BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2453|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2453
Author: Achadjian (R)
Amended: 8/4/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Wolk, Knight, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Liu, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beall
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Lara, Monning,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-11, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Paso Robles Basin Water District
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill, until January 1, 2019, authorizes the
formation, governing board structure and powers of the Paso
Robles Basin Water District (district) in San Luis Obispo
County, with the district's boundaries to be established by the
San Luis Obispo County Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCO). This bill authorizes the district to develop, adopt,
and implement a groundwater management plan to control
extractions from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin aquifers, as
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specified. This bill also authorizes the district to impose
groundwater extraction charges, to establish extraction
allocations, and to impose extraction surcharges to, among other
things, discourage the use of groundwater beyond the extraction
allocation.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, special districts are separate
local governments formed to provide limited public services to a
geographically designated area. Most special districts provide
a focused governmental service, such as road maintenance but
some forms of special districts, such as Community Services
Districts, can provide a range of services. Unlike counties,
special districts are not confined to serving a contiguous area.
Like cities and counties, special districts have the
operational authorities to function and provide direct services.
Unlike cities and counties, however, special districts
typically do not have police powers, or the power to regulate
private behavior, but in some instances limited regulatory
powers are authorized.
Existing law authorizes some 20 types of special districts that
have statutory authority to provide water or exercise authority
over groundwater. Additionally, more than a dozen special act
districts exercise some form of groundwater authority.
Groundwater also can be managed under the police powers of local
agencies, such as through ordinances. The California Department
of Water Resources reports that 27 counties have adopted
groundwater management ordinances. Additionally, AB 3030
(Costa, Chapter 947, Statutes of 1992) established the
California Groundwater Management Act, which authorized but did
not require local agencies to put in place a groundwater
management plan. SB 1938 (Machado, Chapter 603, Statutes of
2002) furthered the goal of groundwater management by requiring
a groundwater management plan before local agencies can seek a
range of state funding.
This bill, until January 1, 2019, authorizes the formation,
governing board structure and powers of the district in San Luis
Obispo County, with the district's boundaries to be established
by the San Luis Obispo County LAFCO. This bill authorizes the
district to develop, adopt, and implement a groundwater
management plan to control extractions from the Paso Robles
Groundwater Basin aquifers, as specified. This bill also
authorizes the district to impose groundwater extraction
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charges, to establish extraction allocations, and to impose
extraction surcharges to, among other things, discourage the use
of groundwater beyond the extraction allocation.
The district formation shall comply with the
Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg LAFCO Act of 2000, with specified
exceptions, and the district's authority will be subject to
LAFCO review. On or before January 1, 2019, 10% of landowners
may petition for, or an affected local agency within the county,
including the county and the San Luis Obispo County Flood
Control and Water Conservation District, may apply for by
resolution, the formation of a district, consistent with the
specified definitions.
Following a successful petition by the landowners or a
resolution of application by an affected local agency, an
election among landowners shall be conducted on the matter of
whether to form the district.
This bill establishes the governing board of directors of the
district and voting structure as follows:
The governing board of the district must include nine
landowner members, six of whom shall be elected by landowners,
and three of whom shall be elected by resident-voters.
Of the six directors elected by landowners, two directors must
elected by landowners owning 400 or more acres of land in the
district, two directors must be elected by landowners owning
between 40 and 399 acres of land in the district, and two
directors must be elected by landowners owning less than 40
acres of land in the district.
Landowner-voting is weighted, with each landowner-voter
casting one vote for each acre of land owned by the voter
within the district. Candidates for the landowner seats can
be drawn from any class of landowner.
Specifies the three remaining landowner seats shall be elected
from among all eligible voters who reside within the district.
The landowners must be registered voters residing in the
district.
Eligibility for the director seats is limited to
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landowners who are residents of the districts or who reside
within two miles of the district boundary, or within the
City of Paso Robles, the Atascadero Mutual Water Company,
the Templeton Community Services District, the San Miguel
Community Services District, or the San Luis Obispo County
Service Area 16.
The election of the district board of directors is to be carried
out according to the terms of the Uniform District Election Law,
and shall be treated as a landowner-voter district. This bill
requires voting to be conducted by all mail ballots.
This bill specifies the participation of landowners in the
election and defines several terms.
Groundwater Management Authority . This bill authorizes the
district to exercise authority under the Groundwater Management
component of state water law and declares that the creation of
the district shall not modify the powers of the County of San
Luis Obispo or the San Luis Obispo County Flood and Water
Conservation District.
All powers in this part are subject to review and approval by
the San Luis Obispo County Local Agency Formation Commission,
upon formation, change of organization, or reorganization under
the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act
of 2000.
The board of directors of the district may adopt ordinances for
the purpose of regulating, conserving, managing, and controlling
the use and extraction of groundwater within the territory of
the district. All ordinances shall be adopted, after noticed
public hearings by a majority vote of the board. Notice of the
adoption of all ordinances shall be given. The ordinances of
the district shall become effective on the 31st day after
adoption except that the board may, by the vote of at least four
members of the board, dispense with notice of public hearing and
adopt an emergency ordinance that shall become effective
immediately upon adoption, if the board determines that the
public health, safety, or welfare so requires.
This bill states that any person who intentionally violates any
provision or any district ordinance shall be guilty of an
infraction and may be required to pay a fine to the district not
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to exceed $500. Also, any person who negligently or
intentionally violates any provision or any district ordinance
may also be liable civilly to the district for a sum not to
exceed $1,000 per day for each day of violation, in addition to
any other penalties that may be prescribed by law.
Groundwater Management Plans . This bill allows the district, in
order to balance the water supply and demand within the Paso
Robles Groundwater Basin, to do the following:
A. Develop, adopt, and implement a groundwater management
plan to control extractions from the Paso Robles
Groundwater Basin aquifers with the objective of balancing
water supply and demand in the region.
B. The plan may also include and address the following:
(1) Existing groundwater storage.
(2) Long-term recoverable storage, including an estimate
of non-recoverable storage.
(3) The expected adverse effects of projected
extractions.
The groundwater management plan may establish distinct zones or
regions based on the geology of the basin, land use, water use,
the location of extraction facilities, or other concerns as
determined by the board. The groundwater management plan may
include a policy for the issuance of new well permits that takes
into consideration the location of proposed wells and area of
use, projected extractions from the wells, and the effect of the
extractions on existing users and on storage. In developing the
groundwater management plan, the district may consider a ban on
new irrigated acreage or new municipal water system wells. The
district may include a contingency plan to deal with seawater
intrusion, basin contamination, or other risks that could impair
the ability to rely on the basin for groundwater.
Groundwater management . This bill allows, if the board
determines, that groundwater management activities are necessary
in order to improve or protect the quantity or quality of
groundwater supplies within a groundwater basin or aquifer by
ordinance, exercise any of the following powers:
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A. Require conservation practices and measures within the
affected portion of its territory.
B. Control groundwater extractions by regulating, limiting,
or suspending extractions from extraction facilities, the
construction of new extraction facilities, the enlarging of
existing extraction facilities, and the reactivation of
abandoned extraction facilities.
C. Commence and prosecute legal actions to enjoin
unreasonable uses or methods of use of water within the
district or outside the territory of the district to the
extent those uses or methods of use adversely affect the
groundwater supply within the district.
D. Impose spacing requirements on new extraction facility
construction to minimize well interference.
E. Impose reasonable operating regulations on extraction
facilities to minimize well interference, including
requiring pumpers to operate on a rotation basis.
F. Require extraction facilities to be registered with the
district within 30 days of notice being given to the
operator of the extraction facility.
G. Require that the operator of a registered extraction
facility provide the district annually with the following
information regarding the extraction facility:
(1) The name and address of the operator of the
extraction facility.
(2) The name and address of the owner of the land upon
which the extraction facility is located.
(3) A description of the equipment associated with the
extraction facility.
(4) The location of the water extraction facility.
A. Require extraction facilities to be equipped with water
flow measuring devices installed and calibrated by the
district or, at the district's option, by the extraction
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facility operator.
Groundwater Extraction Charges . This bill allows by ordinance,
the district to levy groundwater extraction charges, including
volumetric charges intended to provide an incentive for reduced
water use, on the extraction of groundwater from all water
extraction facilities within the territory of the district for
the purposes of paying the costs of initiating, carrying on, and
completing any of the powers, purposes, and groundwater
management activities described in this bill. Any groundwater
extraction charges shall be uniform for groundwater extraction
within the territory of the district.
This bill provides that the monies collected by the district
shall be available for expenditures by the district to carry out
its groundwater management functions.
All monies collected by the district pursuant to this bill shall
be available for expenditure by the district to carry out its
groundwater management functions pursuant to this bill.
This bill makes legislative findings and declaration to its
necessity.
Comments
This bill establishes the governance structure for a new water
district charged with managing the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin
and ensuring reliable and equitable access to water that is
essential to the residents and communities of the region. The
unique governance structure of this bill brings together
landowners and residents, with balanced representation, to
manage the often contentious challenges surrounding water. The
governance structure established in this bill results from
months of community deliberations and compromise, and represents
the best approach to building the community confidence needed to
manage the region's groundwater that is the primary - and often
the only - water source for area residents, farms and
businesses. This bill is uniquely tailored to the needs of the
region.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/14)
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California Association of Winegrape Growers
City of El Paso de Robles
Paso Robles Agricultural Alliance for Groundwater Solutions
Pro Water Equity, Inc.
San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/11/14)
Clean Water Action California
Defenders of Wildlife
North County Water
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Paso Robles
Agricultural Alliance for Groundwater Solutions (PRAAGS) and the
California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG), "the latest
update to the county's Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Model
indicates groundwater has been in decline for a number of years.
A conventional California Water District model, among others,
was considered and found not to meet the diverse needs of the
various local interests."
AB 2453 proposes to create a unique governing structure for the
Paso Robles Basin Water District should it be established by the
San Luis Obispo County Local Agency Formation Commission. The
governance structure proposed in the measure is a nine-member
board of directors, comprised of three at-large members elected
by registered voters in the district and six members elected on
the basis of acreage - two each from small, medium, and large
landowners, respectively.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : A coalition of environmental
organizations argue, while we support local management of
groundwater supply, the candidate qualification and voting
process to form and determine Paso Robles Basin Water District
directors proposed in AB 2453 are unfair to local residents who
do not own large acreage of land. As written, AB 2453
incorporates an acreage-based voting model to form and elect six
out of the nine water district directors and requires that those
running for the position of director be landowners themselves.
There would be nine directors elected to the board: two elected
by large landowners, two elected by medium landowners, two
elected by small landowners, and three members at large elected
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by all registered voters. The vote to decide whether or not to
form this type of water district is strictly acreage-based.
This type of voting system and landownership requirements for
water district directors will send a signal to local residents
that their votes and opinions do not have the same weight as
their neighbors who own land or more land. We would like to see
a system where residents are treated equally regardless of the
amount of lands owned. This could be done by putting in place a
one-voter-one-vote system and removing the landownership
requirement for eligibility to be a director.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-11, 5/28/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Bigelow, Bocanegra, Bradford,
Ian Calderon, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Ridley-Thomas, Salas, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk, Atkins
NOES: Ammiano, Fox, Gomez, Gonzalez, Roger Hernández, Levine,
Medina, V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Stone, Williams
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Buchanan,
Campos, Chau, Fong, Lowenthal, Mullin, Pan, John A. Pérez,
Rendon, Rodriguez, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Yamada, Vacancy
AB:e 8/12/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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