BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1420
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1420 (Wolk)
As Amended April 21, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 15-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Rendon, Bigelow, Allen, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Bocanegra, Dahle, Fong, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Frazier, Beth Gaines, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Bloom, Patterson, | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| |Rodriguez, Yamada | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires an urban water supplier to quantify and
report distribution system water losses in its urban water
management plan (UWMP), authorizes the Department of Water
Resources (DWR) to require electronic filing of UWMPs, and
directs DWR to develop guidance for estimating water savings
from codes, standards, ordinances, and sustainability plans.
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
SB 1420
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water projects and programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor, absorbable costs for DWR to include this
methodology in their Urban Water Management Planning Guidebook.
COMMENTS : This bill would implement two 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), Chapter 643, Statutes of 2001, and SB 221 (Kuehl),
Chapter 642, Statutes of 2001, which are frequently referenced
as the "show me the water" statutes.
AB 1420 (Laird), Chapter 628, Statutes of 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 Report (Report). The Report made five
recommendations for improving UWMPs including, but not limited
to, requiring distribution system water loss reporting and
authorizing DWR to require electronic filing of UWMPs in a
standardized form. This bill would implement those
recommendations.
Related measures include AB 2067 (Weber) of the current
legislative session, which would change the reporting
requirements for demand management measures in UWMPs, and SB
1036 (Pavley) of the current legislative session, which would
explicitly authorize voluntary reporting on projected water
savings from codes, standards, ordinances, or transportation and
land use plans affecting an urban water supplier's service area.
Supporters state that this bill is intended to enact three
recommendations made by the DWR ITP on Demand Management
Measures. Those supporters state that by requiring urban water
suppliers to report on distribution system water loss, providing
for electronic submission of UWMPs, and ensuring water suppliers
have the ability to capture and report on water savings from
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compliance with codes, this bill will improve the process for
filing UWMPs and update the information they contain to reflect
changing approaches to managing water supply reliability.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0004557