BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 1420 (Wolk) - Water management: urban water management plans.
          
          Amended: April 21, 2014         Policy Vote: NR&W 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 23, 2014      Consultant: Marie Liu
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.
          
          
          Bill Summary: SB 1420 would require urban water management plans  
          (UWMPs) to include quantification of water loss in the  
          distribution system and would allow UWMPs to include projected  
          water savings.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              One-time costs of $50,000 from the General Fund to the  
              Department of Water Resources (DWR) for the development of a  
              worksheet and update of the UWMP guidebook.

          Background: The Urban Water Management Planning Act (act)  
          requires all urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt an urban  
          water management plan. These plans must be updated every five  
          years (on years ending in 5 and 0) and include information such  
          as a description of the service area of the supplier,  
          identification and quantity of water resources, and water use  
          projections. Under §16031.5, an urban water supplier, in order  
          to be eligible for a water management grant or loan from the  
          state, must be implementing the water demand management measures  
          in its urban water management plan.

          Proposed Law: This bill would require that an urban water  
          management plan quantify, to the extent records are available,  
          the water loss in the distribution system beginning with the  
          2015 plan. DWR would be required to develop a worksheet through  
          a public process to guide the quantification of distribution  
          system water loss. 

          This bill would also allow an urban water supplier to account  
          for water savings it estimates as a result from adopted codes,  
          standards, ordinances, or transportation and land use plans. If  
          the water supplier accounts for such savings, it must provide  
          citations for the codes, standards, ordinances, or  








          SB 1420 (Wolk)
          Page 1


          transportation and land use plans that led to the projections.

          This bill would require the urban water management plans, and  
          any amendments to these plans, to be submitted to DWR in  
          electronic form. 

          Related Legislation: AB 2067 (Weber) would change the reporting  
          requirements for demand management measures in urban water  
          management plans.

          AB 2725 (Brown) would require the description of the water  
          demand management measure in urban water management plans to  
          include a description of an urban waterway restoration program.

          SB 1036 (Pavley) would allow for an urban water management plan  
          to report on the energy intensity of urban water systems.

          Staff Comments: This bill would necessitate DWR to revise its  
          Urban Water Management Plan Guidebook at a one-time cost of  
          $50,000. Staff notes that this bill, should it become law, would  
          require changes to the 2015 water plan, which is required to be  
          completed by December 31, 2015. To enable locals to meet this  
          deadline, DWR will need to finish its update of the guidebook  
          shortly after the effective date of this bill.

          Allowing electronic submission of the plans does not necessarily  
          impose a cost on DWR so long as DWR is only receiving the  
          information electronically. If DWR desired to create a  
          searchable database or create an online portal for plans, DWR  
          could have substantial information technology costs. However,  
          such a system is not required by the bill.