BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1739
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          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.








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          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  








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            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  








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          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.  









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          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  








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          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  








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          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  








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          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  








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          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









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           Analysis Prepared by  :    Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)  
          319-2096