BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1036
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Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
SB 1036 (Pavley) - As Amended: May 27, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
SUBJECT : Urban water management plans
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
include in its guidance for preparing an urban water management
plan (UWMP) a methodology that would help any urban water
supplier that wants to make a calculation or estimate of the
energy intensity of its water system. Allows DWR to consider
Public Utilities Commission studies and calculations when
developing the methodology.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires all urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt UWMPs
and update them every five years. Among other requirements,
UWMPs must:
a) Provide a description of the service area of the
supplier;
b) Identify and quantify water resources; and,
c) Make water use projections.
2)Specifies that compliance with the Urban Water Management
Planning Act is a prerequisite to receiving state funding for
water projects and programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee analysis there would be one-time costs of $50,000 from
the General Fund to DWR for the development of the methodology.
COMMENTS : This bill would implement another one of the
recommendations of an Independent Technical Panel (ITP) that was
convened to improve UWMPs. UWMPs are a primary tool for local
water suppliers to make thoughtful projections and orderly plans
for meeting the needs of water users in their service area.
They are also the basis for making water availability
determinations under SB 610 (Costa/2001) and SB 221
(Kuehl/2001), which are frequently referenced as the "show me
SB 1036
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the water" statutes.
AB 1420 (Laird/2007), among other things, required DWR to
convene the ITP to provide recommendations to the department and
the Legislature on new demand management measures, technologies,
and approaches. In February 2014, the ITP issued its Report to
the Legislature on Urban Water Management Plan Demand Management
Measures Reporting and Requirements. The Report made five
recommendations for improving UWMPs including, but not limited
to, a recommendation encouraging the voluntary reporting of
information about the energy intensity of water delivered to
customers. The Report noted that California's water supply is
highly energy intensive with the average electric intensity
level of supply two to five times greater than national averages
and that water utilities are among the largest energy users in
their communities. This bill would help achieve that
recommendation.
Related Measures : AB 2067 (Weber) would streamline the
reporting requirements for demand management measures in UWMPs.
AB 2067 was heard as a consent item in this Committee on March
25, 2014. SB 1420 (Wolk) requires an urban water supplier to
quantify and report distribution system water losses. Both bills
implement recommendations from the ITP Report.
Supporting arguments : The author advises that understanding
California's water-energy relationship is an increasingly
difficult task. The author states that the American Council for
an Energy-Efficient Economy found in 2013 that a lack of energy
use data and inadequate funding were major hurdles to joint
water-energy efficiency programs and that establishing baseline
energy use estimates would allow utilities to identify targets
for conservation programs. Other supporters advise that
providing a mechanism that allows urban water suppliers to
voluntarily report energy-related information could lead to
future funding opportunities for water efficiency measures that
save energy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California Water Agencies
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Public Utilities Commission Office of Ratepayer
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Advocates
City of Pasadena
East Bay Municipal Utilities District
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Natural Resources Defense Council
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096