BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       SB 1168|
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                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 1168
          Author:   Pavley (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/29/14
          Vote:     21


           SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE  :  7-2, 4/22/14
          AYES:  Pavley, Evans, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning, Wolk
          NOES:  Cannella, Fuller

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-2, 5/23/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Gaines

          SENATE FLOOR  :  24-12, 5/27/14
          AYES:  Beall, Block, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier,  
            Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson,  
            Lara, Leno, Lieu, Mitchell, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth,  
            Steinberg, Torres, Wolk
          NOES:  Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,  
            Knight, Morrell, Nielsen, Vidak, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Calderon, Liu, Wright, Yee

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Not available


           SUBJECT  :    Groundwater management

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires adoption of a sustainable  
          groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) by January 31, 2020, for  
                                                                CONTINUED





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          all high or medium priority basins that are subject to critical  
          conditions of overdraft and by January 31, 2022, for all other  
          high and medium priority basins unless the basin is legally  
          adjudicated or the local agency establishes it is otherwise  
          being sustainably managed.

           Assembly Amendments  add chaptering language with AB 1739  
          (Dickinson) and SB 1319 (Pavley); revise and recast the Senate  
          provisions relating to all groundwater basins and subbasins in  
          the state, enacting the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act  
          (Act), and adopting a GSP.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          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  
            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 groundwater  
            management plans.

          4.Requires that a groundwater management plan contain components  
            related to funding, management, and monitoring in order for a  
            local agency to be eligible for groundwater project funds  
            administered by the Department of Water Resources (DWR).

          5.Allows a groundwater management plan to voluntarily contain  
            additional listed components.

          6.Requires all of the groundwater basins identified in DWR's  
            Groundwater Report, Bulletin No. 118, to be regularly and  
            systematically monitored locally and the information to be  







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            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. 

          This bill:

          1.Makes findings including, but not limited to, California's  
            high reliance on groundwater to meet its water needs; the  
            necessity of integrated surface and groundwater management in  
            order to meet the state's water management goals; and the  
            failed wells, deteriorated water quality, environmental  
            damage, and irreversible land subsidence that occur when  
            groundwater is not properly managed.

          2.Establishes that it is the policy of the state that all  
            groundwater basins are managed sustainably for multiple  
            economic, social and environmental benefits and that such  
            management is best achieved locally based on best available  
            science.

          3.Enacts the Act with the stated intent of empowering local  
            groundwater agencies to sustainably manage groundwater basins  
            through the development of GSPs.

          4.Defines sustainable groundwater management, among other terms.

          5.Encourages the voluntary participation of California Native  
            tribes and federal agencies in sustainable groundwater  
            management while preserving and acknowledging the federally  
            reserved rights of federally recognized Indian tribes.

          6.Specifies that groundwater basins are those identified by the  
            DWR in Bulletin No. 118, as it may be amended, and includes  
            subbasins.







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          7.Requires DWR, by January 31, 2015, to prioritize each basin as  
            either a high, medium, low, or very low priority using factors  
            under the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation  
            Monitoring (CASGEM) program that include, but are not limited  
            to: population, extent of public wells; overlying irrigated  
            acreage; reliance on groundwater; any documented impacts upon  
            the basin from overdraft, subsidence, saline intrusion and  
            other water quality degradation; or any other information  
            determined to be relevant by the department, including adverse  
            impacts on local habitat and local stream flows.

          8.Requires that high and medium priority basins that are in a be  
            sustainably managed through a GSP but excepts:

             A.   Basins, or portions of basins, that were subject to a  
               groundwater adjudication; and

             B.   Basins that a local agency can demonstrate are already  
               being sustainably managed.

          1.Encourages low and very low priority basins to manage through  
            a GSP but, should they voluntarily choose to do so, exempts  
            them from any State compliance actions.

          2.Allows any local agency or combination of agencies to  
            establish a groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) for the  
            purpose of developing and implementing a GSP.  Allows water  
            corporations regulated by the Public Utilities Commission to  
            participate in a GSA if the local agencies forming the GSA  
            approve.

          3.Recognizes and lists special districts that were created in  
            legislation for the purpose of managing groundwater and makes  
            those districts the exclusive entities within their boundaries  
            with authority to comply with the Act, unless they choose to  
            opt out.

          4.Allows a city or county to be the GSA or, in the case of an  
            area where no local agency has assumed management, presumes  
            the county to be the GSA unless the county opts out.  If the  
            county opts out and there is no other local agency, requires  
            reporting of groundwater extractions directly to the State  
            Water Board.







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          5.Requires a local agency or combination of local agencies that  
            is electing to be, or forming, a GSA to notify DWR of the  
            intent to be a GSA and provide a notice to DWR that includes  
            the proposed boundaries of the GSA, among other information.   
            Requires DWR to post the notice to its Internet Web site.

          6.Following public notice, a public hearing, and final action to  
            become a GSA, requires the GSA to notify DWR within 30 days  
            and include copies of pertinent documents, as specified.   
            Requires DWR to post the final notice and documents to its  
            Internet Web site.  Ninety days following posting by DWR, the  
            GSA is presumed to be the exclusive GSA for its boundaries if  
            no other GSA submits a notice.

          7.Provides for public involvement in the development of GSPs and  
            sets forth a diverse set of interests that should be  
            considered by the GSA during that process including an entity  
            within the basin that is currently a CASGEM monitoring entity.

          8.Empowers GSAs to collect information regarding the condition  
            of the basin and then develop and implement a GSP using, as  
            the GSA chooses, powers and authorities provided under the Act  
            including, but not limited to:

             A.   Acquiring land and water to carry out the plan,  
               including but not limited to spreading, storing, retaining,  
               percolating, transporting, or reclaiming water to recharge  
               the basin or provide water supplies in-lieu of groundwater;

             B.   Monitoring for compliance and limiting extractions; and

             C.   Proposing, collecting, updating and enforcing fees,  
               consistent with all statutory and Constitutional  
               requirements.

          1.Specifies that nothing in the Act or in any GSA adopted  
            pursuant to the Act determines or alters surface water rights  
            or groundwater rights under common law or any provision of law  
            that determines or grants surface water rights. 

          2.Requires, by June 1, 2016, that DWR develop regulations  
            regarding:








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             A.   GSP components;

             B.   Coordination of multiple GSPs for a basin; and

             C.   Alternative compliance, including submitting an existing  
               plan as a functional equivalent of a GSP or submitting an  
               analysis of basin conditions that demonstrates the basin is  
               being sustainably managed.

          1.Specifies, in those areas that require a GSP to be completed,  
            adopted, and submitted to DWR that the deadlines are:

             A.   January 31, 2020, in high and medium priority basins  
               that are subject to critical conditions of overdraft; and

             B.   January 31, 2022 for all other high and medium priority  
               basins.

          1.Exempts the preparation and adoption of a GSP from the  
            California Environmental Quality Act but does not exempt a  
            project or action to implement the GSP.

          2.Requires GSPs to meet certain standards including: 

             A.   Encompassing an entire basin or subbasin; and 

             B.   Being designed to achieve sustainable groundwater  
               management within 20 years of adoption with progress  
               reports to DWR and the State Water Board every five years.

          1.Requires a GSA to annually report to DWR its groundwater  
            elevation data, aggregated extraction data, use or  
            availability of surface water for recharge or in-lieu  
            supplies, total water use, and change in groundwater storage.

          2.Allows DWR to adjust basin boundaries, as specified, and  
            re-prioritize low and very low basins according to criteria  
            that include adverse impacts to habitat and surface water  
            resources.  Requires DWR to adopt emergency regulations  
            governing basin boundary adjustments.

          3.Provides that if a basin is reprioritized to medium or high,  
            it shall have two years from the date of reprioritization to  
            form a governance entity for sustainable management or submit  







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            an alternate means of establishing the basin is sustainably  
            managed.  If no alternate means is approved, allows five years  
            to adopt a GSP in compliance with the Act.

          4.Prohibits the adoption or renewal of existing groundwater  
            management plans that do not meet the requirements for a GSP  
            but allows such plans to remain in effect until a GSP is  
            adopted.

          5.Allows a GSA to become a CASGEM monitoring agency.

          6.Contains chaptering language that only allows this bill to  
            become operative if AB 1739 (Dickinson) and SB 1319 (Pavley)  
            are enacted and become operative this session.

           Background
           
          As Benjamin Franklin warned over 200 years ago, we know the  
          worth of water when the well is dry.  Unfortunately, for many  
          Californians that is a stark reality or a pending calamity that  
          has been coming in slow-motion for 50 years.  In its August 15,  
          2014, editorial the Sacramento Bee notes that it was in 1962  
          that an Assembly Interim Committee on Water dodged the issue of  
          needed groundwater management by advising the Legislature it  
          should act if the situation got worse.  It got worse.  Sixteen  
          years later, in 1978, the Governor's Commission to Review  
          California Water Rights Law, a group commissioned by Governor  
          Jerry Brown, found the groundwater situation was critical and  
          that comprehensive local management had not been undertaken in  
          many over drafted areas of the state.  Again, there was no  
          action.

          An August 18, 2014, Los Angeles Times column asserts there is no  
          better time to act than now.  The Times notes that the  
          recently-passed $7.545 bond for water-related projects and  
          programs that is scheduled for the November 2014 ballot contains  
          $100 million for planning and implementing groundwater  
          management, $800 million for cleaning up groundwater, $700  
          million for recycling and $2.7 billion for dam building.  As the  
          Los Angeles Times column states, these are projects that can  
          help replenish underground basins but it will take pumping rules  
          to assure taxpayers that they are getting their money's worth.   
          The Times Los Angeles column concludes, the State has been  
          ignoring experts' increasing warnings regarding groundwater  







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          depletions for decades and holding off on groundwater regulation  
          since statehood but together this bill and a related measure AB  
          1739, seek to empower local governments to manage groundwater  
          sustainably while allowing the state to step in if they fail to  
          do so.

          While California uses more groundwater than any other state, it  
          is the last in the Union to lack an enforceable set of statewide  
          groundwater management standards.  Groundwater informational  
          hearings in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee and  
          the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee in March 2014  
          revealed disturbing statistics on the current degradation of  
          some of California's groundwater basins:  between 2003 and 2009  
          the groundwater aquifers for the Central Valley and its major  
          mountain water source, the Sierra Nevada, lost almost 26 million  
          acre-feet of water - 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. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

           Increased annual General Fund costs to DWR of approximately $4  
            million beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2019-20 to collect and  
            manage data, complete evaluations, and assist the State Water  
            Board in developing interim plans.  DWR received $22.5 million  
            in the 2014-15 Budget ($2.5 million for FY 2014-15 and $5  
            million each year from FY 2015-16 through FY 2018-19 which  
            will fund Bulletin 118 updates and technical assistance.

           Minor, if any, reimbursable local government costs.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/29/14)

          Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
          Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District,  
          Zone 7
          American Planning Association
          Association of California Water Agencies 
          Audubon California 







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          Barona Band of Mission Indians
          Bay Area Council
          California Climate and Agricultural Network
          California Coastkeeper Alliance
          California Council of Geoscience Organizations
          California Environmental Justice Alliance 
          California Environmental Rights Foundation
          California Groundwater Coalition 
          California League of Conservation Voters
          California ReLeaf
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          California State Pipe Trades Council
          California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
          California Tribal Business Alliance
          California Trout 
          California Urban Streams Partnership
          California Water Foundation 
          California Waterfowl Association
          City of Anaheim 
          City of Los Angeles, Mayor's Office 
          Clean Water Action 
          Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
          Community Alliance with Family Farmers
          Community Water Center
          Comte Civico Del Valle, Inc.
          Cucamonga Valley Water District
          Earthworks 
          East Bay Municipal Utility District
          East Orange County Water District
          EMAX Laboratories, Inc.
          Environmental Defense Fund
          Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
          Environmental Navigation Services, Inc.
          Groundwater Resources Association of California
          Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake
          Heal the Bay
          Horizon Environmental Inc. 
          Inland Empire Utilities Agency
          Inyo County
          Irvine Ranch Water District 
          Karuk Tribe
          Klamath Forest Alliance 
          Klamath Riverkeeper
          Leadership Council for Justice & Accountability







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          Local Government Commission
          Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
          Los Angeles City Council
          Los Angeles Waterkeeper
          Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers
          Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster
          Montclair Environmental Management, Inc.
          Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center
          Natural Resources Defense Council
          Orange County Water District 
          Pacific Forest Trust
          Pala Band of Mission Indians
          Parker Groundwater
          Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians
          Planning & Conservation League
          PolicyLink
          PRO Water Equity
          Pueblo Unido CDC
          Quinn Environmental Strategies, Inc.
          Raymond Basin Management Board
          Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians
          Russian Riverkeeper
          Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
          San Diego County Water Authority
          San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
          San Gabriel Valley Water Association
          San Jerardo Cooperative, Inc. 
          Santa Clara Valley Water District 
          Sierra Club California 
          Sonoma County Water Agency
          Sullivan International Group, Inc.
          Sustainable Watershed Management
          The Nature Conservancy
          The Source Group, Inc.
          The Trust for Public Land
          The Wildlands Conservancy
          Todd Groundwater
          Trout Unlimited
          Union of Concerned Scientists
          United States Department of Defense, Regional Environmental 
          Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District  
          Valley Industry and Commerce Association
          Valley-Warner Center Chamber of Commerce
          Ventura County 







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          Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians
          Water Replenishment District of Southern California
          West Basin Municipal Water District
          Western Municipal Water District
          WiLDCOAST
          Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/29/14)

          African American Farmers of California
          Agricultural Council of California
          Allied Grape Growers
          Almond Hullers & Processors Association
          Association of California Egg Farmers
          Blue Diamond Growers
          CALAMCO
          California Agricultural Aircraft Association
          California Ammonia Co.
          California Association of Nurseries & Garden Centers
          California Bean Shippers Association
          California Blueberry Association
          California Canning Peach Association
          California Cattlemen's Association
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California Citrus Mutual
          California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
          California Cotton Ginners Association
          California Cotton Growers Association
          California Dairies, Inc.
          California Farm Bureau Federation
          California Fresh Fruit Association
          California Grain & Feed
          California Groundwater Association
          California League of Food Processors
          California Pear Growers Association
          California Seed Association
          California State Floral Association
          California Tomato Growers Association
          California Warehouse Association
          California Women for Agriculture
          Campos Brothers Farms
          Coachella Valley Water District 
          Dairy Farmers of America-Western Area
          Del Monte Foods







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          Desert Water Agency (unless amended)
          Family Business Association
          Fruit Growers Supply Company
          Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
          Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo  
          Counties
          Kaweah Basin
          Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District
          Kern County
          Kern County Water Agency
          Kings River Conservation District
          Kings River Water Association
          Land O' Lakes
          Nisei Farmers League
          Northern California Water Association
          Pacific Coast Producers
          Raisin Bargaining Association
          San Joaquin County
          San Joaquin River Exchange Contactors 
          Stockton East Water District
          Sun-Maid Growers of California
          Sunsweet Growers Inc.
          Tulare Irrigation District
          Valley Ag Water Coalition
          Western Agricultural Processors Association
          Western Growers Association
                    Western Plant Health Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author states that this bill is  
          needed because California faces a groundwater crisis.  The  
          author points out that the cumulative overdraft of our  
          groundwater basins is equivalent to the entire amount of water  
          stored in Lake Tahoe and that in many areas of the state, local  
          groundwater managers lack the tools and authorities to manage  
          the groundwater basins.  The author concludes that without  
          improved local management the overdraft in many parts of the  
          state will get even worse over the next several years.  Other  
          supporters add that a new statewide policy for sustainable  
          groundwater management is urgently needed and that this bill  
          addresses one of California's most pressing water management  
          issues.  Supporters point out that breadth of the stakeholder  
          involvement process that was used in order to help ensure the  
          right balance of provisions to empower local groundwater  
          management agencies with new tools and authorities and to create  







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          an appropriate state backstop that will allow the state to  
          intervene only when needed. 

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Opponents state they share the  
          author's interest in improving groundwater management but are  
          concerned about the broad scope and specific impacts of this  
          measure.  Opponents believe this bill is extraordinarily  
          ambitious and comprehensive and that in its current form it  
          would substantially alter the California landscape and economy  
          for generations to come.  Opponents are concerned that this bill  
          could require hundreds of millions of dollars in implementation  
          costs and are worried about potential affects to existing  
          groundwater rights and generate litigation.  Opponents maintain  
          the legislation goes beyond the goal of sustainable groundwater  
          management and will adversely affect the agricultural economy  
          and the landscape that is dependent upon it and cause a  
          potential devaluation in some land thus affecting property tax  
          collections in some areas and the services and programs that are  
          dependent upon them.  Opponents advocate delaying action in  
          order to avoid what they believe would be unanticipated  
          consequences.


          RM:e  8/29/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                   ****  END  ****