BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1896| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 1896 Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D) Amended: 4/7/14 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/10/14 AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning, Wolk SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/25/14 AYES: Hill, Gaines, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Coachella Valley Water District: nonpotable water use SOURCE : Coachella Valley Water District DIGEST : This bill adds landscaped common areas of residential developments maintained by a homeowners association to those entities within the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) service area for which a person or local public agency is prohibited from using potable water for nonpotable uses. ANALYSIS : CONTINUED AB 1896 Page 2 Existing law: 1. Requires under the California Constitution Article X, Section 2 of requires the prevention of waste or unreasonable use of water. It further provides that the right to water does not extend to water that is wasted or unreasonably used. 2. Prohibits a person or local public agency from using, within the district's service area, water from any source that is suitable for potable domestic use for nonpotable uses for cemeteries, parks, highway landscaped areas, new industrial facilities, and golf course irrigation if the Board of Directors of the CVWD determines that suitable nonpotable water is available, as specified, and other requirements are met. This bill: 1. Extends, for the CVWD, the application of Article X, Section 2 to landscaped common areas of residential developments maintained by a homeowner's association. 2. Makes legislative findings about the challenges of water management in the Coachella Valley. Background Groundwater in the Coachella Valley . According to the CVWD, groundwater is the source of virtually all drinking water and other domestic water in the Coachella Valley. Potable water is currently utilized for many nonpotable purposes, including irrigation for golf courses and other outdoor landscaping. CVWD states that as a result, the Coachella Valley's significantly-sized aquifer is in a state of overdraft. Because of this, the CVWD, the sponsor of this bill, are seeking to limit nonpotable uses of potable water if there is suitable nonpotable water available. A waste or an unreasonable use of water . In California, the use of potable domestic water for nonpotable purposes is a waste or unreasonable use within the meaning of the California Constitution Article X Section 2, if nonpotable water is available that meets specific conditions. Those conditions include that the nonpotable water is of adequate quality, is AB 1896 Page 3 furnished at a reasonable cost, meets public health requirements, will not adversely affect downstream water rights, and will not degrade the environment. This means that if nonpotable water is available that meets the conditions established in statute, and a water user instead uses potable water for the uses limited by statute, the water rights associated with the potable water are at risk of violating California Constitution Article X Section 2. Current limitations on uses of potable domestic water . SB 1557 (Ducheny, Chapter 67, Statutes of 2006) prohibits a person or local public agency from using, within the CVWD's service area, water from any source that is suitable for potable domestic use for specified nonpotable uses if the Board determines, after notice and an opportunity for hearing, that suitable nonpotable water is available, as specified, and other requirements are met. SB 1577 listed cemeteries, parks, highway landscaped areas, new industrial facilities, and golf course irrigation as entities prohibited from using potable water if nonpotable water is available. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/14) Coachella Valley Water District (source) Association of California Water Agencies City of Palm Desert Desert Valleys Builders Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Desert Valley Builders Association this bill, "will allow the CVWD to, when cost effective, transition the landscaped common areas of residential developments maintained by homeowners associations to the use of non-potable water for irrigation. "The Coachella Valley's aquifer is in a state of overdraft. While the CVWD has instituted an aggressive replenishment program to replenish the aquifer, additional, meaningful opportunities for groundwater still exist. The best public policy is to reduce demand on the aquifer by substituting the use of ground water for non-potable water when doing so is cost-effective and feasible. AB 1896 Page 4 "Substituting ground water for non-potable water will not only reduce demand on the aquifer, but has the added benefit of helping to replenish the aquifer as up to 40% of the non-potable water used in lieu of groundwater will percolate back into the aquifer." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande, Vacancy RM:d 8/4/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****