BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1739 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE Anthony Rendon, Chair AB 1739 (Dickinson) - As Amended: April 22, 2014 SUBJECT : Groundwater management SUMMARY : Requires sustainable groundwater management in all groundwater subbasins determined by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to be at medium to high risk of significant economic, social and environmental impacts due to an unsustainable and chronic pattern of groundwater extractions exceeding the ability of the surface water supplies to replenish the subbasin. Specifically, this bill : 1)Adds groundwater sustainability to the Water Code and applies that section, by definition, to those groundwater basins (which include both basins and subbasins) that are identified by DWR as high or medium priority (Priority Basins). 2)Requires, by January 1, 2020, that a sustainable groundwater management plan (SGMP) be adopted in each Priority Basin by an overlying groundwater management agency (GMA) and updated every five years thereafter and that such plans meet, in addition to the minimum current components for groundwater management plans (GMPs), the following requirements: a) Sustainable groundwater management objectives, an analysis of demonstrating how the objectives will achieve sustainable groundwater management within 20 years of the implementation of the plan, and an identification of the parties responsible for achieving the objectives; b) A minimum 50 year planning and implementation horizon; c) Annual submission of performance reports; d) Regular submission of monitoring data to DWR for the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program (CASGEM) and locally to stakeholders. 3)Exempts from SGMP requirements any groundwater basin, or portion of a groundwater basin, that is subject to groundwater management pursuant to other provisions of law or a court order, judgment, or decree. 4)Requires SGMPs covering different portions of a groundwater basin not to conflict or impede each other. AB 1739 Page 2 5)Empowers a GMA to: a) Incorporate other areas overlying the groundwater basin that are not covered by another SGMP; b) Request an adjustment of a groundwater basin boundary to address hydrologic conditions and other features and other features based upon a technical analysis; c) Enter into different types of legal agreements to facilitate participation among entities; d) Raise funds for the purposes of sustainable groundwater management; e) Regulate the pumping of groundwater; f) Establish, assume, or cooperatively manage well permitting programs; g) Enforce the GMA's SGMP. 6)Prohibits new extractions from the groundwater as of a not-yet-specified date, or the date adopted by the GMA, whichever is earlier, unless the groundwater basin has an SGMP. Excludes single-family domestic wells from that prohibition. 7)Allows money in the existing Local Groundwater Assistance Fund, which is used for planning and implementation of GMPs to also be used for SGMP planning and implementation. 8)Allows Local Agency Formation Commissions to provide special technical assistance and an expedited timeline to facilitation the formation of local and regional GMAs. 9)Requires cities and counties, upon the adoption or revision of a general plan, to utilize GMPs and SGMPs as source documents. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) with broad powers to regulate the waste and unreasonable use of water, including groundwater. 2)Categorizes groundwater as either a subterranean stream flowing through a known and definite channel or percolating groundwater. Groundwater that is a subterranean stream is subject to the same State Water Board water right permitting requirements as surface water. There is no statewide AB 1739 Page 3 permitting requirement for percolating groundwater, which is the majority of groundwater. 3)Encourages local agencies to work cooperatively to manage groundwater resources within their jurisdictions and, if not otherwise required by law, to voluntarily adopt GMPs. 4)Requires that a GMP contain components related to funding, management, and monitoring in order for a local agency to be eligible for groundwater project funds administered by DWR. 5)Allows a GMP to voluntarily contain additional listed components. 6)Requires all of the groundwater basins identified in DWR's Groundwater Report, Bulletin 118, to be regularly and systematically monitored locally and the information to be readily and widely available. 7)Requires DWR to perform the groundwater elevation monitoring function if no local entity will do so but then bars the county and other entities eligible to monitor that basin from receiving state water grants or loans. 8)Requires DWR to prioritize groundwater basins based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, the level of population and irrigated acreage relying on the groundwater basin as a primary source of water and the current impacts on the groundwater basin from overdraft, subsidence, saline intrusion and other water quality degradation. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : California uses more groundwater than any other State yet there are no statewide standards for groundwater management. Groundwater provides, on average, 40% of California's water supply and that usage can increase to 60% or greater in dry years. For some communities groundwater is 100% of their local supplies. Yet groundwater is perhaps our most mysterious and least understood water source. Groundwater refers to water located beneath the surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. It does not exist as one continuous homogenous bathtub-like water body, but can be almost like a layer cake with different levels of varying depths that extend to large areas or are confined to small disconnected AB 1739 Page 4 pockets. On March 11, 2014 the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee held an informational hearing on Management of California's Groundwater Resources. The purpose of the hearing was to add to the growing and collaborative conversation about groundwater management in California - a conversation that was made more urgent by the Governor's declaration on January 17, 2014 of a drought state of emergency in California. The Governor's declaration came on the heels of three dry years in a row and was the second time in five years that a California Governor had declared a drought state of emergency. Testimony at the hearing referenced the data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, which reveals that between 2003 and 2009 the groundwater aquifers for the Central Valley and its major mountain water source, the Sierra Nevadas, had lost almost 26 million acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is a standard measurement of water - enough water to flood an acre of land a foot deep - and equates to about 326,000 gallons). That is nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings reflected the effects of California's extended drought and the resulting increased rates of groundwater being pumped for human uses, such as irrigation. Overdraft in California today is estimated to occur in parts of the Central Valley, especially the Tulare Lake Basin, but also in some coastal and southern California basins with limited surface water supplies and intensive agriculture. While some overdraft reverses temporarily during wet periods, DWR estimates that California is overdrafting its groundwater at a rate of 1.5 million acre-feet per year. However, NASA estimates groundwater overdraft in California may be close to 4.4 million acre-feet per year statewide. Current Groundwater Management and Monitoring of Supply There are three basic methods available for managing groundwater resources in California: management by local agencies under authority granted in the California Water Code or other applicable State statutes; local government groundwater ordinances or joint powers agreements; and, court adjudications. AB 1739 Page 5 AB 3030 (Costa), the California Groundwater Management Act, was passed by the Legislature in 1992. It was a significant addition to the groundwater management authorities granted under the Water Code in that it greatly increased the number of local agencies authorized to develop GWMPs and set forth a common framework for management by local agencies throughout California. Adoption of a GMP was encouraged under AB 3030 but not required. SB 1938 (Machado/2002) took a further step when it set out certain specified components for GMPs and required any local agency seeking state funds administered by DWR to meet those requirements. Subsequent bond initiatives have also made an adopted GMP an eligibility criterion for receiving groundwater project and program funds. Since its passage, 149 agencies have adopted GMPs in accordance with AB 3030. Other agencies have begun the process. As mentioned above, in some basins, groundwater is managed under other statutory or judicial authority. The California Groundwater Management Act, as amended, provides a systematic procedure to develop a GMP and requires the inclusion of certain minimum components. These include basin management objectives and monitoring and management of groundwater levels, inelastic surface subsidence, and changes in surface flow and surface quality that directly affect groundwater levels or quality or are caused by groundwater pumping. The Act also requires a description of how recharge areas identified in the plan substantially contribute to the replenishment of the groundwater basin. In addition, suggested optional components that might be relevant for a particular groundwater basin are listed. In 2009 groundwater monitoring took another step forward in the historic five-bill package of water legislation adopted during the Seventh Extraordinary Session on water in 2009. That package included SBX7 6 (Steinberg). SBX7 6 recognized that the statewide collection and evaluation of seasonal and long-term trends in groundwater elevations in California's groundwater basins is an important fundamental step toward improving management of California's groundwater resources. To achieve that goal, SBX7 6 incentivizes local monitoring entities to collect groundwater elevation data by mandating that, as a default, it will be done by DWR and if DWR was required to step in then those entities are ineligible for state funding for AB 1739 Page 6 their groundwater projects and programs. In accordance with SBX7 6, DWR developed the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) program. State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Workplan Concept Paper On October 4, 2013 the State Water Board's release of a Discussion Draft Groundwater Workplan Concept Paper advanced the groundwater conversation even further. That paper called for the implementation of five key elements - "whether at the local, regional, or state level" - in order to effectively manage groundwater. The five elements are: "1. Sustainable thresholds for water level drawdown and water quality for impacted, vulnerable, and high-use basins; 2. Water quality and water level monitoring and assessment, and data management systems, capable of determining if thresholds are being met and evaluating trends; 3. Governance structures with the management mechanisms needed to prevent impacts before they occur, clean up contamination where it has occurred, provide adequate treatment of contaminated drinking water sources, and ensure that meeting groundwater level and quality thresholds are managed over the long term; 4. Funding to support monitoring and governance/management actions; and 5. Oversight and enforcement in basins where ongoing management efforts are not protecting groundwater. The Groundwater Workplan Concept Paper also advised that the Water Board would be focusing "attention and assistance on high-use basins where thresholds are being exceeded." Following release of that Concept Paper the State Water Board engaged in stakeholder discussion to receive feedback and held several highly-attended all day public workshops. California Water Action Plan and Governor's Budget 2014-15 January 22, 2014 also saw the release of the final version of AB 1739 Page 7 the Governor's California Water Action Plan. Responding to "one of the driest winters on record," the Governor tasked the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture in late 2013 to work together on a plan that would guide state efforts to enhance water supply reliability, restore damaged and destroyed ecosystems, and improve the resilience of our infrastructure over the next five years. The Plan focuses on eight "challenges for managing California's water supplies," which are: uncertain water supplies; water scarcity/drought; declining groundwater supplies; poor water quality; declining native fish species and loss of wildlife habitat; floods; supply disruptions; and, population growth and climate change further increasing the severity of risks. Regarding declining groundwater supplies, the Action Plan acknowledges that some of California's groundwater basins are sustainably managed, but unfortunately, many are not. The report finds that "inconsistent and inadequate tools, resources and authorities make managing groundwater difficult in California and impede our ability to address problems such as overdraft, seawater intrusion, land subsidence, and water quality degradation." But it also acknowledged that, conversely, properly managed groundwater resources could "help protect communities, farms and the environment against the impacts of prolonged dry periods and climate change" and that the "strategies identified in this action plan will move California toward more sustainable management of our groundwater resources." With respect to expanding water storage capacity and improving groundwater management, the Action Plan focuses on the increased flexibility that could be created in California's water management system if some increment of flows in high water years could be banked for later in surface water reservoirs and groundwater basins. The Action Plan also acknowledged the need to "better manage our groundwater basins to reverse alarming declines in groundwater levels" and that continued "declines in groundwater levels could lead to irreversible land subsidence, poor water quality, reduced surface flows, ecosystem impacts, and the permanent loss of capacity to store water as groundwater." Among the programs identified for support to achieve the Action Plan goals were CASGEMS and GAMA. The Action Plan also called for an update of Bulletin 118 and AB 1739 Page 8 efforts to improve sustainable groundwater management, support distributed groundwater storage, increase statewide groundwater recharge, and accelerate cleanup of contaminated groundwater and prevent future contamination. On January 9, 2014, the Governor proposed his 2014-15 budget, which included $619 million to advance the Action Plan. The budget took bold steps on groundwater under the title "Expand Water Storage Capacity" by providing $1.9 million to the State Water Board for "10 positions to act as a backstop when local or regional agencies are unable or unwilling to sustainably manage groundwater basins." The proposed budget advises that the State Water Board "will protect groundwater basins at risk of permanent damage until local or regional agencies are able to do so." In addition to funds for the State Water Board groundwater management backstop, the budget included $3 million for continued support of GAMA's priority basin project and $2.9 million to DWR to continue CASGEM with an additional directive for "more effective and timely access to hydrogeologic and well construction data." On March 1, 2014 the Governor signed two bipartisan urgency measures SB 103 and SB 104 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) that accelerated some funding proposed in the budget in order to more quickly address drought-related impacts. Some groundwater management funds were included in that action. Governor's Office Draft Framework for Soliciting Stakeholder Input on Groundwater Management On March 7, 2014 the Governor's Office released a draft framework for "soliciting input on actions that can be taken to assure that local groundwater managers have the tools and authority to sustainably manage groundwater consistent with the California Water Action Plan." In particular the Draft Framework advises that in developing ideas it may be helpful to consider whether local agencies need enhanced local agency authority and how the State should structure state backstop authority when local action has not occurred or has been insufficient. The Draft Framework emphasizes that local agencies are the most familiar with the condition of their groundwater basins and are in the best position to manage those resources locally. But it acknowledges that local agencies may need new or modified statutory authorities to manage groundwater more effectively. The framework submits for consideration whether such tools would AB 1739 Page 9 need to address: allocation of groundwater ability to control pumping ability to assess fees for replenishment or other groundwater activities groundwater measurement and reporting Additional questions regarding local authority include, but are not limited to whether existing GMPs should play a role and, if so, whether their content needs to change and whether there are existing barriers to adequately funding groundwater management efforts. Current Groundwater Legislation This bill is one of two current legislative efforts to address better groundwater management. The other bill is SB 1168 (Pavley) which was heard in Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on April 22, 2014. Both bills represent initial groundwater management concepts developed after extensive stakeholder processes. Supporting arguments : The author states that in many areas, including parts of the San Joaquin Valley, overdraft of groundwater has become a serious problem and while a number of groundwater basins and subbasins are under sound local and regional management, others are not. The author adds that while existing authorities and requirements for managing groundwater provide a strong foundation, managing to a sustainable level of groundwater requires additional tools that build upon that foundation. The author advises that this bill seeks to address several critical policy objectives that are central to improving local and regional groundwater management efforts and achieving sustainable groundwater levels, especially in high and medium risk overdraft basins and subbasins. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Opposition None on file None on file AB 1739 Page 10 Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916) 319-2096