(a) The enhancement of local management of groundwater consistent
with rights to use or store groundwater and Section 2 of Article X of
the California Constitution. It is the intent of the Legislature to
preserve and enhance the security of water rights in the state to the
greatest extent possible consistent with the sustainable management
of groundwater.
(b) The establishment of minimum standards for groundwater
management together with the requisite authority and funding.
(c) The avoidance or minimization of subsidence.
(d) The improvement of data collection and understanding about
groundwater.
(e) The increase in groundwater storage and removal of impediments
to recharge.
(f) The provision of state technical and financial assistance.
(g) The management of groundwater basins through the actions of
local governmental agencies to the greatest extent feasible, while
minimizing state intervention to only when necessary to ensure that
local agencies manage groundwater in a sustainable manner.
(h) The intervention by the state when necessary to ensure that
local agencies manage groundwater in a sustainable manner.
CHAPTER 2. DEFINITIONS
10720.5. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this part:
(a) "Adjudication action" means an action filed in the superior
court to determine the rights to extract groundwater from a basin or
store water within a basin, including, but not limited to, actions to
quiet title respecting rights to extract or store groundwater or an
action brought to impose a physical solution on a basin.
(b) "Agricultural water supplier" has the same meaning as defined
in Section 10608.12.
(c) "Basin" means a groundwater basin or subbasin identified and
defined in Bulletin 118 or as modified pursuant to Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 10742).
(d) "Bulletin 118" means the department's report entitled
"California's Groundwater: Bulletin 118" updated in 2003, as it may
be subsequently updated or revised in accordance with Section 12924
or Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 10723).
(e) "De minimus producer" means a person who extracts, for
domestic purposes, 2 acre feet or less per year.
(f) "Governing body" means the legislative body of a groundwater
sustainability agency.
(g) "Groundwater" means water beneath the natural surface of the
ground, in fully saturated pore spaces within the soil or rock,
excluding those waters that are flowing through natural known and
definite channels.
(h) "Groundwater extraction facility" means a pump or other
mechanism for extracting groundwater from within a basin.
(i) "Groundwater sustainability agency" means either a local
agency or a joint powers authority formed by local agencies that
implements the provisions of this part with respect to a groundwater
sustainability plan. For purposes of imposing fees pursuant to
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10732) or taking action to enforce
a groundwater management plan, "groundwater management agency" also
means each local agency comprising the groundwater management agency
if the plan authorizes separate agency action.
(j) "Groundwater sustainability plan" or "plan" means a plan of a
groundwater sustainability agency proposed or adopted pursuant to
this part.
(k) "Groundwater sustainability program" means a coordinated and
ongoing activity undertaken to benefit a basin, pursuant to a
groundwater sustainability plan.
(l) "Local agency" means a local public agency, including, but not
limited to, a city, county, irrigation district, county water
district, municipal water district, California water district, water
storage district, reclamation district, or other special district
that provides water or water management service within a groundwater
basin.
(m) "Monitoring entity" means an entity identified by the
department pursuant to Section 10930.
(n) "Operator" means a person operating a groundwater extraction
facility. The owner of a groundwater extraction facility shall be
conclusively presumed to be the operator unless a satisfactory
showing is made to the governing body of the groundwater
sustainability agency that the groundwater extraction facility
actually is operated by some other person.
(o) "Owner" means a person owning a groundwater extraction
facility or an interest in a groundwater extraction facility other
than a lien to secure the payment of a debt or other obligation.
(p) "Planning and implementation horizon" means a 50-year time
period over which a groundwater sustainability agency determines that
plans and measures will be implemented in a basin to ensure that the
basin is operated within its sustainable yield.
(q) "Public water system" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
(r) "Recharge" means the process by which a basin is replenished
with water whether by natural or artificial means or in-lieu.
(s) "Sustainability goal" means the existence and implementation
of one or more groundwater sustainability plans that achieve
sustainable groundwater management by identifying and causing the
implementation of measures targeted to ensure that the applicable
basin is operated within its sustainable yield.
(t) "Sustainable groundwater management" means the management and
use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the
planning and implementation horizon without causing unreasonable
adverse environmental, economic, or social consequences through the
development, implementation, and updating of plans and programs based
on the best available science, monitoring, forecasting, and use of
technological resources, as determined by a groundwater
sustainability agency.
(u) "Sustainable yield" means the maximum quantity of water,
calculated over a base period representative of long-term conditions
in the basin and including any temporary surplus, that can be
withdrawn annually from a groundwater supply without causing an
undesirable result.
(v) "Undesirable result" means one or more of the following
effects occurring after January 1, 2015, and caused by groundwater
conditions occurring throughout the basin:
(1) Chronic lowering of groundwater levels indicating a
significant and unreasonable depletion of supply if continued over
the planning and implementation horizon, excluding lowering
groundwater levels caused by a drought.
(2) Significant and unreasonable reduction of groundwater storage.
(3) Significant seawater intrusion.
(4) Significant and unreasonable degraded water quality, including
the migration of contaminant plumes that impair water supplies.
(5) Significant land subsidence that substantially interferes with
surface land uses.
(6) Surface water depletions that have significant adverse impacts
on species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.) or the California Endangered Species
Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the
Fish and Game Code).
(w) "Water year" means the period from October 1 through the
following September 30, inclusive.
CHAPTER 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS
10721. Subject to Section 10736, by January 31, 2020, all basins
designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the department
pursuant to Section 10933 shall be managed under a groundwater
sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans
pursuant to this part. The Legislature encourages basins designated
as low priority basins by the department pursuant to Section 10933 to
be managed under groundwater sustainability plans pursuant to this
part as soon as possible.
10721.5. Groundwater management pursuant to this part shall be
consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California
Constitution. Nothing in this part modifies rights or priorities to
use or store groundwater consistent with Section 2 of Article X of
the California Constitution, except that in medium- and high-priority
basins, no extraction of groundwater between January 1, 2015, and
December 31, 2020, or the date of adoption of a groundwater
sustainability plan pursuant to this part, whichever is sooner, may
be used as evidence of, or to establish or defend against, any claim
of prescription.
10722. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency that adopts a
groundwater sustainability plan may file an action to determine the
validity of the plan pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section
860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(b) Subject to Sections 394 and 397 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, the venue for an action pursuant to this section shall be
the county in which the principal office of the groundwater
management agency is located.
(c) Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set
aside, void, or annul the ordinance or resolution imposing a new, or
increasing an existing, fee imposed pursuant to Section 10732,
10732.5, or 10733 shall be brought pursuant to Section 66022 of the
Government Code.
(d) Any person may pay a fee imposed pursuant to Section 10732,
10732.5, or 10733 under protest and bring an action against the
governing body in the superior court to recover any money that the
governing body refuses to refund. Payments made and actions brought
under this section shall be made and brought in the manner provided
for the payment of taxes under protest and actions for refund of that
payment in Article 2 (commencing with Section 5140) of Chapter 5 of
Part 9 of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as applicable.
(e) Any action by a landowner or other water right holder to
attach, review, set aside, void, or annul an extraction allocation
established by a groundwater sustainability plan shall be brought
pursuant to the expedited adjudication procedures of Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 10742).
(f) Except as otherwise provided in this section, actions by a
groundwater sustainability agency are subject to judicial review
pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
10722.5. Except for Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10742),
this part does not apply to any of the following agencies that are
implementing basin-specific management plans:
(a) Desert Water Agency.
(b) Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency.
(c) Honey Lake Valley Groundwater Management District.
(d) Long Valley Groundwater Management District.
(e) Mendocino City Community Services District.
(f) Mono County Tri-Valley Groundwater Management District.
(g) Monterey Peninsula Water Management District.
(h) Ojai Groundwater Management Agency.
(i) Orange County Water District.
(j) Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.
(k) Santa Clara Valley Water District.
(l) Sierra Valley Water District.
(m) Willow Creek Groundwater Management Agency.
CHAPTER 4. BASIN BOUNDARIES
10723. Unless other basin boundaries are established pursuant to
this chapter, a basin's boundaries shall be as identified in Bulletin
118.
10723.5. (a) The department shall consider proposals to adjust
the boundaries of a basin in accordance with the following:
(1) A proposal shall be supported by the following information:
(A) Information to demonstrate that the proposed adjusted basin
can be the subject of sustainable groundwater management. It shall
not be necessary that the information show that a proposed adjusted
basin currently is subject to sustainable groundwater management.
(B) A technical report concerning the boundaries of, and
conditions in, the proposed adjusted basin that is stamped by a
registered civil engineer or certified hydrologist.
(C) Information demonstrating that the entity proposing the basin
boundary adjustment consulted with interested local agencies and
public water systems in the basin before filing the proposal with the
department.
(2) A proposal may be supported by information concerning historic
management of the proposed adjusted basin.
(3) The department shall circulate a draft decision by the
department no fewer than 60 days before the department adopts that
decision.
(b) The department shall require anyone who proposes a basin
boundary adjustment to serve the basin boundary adjustment proposal
on other interested parties and to submit responses to proposals for
basin boundary adjustments to the department.
(c) (1) All proposals to adjust basin boundaries pursuant to this
section shall be filed with the department by July 1, 2016.
(2) The department shall issue all decisions concerning
adjustments to basin boundaries pursuant to this section by January
1, 2018.
(3) The department may provide for expedited processing to
consider proposals to adjust basin boundaries if necessary to
expedite consideration of the boundaries of a basin that is subject
to an adjudication action.
(d) The adjustment of boundaries pursuant to this section includes
the subdivision of a basin.
(e) (1) By January 1, 2016, the department shall adopt emergency
regulations to implement this section in an open and public process
that includes the following:
(A) An opportunity for the public to submit proposals for the
regulations to the department by April 1, 2015.
(B) Circulation of draft regulations by the department by August
1, 2015, for public review and comment.
(2) The department shall adopt emergency regulations
pursuant to this section in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. The adoption of these regulations shall be deemed to
be an emergency and shall be considered by the Office of
Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code, any emergency regulation adopted
by the department pursuant to this section shall remain in effect
until revised by the department.
10724. (a) The department shall review all of the basin
boundaries identified in Bulletin 118 and publish any necessary
revisions to those boundaries by January 1, 2023, in an update of
Bulletin 118. As indicated by the best available technical
information, including the groundwater sustainability plans that
groundwater sustainability agencies submitted to the department in
2020, the department shall adjust the boundaries of basins and define
any subdivisions of existing basins as new basins. In adjusting a
basin's boundaries and defining any subdivisions of an existing basin
as a new basin, the department shall determine whether those
adjustments would result in a basin that would support sustainable
groundwater management. In revising basin boundaries for an update of
Bulletin 118, the department shall favor definitions of basins that
enable the most practical and effective groundwater management.
(b) In updating basin boundaries pursuant to this section, the
department shall comply with the procedures applicable to a formal
rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code).
CHAPTER 5. IDENTIFICATION OF GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY
AGENCIES
10725. To the extent practicable, a groundwater sustainability
plan developed in accordance with this part shall be coterminous and
augment groundwater management plans developed pursuant to Part 2.75
(commencing with Section 10750).
10725.5. (a) A groundwater management agency that has adopted a
groundwater management plan that meets the requirements of Part 2.75
(commencing with Section 10750) prior to January 1, 2014, shall be
presumed to be the groundwater sustainability agency to develop a
basin sustainability plan in accordance with this part. The
groundwater sustainability agency may adopt a resolution of intent to
prepare a groundwater sustainability plan in accordance with this
part no later than January 1, 2016. The groundwater sustainability
agency shall submit an adopted resolution of intent to the department
within 30 days of its adoption.
(b) If a resolution of intent is not adopted and submitted as
provided in subdivision (a), the county that the groundwater
management plan area is located in may, by January 1, 2017, do either
of the following:
(1) Adopt and submit to the department a resolution of intent to
adopt a groundwater sustainability plan for the area.
(2) Request any other local agency or joint powers authority
providing water or water management services within the groundwater
management plan areas to adopt and submit to the department a
resolution of intent to adopt a groundwater management plan for that
area.
(c) If a resolution of intent is not adopted and submitted as
provided in subdivision (a) or (b), any local agency or joint powers
authority in the basin may adopt and submit to the department a
resolution of intent to adopt a groundwater sustainability plan for
the basin.
(d) If no resolution of intent is adopted and submitted as
provided in subdivision (a), (b), or (c), subdivision (a) of Section
10726 shall apply.
(e) If a groundwater sustainability agency or other local agency
submits prescribed alternative documentation in accordance with
Section 10736, the agency also shall adopt a resolution of intent to
comply with this part not later than January 1, 2016. The resolution
of intent shall be provided to the department within 30 days of
adoption of the resolution.
10726. If any portion of a basin is outside the jurisdictional
boundary of any groundwater sustainability plan as adopted or as
intended to be prepared according to a resolution of intent pursuant
to Section 10725.5, that portion of the basin shall be coordinated
with the nearest groundwater sustainability plan in any of the
following ways:
(a) (1) The landowners and other groundwater users in the
unmanaged area may elect to form a new public agency or private
corporation for the purpose of cooperating in the groundwater
management plan or may petition to be annexed into an existing public
agency.
(2) If the landowners and other groundwater users choose to form a
new public agency or request to be annexed into an existing agency,
the local agency formation commission shall complete proceedings on
the formation of the agency or the annexation of the area and serve
as the conducting authority within six months from the date the
landowners and other groundwater users file a formation or annexation
application with the commission.
(b) A groundwater sustainability agency may utilize existing
authority to annex or otherwise bring any unmanaged land into its
boundaries for purposes of the agency's plan or to otherwise extend
the geographic reach of the plan to include unmanaged areas of the
basin. In the event that a local agency seeks to annex lands for the
purpose of developing a groundwater sustainability plan, the local
agency formation commission shall complete proceedings in accordance
with the schedule set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
(c) If a groundwater sustainability agency cannot or elects not to
annex or otherwise extend boundaries to include the unmanaged areas,
a county that overlies the basin may utilize existing authority to
cause the development of a groundwater sustainability plan for the
unmanaged areas. A county may, by resolution or ordinance, delegate
this authority to a local agency, in which case the local agency
formation commission shall take appropriate action to ensure that all
areas overlying a groundwater basin are within the boundaries of one
or more of the agencies developing the groundwater sustainability
plan. The local agency formation commission shall complete actions
pursuant to this subdivision no later than January 1, 2017.
(d) If by January 1, 2017, an area overlying a basin is not within
the jurisdiction of a local agency that is participating in the
development of a groundwater sustainability plan, the board may,
after notice and a hearing, order one or more local agencies
developing a groundwater sustainability plan to include the area
within the plan.
10726.5. (a) If more than one groundwater sustainability plan
exists or is developed for a basin, the plans shall be coordinated
through a joint powers agreement, memorandum of understanding, or
similar agreement. The agreement or memorandum of understanding shall
ensure that multiple groundwater sustainability plans advance
sustainable groundwater management of the basin as a whole.
(b) If by July 1, 2017, the groundwater sustainability agencies
within a basin cannot come to an agreement to coordinate groundwater
sustainability plans, a groundwater sustainability agency may
petition the board, no later than June 30, 2017, to do either of the
following:
(1) Appoint a single groundwater sustainability agency to develop
the groundwater sustainability plan for the basin.
(2) Impose an alternative governance structure with a governing
board that is representative of the local agencies within the basin.
(c) If the board appoints a groundwater sustainability agency or
imposes a governance structure pursuant to subdivision (b), the board
may consider factors that will best foster sustainable groundwater
management as a whole, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) The geographic extent and governmental authorities of existing
groundwater management agencies, local agencies, and any relevant
county.
(2) The financial and technical resources available to the
relevant public agencies to implement a groundwater sustainability
plan.
(3) The technical groundwater information and data available to
the relevant local agencies.
(4) The relevant local agencies' history of groundwater
management.
(d) The board may utilize available processes and authorities to
appoint the groundwater sustainability agency or impose a governance
structure pursuant to subdivision (b), and may conduct hearings,
workshops, and other information gathering processes to inform its
determination.
(e) The board shall appoint a groundwater sustainability agency or
impose a governance structure pursuant to subdivision (b) no later
than June 30, 2018.
(f) If multiple groundwater sustainability plans cover different
portions of a basin, each plan shall not conflict with or impede
sustainable groundwater management relating to any other plan in the
basin.
10727. A groundwater sustainability plan may include criteria to
exempt small domestic pumping of groundwater for use on overlying
lands in unmanaged areas of the basin if the groundwater
sustainability agency determines that the exclusion of the pumping
will not otherwise affect sustainable management of the basin
pursuant to this part.
CHAPTER 6. MANAGEMENT TOOLS
10728. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency may exercise any
of the powers described in this chapter in implementing this part, in
addition to, and not as a limitation on, any existing authority, if
the groundwater sustainability agency adopts and submits to the
department a groundwater sustainability plan or prescribed
alternative documentation in accordance with Section 10736.
(b) A groundwater sustainability agency has and may use the powers
in this chapter to provide the maximum degree of local control and
flexibility consistent with the sustainability goals of this part.
10728.5. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency may perform any
act necessary or proper to carry out the purposes of this part,
including, but not limited to, the performance of an agreement,
acting jointly or in cooperation with the United States, any state,
county, city, district of any kind, public or private corporation,
association, firm, or individual, or any combination of them.
(b) A groundwater sustainability agency may perform any acts
necessary or proper for the performance of an agreement with the
United States, any state, county, city, district of any kind, public
or private corporation, association, firm, or individual, or any
combination of them, for the joint acquisition, construction,
leasing, ownership, disposition, use, management, maintenance,
repair, or operation of any rights, works, or other property of a
kind that may be useful in implementing the purposes of this part.
(c) A groundwater sustainability agency may adopt rules and
regulations for the purpose of this part, in compliance with any
procedural requirements applicable to the adoption of rules and
regulations by the groundwater sustainability agency. In addition to
any other applicable procedural requirements, the groundwater
sustainability agency shall provide notice of the proposed adoption
of the groundwater sustainability agency on its Internet Web site and
provide for electronic notice to any person who requests electronic
notification.
(d) This part shall apply to the United States and an Indian tribe
to the extent authorized under federal or tribal law.
(e) This part shall apply to the state and its agencies and
departments and to local agencies to the same extent as a person
regulated by a groundwater sustainability plan. A groundwater
sustainability agency shall not impose a penalty pursuant to this
part on the state or its agencies, departments, or officers.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, in any judicial action
authorized by this part, the court shall direct that a prevailing
party that is a groundwater sustainability agency, or owner or
operator of a groundwater extraction facility, shall be awarded the
reasonable attorney's fees and costs relating to an action authorized
pursuant to this part.
10729. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency may conduct an
investigation for the purposes of this part, including, but not
limited to, investigations for the following:
(1) To determine the need for groundwater management.
(2) To prepare and adopt a groundwater sustainability plan and
implementing rules and regulations.
(3) To propose and update fees.
(4) To monitor compliance and enforcement.
(b) An investigation may include surface waters and surface water
rights as well as groundwater and groundwater rights.
(c) In connection with an investigation, a groundwater
sustainability agency may inspect the property or facilities of a
person or entity to ascertain whether the purposes of this part are
being met and compliance with this part. The local agency may conduct
an inspection pursuant to this section upon obtaining any necessary
consent or obtaining an inspection warrant pursuant to the procedure
set forth in Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.
10729.5. (a) Each groundwater extraction facility within a
groundwater sustainability agency shall be registered with the
groundwater sustainability agency if the groundwater sustainability
plan provides for establishing a groundwater charge pursuant to this
part or for otherwise regulating groundwater extractions. The
groundwater sustainability agency may, by resolution or ordinance,
establish reasonable requirements for the registration of a
groundwater extraction facility.
(b) Any form used to register a groundwater extraction facility
pursuant to this section shall not be made available for inspection
by the public. The groundwater sustainability agency may use
information from the form to develop or implement a groundwater
sustainability program or plan pursuant to this part.
(c) An owner or operator of a groundwater extraction facility that
fails to register the facility within a time period provided for in
a groundwater sustainability plan shall become jointly and severally
liable to the groundwater sustainability agency for a penalty of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) per unregistered groundwater extraction
facility.
10730. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency may require
through its groundwater sustainability plan that the use of every
groundwater extraction facility within the groundwater sustainability
agency be measured no less than 60 days after registration by a
water-measuring device satisfactory to the groundwater sustainability
agency. If water-measuring devices are required by the groundwater
sustainability plan, an owner or operator of a groundwater extraction
facility that fails to install a satisfactory water-measuring device
within the 60-day time period shall be jointly and severally liable
to the groundwater sustainability agency for a penalty of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) per groundwater extraction facility lacking
a water-measuring device.
(b) All costs associated with the purchase and installation of the
water-measuring device shall be borne by the owner or operator of
each groundwater extraction facility. The water measuring devices
shall be installed by the groundwater sustainability agency or, at
the groundwater sustainability agency's option, by the owner or
operator of the groundwater extraction facility. Water-measuring
devices shall be calibrated on a reasonable schedule as may be
determined by the groundwater sustainability agency.
(c) A groundwater sustainability agency may require, through its
groundwater sustainability plan, that the owner or operator of a
groundwater extraction facility within the groundwater sustainability
agency file an annual statement with the groundwater sustainability
agency setting forth the total extraction in acre-feet of groundwater
from the facility during the previous year. If filing of groundwater
extraction statements is required by the groundwater sustainability
plan, an owner or operator of a groundwater extraction facility that
fails to file a timely groundwater extraction statement shall be
jointly and severally liable to the groundwater sustainability agency
for a penalty of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per groundwater
extraction facility without a filed groundwater extraction statement
per each month since the date the first penalty could have been
imposed by the groundwater sustainability agency.
(d) In addition to the measurement of groundwater extractions
pursuant to subdivision (a), a groundwater sustainability agency may
use any other reasonable method to determine groundwater extraction.
(e) This section does not apply to de minimus extractors.
10730.5. An entity within the area of a groundwater
sustainability plan shall only divert surface water to underground
storage consistent with the plan and shall report the diversion to
underground storage to the groundwater sustainability agency for the
relevant portion of the basin.
10731. A groundwater sustainability agency may do the following:
(a) Acquire by grant, purchase, lease, gift, devise, contract,
construction, or otherwise, and hold, use, enjoy, sell, let, and
dispose, of real and personal property of every kind, including
lands, water rights, structures, buildings, rights-of-way, easements,
and privileges, and construct, maintain, alter, and operate any and
all works or improvements, within or outside the agency, necessary or
proper to carry out any of the purposes of this part.
(b) Appropriate and acquire surface water or groundwater and
surface water or groundwater rights, import surface water or
groundwater into the agency, and conserve and store within or outside
the agency that water for any purpose necessary or proper to carry
out the provisions of this part, including, but not limited to, the
spreading, storing, retaining, or percolating into the soil of the
waters for subsequent use or in a manner consistent with the
provisions of Section 10735. As part of this authority, the agency
may validate an existing groundwater conjunctive use or storage
program upon a finding that the program would aid or assist the
agency in developing or implementing a groundwater sustainability
plan.
(c) Provide for a program of voluntary fallowing of agricultural
lands or validate an existing program.
(d) Perform any acts necessary or proper to enable the agency to
purchase, transfer, deliver, or exchange water or water rights of any
type with any person that may be necessary or proper to carry out
any of the purposes of this part, including, but not limited to,
providing surface water in exchange for a groundwater extractor's
agreement to reduce or cease groundwater extractions. The agency
shall not deliver retail water supplies within the service area of a
public water system without either the consent of that system or
authority under the agency's existing authorities.
(e) Transport, reclaim, purify, desalinate, treat, or otherwise
manage and control polluted water, wastewater, or other waters for
subsequent use in a manner that is necessary or proper to carry out
the purposes of this part.
(f) Whenever, in the opinion of the agency's governing board, the
public interest or convenience may require, it may order any work or
improvement that it is authorized to undertake to be done in
accordance with the procedures and pursuant to the provisions of the
Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section 5000) of
the Streets and Highways Code), the Improvement Bond Act of 1915
(Division 10 (commencing with Section 8500) of the Streets and
Highways Code), or the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Division 12
(commencing with Section 10000) of the Streets and Highways Code).
(g) Commence, maintain, intervene in, defend, compromise, and
assume the cost and expenses of any and all actions and proceedings.
10731.5. A groundwater sustainability agency shall have the
following additional authority and may regulate groundwater pumping
using that authority by means of ordinance or resolution:
(a) To impose spacing requirements on new groundwater well
construction to minimize well interference and impose reasonable
operating regulations on existing groundwater wells to minimize well
interference, including requiring pumpers to operate on a rotation
basis.
(b) To control groundwater extractions by regulating, limiting, or
suspending extractions from individual groundwater wells or
extractions from groundwater wells in the aggregate, the construction
of new groundwater wells, the enlarging of existing groundwater
wells, the reactivation of abandoned groundwater wells, or otherwise
establishing groundwater extraction allocations. A limitation on
extractions by a groundwater sustainability agency shall not be
construed to be a final determination of rights to extract
groundwater from the basin or any portion of the basin. A groundwater
sustainability agency may use the expedited adjudication procedures
in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10742) in establishing
groundwater extraction allocations.
(c) To authorize temporary and permanent transfers of groundwater
extraction allocations within the agency's boundaries, if the total
quantity of groundwater extracted in any year is consistent with the
provisions of the groundwater sustainability plan.
(d) To establish accounting rules to allow unused groundwater
extraction allocations issued by the agency to be carried over from
one year to another and voluntarily transferred, if the total
quantity of groundwater extracted in any five-year period is
consistent with the provisions of the groundwater sustainability
plan.
CHAPTER 7. FINANCIAL AUTHORITY
10732. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency may impose fees,
including, but not limited to, permit fees and fees on groundwater
extraction or other regulated activity, to fund the costs of a
groundwater sustainability program, including, but not limited to,
preparation, adoption, and amendment of a groundwater sustainability
plan, and program administration, investigations, inspections,
compliance assistance, and enforcement. A groundwater sustainability
agency shall not impose a fee pursuant to this subdivision on a de
minimus producer unless the agency has regulated the users pursuant
to this part.
(b) Prior to imposing or increasing a fee, a groundwater
sustainability agency shall hold at least one open and public
meeting, at which oral or written presentations may be made as part
of the meeting.
(1) Notice of the time and place of the meeting shall include a
general explanation of the matter to be considered and a statement
that the data required by this section is available. The notice shall
be mailed at least 14 days prior to the meeting to each record owner
of property within the basin and to any interested party who files a
written request with the agency for mailed notice of the meeting on
new or increased fees. A written request for mailed notices shall be
valid for one year
from the date that the request is made and may be renewed by making a
written request on or before April 1 of each year.
(2) At least 10 days prior to the meeting, the groundwater
sustainability agency shall make available to the public data upon
which the proposed fee is based.
(c) Any action by a groundwater sustainability agency to impose or
increase a fee shall be taken only by ordinance or resolution.
(d) (1) As an alternative method for the collection of fees
imposed pursuant to this section, a groundwater management agency may
adopt a resolution requesting collection of the fees in the same
manner as ordinary municipal ad valorem taxes.
(2) A resolution described in paragraph (1) shall be adopted and
furnished to the county auditor and board of supervisors on or before
August 1 of each year that the alternative collection of the fees is
being requested. The resolution shall include a list of parcels and
the amount to be collect for each parcel.
(e) The power granted by this section is in addition to any powers
a groundwater sustainability agency has under any other law.
10732.5. (a) A groundwater sustainability agency that adopts a
groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to this part may impose fees
on the extraction of groundwater from the basin to fund costs of
groundwater management, including, but not limited to, the costs of
the following:
(1) Administration, operation, maintenance, and acquisition of
lands or other property, facilities, and services.
(2) Supply, production, treatment, or distribution of water.
(3) Other activities necessary or convenient to implement the
plan.
(b) Fees may be implemented pursuant to Part 2.75 (commencing with
Section 10750) in accordance with the procedures provided in this
section.
(c) Fees imposed pursuant to this section shall be adopted in
accordance with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6 of Article XIII
D of the California Constitution.
(d) Fees imposed pursuant to this section may include fixed fees
and fees charged on a volumetric basis, including, but not limited
to, fees that increase based on the quantity of groundwater produced
annually, the year in which the production of groundwater commenced
from a groundwater extraction facility, and impacts to the basin.
(e) The power granted by this section is in addition to any powers
a groundwater sustainability agency has under any other law.
10733. A groundwater sustainability agency may fund activities
pursuant to Part 2.75 (commencing with Section 10750) and may impose
fees pursuant to Section 10732.5 to fund activities undertaken by the
agency pursuant to Part 2.75 (commencing with Section 10750).
10733.5. (a) A groundwater fee levied pursuant to this chapter
shall be due and payable to the groundwater sustainability agency by
each owner or operator on a day established by the groundwater
sustainability agency.
(b) If an owner or operator knowingly fails to pay a groundwater
charge within 30 days of it becoming due, the owner or operator shall
be liable to the groundwater sustainability agency for interest at
the rate of 1 percent per month on the delinquent amount of the
groundwater charge and a 10 percent penalty.
(c) The groundwater sustainability agency may bring a suit in the
court having jurisdiction against any owner or operator of a
groundwater extraction facility within the area covered by the plan
for the collection of any delinquent groundwater charges, interest,
or penalties imposed under this chapter. If the groundwater
sustainability agency seeks an attachment against the property of any
named defendant in the suit, the groundwater sustainability agency
shall not be required to furnish bond or other undertaking as
provided in Title 6.5 (commencing with Section 481.010) of Part 2 of
the Code of Civil Procedure.
(d) In the alternative to bringing a suit pursuant to subdivision
(c), a groundwater sustainability agency may collect any delinquent
groundwater charge and any civil penalties and interest on the
delinquent groundwater charge pursuant to the laws applicable to the
local agency or, if a joint powers authority, to the entity
designated pursuant to Section 6509 of the Government Code. The
collection shall be in the same manner as it would be applicable to
the collection of delinquent assessments, water charges, or tolls.
(e) As an additional remedy, a groundwater sustainability agency,
after a public hearing, may order an owner or operator to cease
extraction of groundwater until all delinquent fees are paid. The
groundwater sustainability agency shall give notice to the owner or
operator by certified mail not less than 15 days in advance of the
public hearing.
(f) The remedies specified in this section for collecting and
enforcing fees are cumulative and may be pursued alternatively or may
be used consecutively as determined by the governing body.
10734. (a) Nothing in this chapter shall affect or interfere with
the authority of a groundwater sustainability agency to levy and
collect taxes, assessments, charges, and tolls as otherwise provided
by law.
(b) For the purposes of Section 6254.16 of the Government Code,
persons subject to payment of fees pursuant to this chapter are
utility customers of a groundwater sustainability agency.
10734.5. (a) If there is reasonable cause to believe that the
production of groundwater from any groundwater extraction facility is
in excess of that disclosed by the statements covering the facility
or if no statement is filed covering the facility, then the governing
body may cause an investigation and report to be made concerning the
production of groundwater from that groundwater extraction facility
that includes, but is not limited to, the accuracy of the
water-measuring device. The governing body may make a determination
fixing the amount of groundwater production from the groundwater
extraction facility at an amount not to exceed the maximum production
capacity of the facility for purposes of levying a groundwater
charge. If a water-measuring device is permanently attached to the
groundwater extraction facility, the record of production as
disclosed by the water-measuring device shall be presumed to be
accurate unless the contrary is established by the groundwater
management agency after investigation.
(b) After the governing body makes a determination fixing the
amount of groundwater production pursuant to subdivision (a), a
written notice of the determination shall be mailed to the owner or
operator of the groundwater extraction facility at the address as
shown by the groundwater management agency's records. A determination
made by the governing body shall be conclusive on the owner or
operator and the groundwater charges, based on the determination
together with any interest and penalties, shall be payable
immediately unless within 10 days after the mailing of the notice the
owner or operator files with the governing body a written protest
setting forth the ground for protesting the amount of production or
the groundwater charges, interest, and penalties. If a protest is
filed pursuant to this subdivision, the governing body shall hold a
hearing to determine the total amount of the groundwater production
and the groundwater charges, interest, and penalties. The
determination by the governing body at the hearing shall be
conclusive if based upon substantial evidence. Notice of the hearing
shall be mailed to each protestant at least 10 days before the date
fixed for the hearing. Notice of the determination of the governing
body hearing shall be mailed to each protestant. The owner or
operator shall have 20 days from the date of mailing of the
determination to pay the groundwater charges, interest, and penalties
determined by the governing body.
CHAPTER 8. GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLANS
10735. (a) A groundwater sustainability plan shall be adopted for
each medium or high priority basin by an overlying groundwater
sustainability agency. The plan may incorporate, extend, or be based
on a plan adopted pursuant to Part 2.75 (commencing with Section
10750) and shall include all of the following:
(1) A description of the physical setting and characteristics of
the aquifer system underlying the basin that includes the following:
(A) Historical data, to the extent available.
(B) Groundwater levels, groundwater quality, subsidence, and
groundwater-surface water interaction.
(C) Known issues of concern with respect to the data described in
this paragraph.
(D) A general discussion of historical and projected water demands
and supplies.
(E) A map that details the area of the basin and the boundaries of
the groundwater sustainability agencies that overlie the basin that
have or are developing groundwater sustainability plans.
(F) A map identifying existing and potential recharge areas for
the basin. The map or maps shall identify the existing recharge areas
that substantially contribute to the replenishment of the
groundwater basin. The map or maps shall be provided to the
appropriate local planning agencies after adoption of the groundwater
sustainability plan.
(2) Groundwater management objectives to achieve the
sustainability goal in the basin within 20 years of the
implementation of the plan. The plan shall include a description of
how the plan helps meet each objective and how each objective is
intended to achieve the sustainability goal for the basin for
long-term beneficial uses of groundwater. The department, at the
request of the groundwater management agency, may grant an extension
of up to 10 years beyond the 20 year sustainability time frame if
necessary based on groundwater basin circumstances.
(3) A planning and implementation horizon of at least 50 years.
(4) As applicable to the basin, components relating to the
following:
(A) The monitoring and management of groundwater levels within the
basin.
(B) The monitoring and management of groundwater quality,
groundwater quality degradation, inelastic land surface subsidence,
and changes in surface flow and surface water quality that directly
affect groundwater levels or quality or are caused by groundwater
pumping in the basin.
(C) Mitigation of overdraft.
(D) How recharge areas identified in the plan substantially
contribute to the replenishment of the basin.
(5) A summary of the type of monitoring sites, type of
measurements, and the frequency of monitoring for each location
monitoring groundwater levels, groundwater quality, subsidence,
streamflow, precipitation, evaporation, and tidal influence. The plan
shall include a summary of monitoring information such as well
depth, screened intervals, and aquifer zones monitored, and a summary
of the type of well relied on for the information, including public,
irrigation, domestic, industrial, and monitoring wells.
(6) Monitoring protocols that are designed to detect changes in
groundwater levels, groundwater quality, inelastic surface subsidence
for basins for which subsidence has been identified as a potential
problem, and flow and quality of surface water that directly affect
groundwater levels or quality or are caused by groundwater pumping in
the basin. The monitoring protocols shall be designed to generate
information that promotes efficient and effective groundwater
management.
(b) A groundwater sustainability plan may include all of the
following, where appropriate:
(1) Control of saline water intrusion.
(2) Wellhead protection areas and recharge areas.
(3) Migration of contaminated groundwater.
(4) A well abandonment and well destruction program.
(5) Replenishment of groundwater extractions.
(6) Activities implementing, opportunities for, and impediments
to, conjunctive use.
(7) Well construction policies.
(8) Measures addressing groundwater contamination cleanup,
recharge, diversions to storage, conservation, water recycling,
conveyance, and extraction projects.
(9) Efficient water management practices, as defined in Section
10902, for the delivery of water and water conservation methods to
improve the efficiency of water use.
(10) Efforts to develop relationships with state and federal
regulatory agencies.
(11) Processes to review land use plans and efforts to coordinate
with land use planning agencies to assess activities that potentially
create risks to groundwater quality or quantity.
10735.5. (a) Prior to initiating the development of a groundwater
sustainability plan, the groundwater sustainability agency shall
make available to the public and the department a written statement
describing the manner in which interested parties may participate in
the development and implementation of the groundwater sustainability
plan. The groundwater sustainability agency may appoint and consult
with an advisory committee consisting of interested parties for the
purposes of developing and implementing a sustainable groundwater
management plan. The groundwater management agency shall encourage
the active involvement of diverse social, cultural, and economic
elements of the population within the groundwater basin prior to and
during the development and implementation of the groundwater
management plan. The groundwater sustainability agency shall
encourage the active involvement of diverse social, cultural, and
economic elements of the population within the basin prior to and
during the development and implementation of the groundwater
sustainability plan.
(b) The groundwater sustainability agency shall establish and
maintain a list of persons interested in receiving notices regarding
plan preparation, meeting announcements, and availability of draft
plans, maps, and other relevant documents. A person may request, in
writing, to be placed on the list of interested persons.
10736. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a groundwater
sustainability agency shall certify that its plan complies with this
part no later than January 31, 2020, and every five years thereafter.
A groundwater sustainability agency shall submit this certification
to the department within 30 days of the certification.
(b) A basin shall be in compliance with this part if a groundwater
sustainability agency for a basin or other local agency submits to
the department no later than January 31, 2020, and every five years
thereafter, any of the following documents:
(1) A copy of a governing final judgment or other judicial order
or decree establishing a groundwater sustainability program for the
basin.
(2) A report approved by a groundwater sustainability agency that
shows that current management or operations activities have been
consistent with the sustainable yield of the basin over a period of
at least 10 years. The report shall be prepared by a registered
professional engineer or geologist who is licensed by the state and
submitted under that engineer's or geologist's seal. The report may
demonstrate compliance with the sustainability goal in the basin by
presenting a balanced water budget for the basin, a technical
analysis demonstrating stable groundwater levels over the relevant
period, or other sufficient technical analyses.
(c) (1) The department may review the submissions made pursuant to
this section and may request the supporting information on which the
certification pursuant to subdivision (a) or the other documentation
pursuant to subdivision (b) relied. The department may issue
findings concerning the validity of the certification or other
submission.
(2) Before issuing findings pursuant to paragraph (1), the
department shall transmit a draft of its findings to the submitting
agency and shall consult with that agency. The submitting agency may
submit a response to the department within 60 days of receiving the
department's draft findings.
(3) If the department's findings issued pursuant to paragraph (1)
concern the compliance of a plan with requirements for sustainable
groundwater management or the operation of a basin consistent with
the basin's sustainable yield, the submitting agency, within 90 days
of receipt, shall consider amendments to its plan or technical
analysis to address the department's findings.
(d) The Antelope Valley basin at issue in the Antelope Valley
Groundwater Cases (Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding Number
4408) shall be treated as an adjudicated basin pursuant to this
section if the superior court's final judgment, order, or decree is
submitted to the department consistent with this section.
10736.5. A groundwater management agency shall periodically
evaluate its groundwater sustainability plan, assess changing
conditions in the basin that may warrant modification of the plan or
management objectives, and may adjust components in the plan. An
evaluation of the plan shall focus on determining whether the actions
under the plan are meeting the plan's management objectives and
whether those objectives are meeting the sustainability goal in the
basin.
10737. A groundwater sustainability agency preparing a
groundwater sustainability plan or a plan amendment shall notify any
city or county within the area of the proposed plan or amendment at
least 90 days before a public hearing on the plan where the agency
will be reviewing the plan or amendment and considering its adoption
or amendment. The groundwater sustainability agency shall obtain
comments from any city or county that receives notice pursuant to
this section and shall consult with a city or county that requests
consultation within 30 days of receipt of the notice. Nothing in this
section is intended to preclude an agency and a city or county from
otherwise consulting or commenting regarding the adoption or
amendment of a plan.
10737.5. (a) The department or a groundwater sustainability
agency may provide technical assistance to entities that extract or
use groundwater to promote water conservation and protect groundwater
resources.
(b) The department may provide technical assistance to any
groundwater sustainability agency in response to that agency's
request for assistance in the development and implementation of a
groundwater sustainability plan. The department shall use its best
efforts to provide the requested assistance.
(c) (1) By January 1, 2017, the department shall submit to the
Legislature and publish on its Internet Web site best management
practices for the sustainable management of groundwater.
(2) Best management practices to be submitted pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of
the Government Code.
(3) The department shall develop the best management practices in
consultation with a representative task force of interested entities.
The department shall ensure that the task force's members are
broadly representative of stakeholders who are interested in
groundwater. The task force shall have no more than 25 stakeholder
members. The task force also shall include at least three licensed
engineers who have extensive experience with groundwater issues. The
department shall convene the task force's first meeting by July 1,
2015. All meetings of the task force shall be open to the public.
(4) A groundwater sustainability agency may consider the best
management practices developed by the department in preparing a
groundwater sustainability plan consistent with the requirements of
this chapter.
CHAPTER 9. STATE INTERVENTION
10738. It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this measure
to provide that one or more state agencies act to ensure that all
basins in California are on track to achieve the sustainability goal
if local agencies are unable to adopt or implement groundwater
sustainability plans that achieve that goal.
CHAPTER 10. EXPEDITED ADJUDICATION
10742. It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this measure
to provide for expedited adjudications of rights to extract and store
water from and in basins by enacting, and directing the Judicial
Council to develop, innovative judicial procedures to manage those
adjudications as quickly as reasonably feasible so as to enable the
sustainable management of groundwater in the state.
CHAPTER 11. LAND USE
10745. (a) After January 31, 2020, until a groundwater
sustainability agency or the board complies with this part for a
basin, a person shall not increase groundwater extractions on a
property within the basin from the average of the extractions on that
property during the period of January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2014,
inclusive, unless the person submits to the county a report that
meets all of the following requirements:
(1) A registered professional engineer or geologist licensed by
the state prepared the report and submitted it under the engineer's
or geologist's seal.
(2) It includes a technical analysis demonstrating stable
groundwater levels over the relevant period in the area where the
increased extraction would occur.
(3) It demonstrates that the increased extractions would not cause
undesirable results in the basin.
(b) A land use agency shall issue a well-drilling permit only if
the extractions from the new or refurbished well satisfy the limit
established pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) This section does not apply to the following:
(1) Monitoring wells.
(2) Wells used for groundwater remediation under a cleanup or
remedial action plan approved by a public agency with authority to
oversee groundwater remediation or by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(3) A well that is subject to judicial oversight and control
pursuant to a final judgment governing extractions from the
groundwater basin.
(d) This section shall not be construed as an exemption from any
adjudication of rights to use groundwater whether that adjudication
occurs in a court of California, the United States, or under
procedures provided in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10742).
CHAPTER 12. WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY
10748. Sustainable groundwater management in California depends
upon creating more opportunities for robust conjunctive management of
surface water resources. Climate change will intensify the need to
recalibrate and reconcile surface and groundwater management
strategies. It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this measure
to provide that the State Water Resources Control Board and the
regional water quality control boards weigh the value of surface
water for groundwater replenishment and recharge to promote the state'
s interest in groundwater sustainability.
SEC. 6. The provisions of this act are severable.
If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that
can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new
crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the
penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime
within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other 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.
SEC. 8. The Legislature finds and declares that
Section 5 of this act, which adds Sections 10729.5 and 10734 to the
Water Code, imposes a limitation on the public's right of access to
the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and
agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the
California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision,
the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the
interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting
that interest:
In order to allow this act to fully accomplish its goals, it is
necessary to protect proprietary information submitted pursuant to
this act as confidential. Therefore, it is in the state's interest to
limit public access to this information.
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 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.