Amended in Assembly April 27, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 36

Introduced by Assembly Member begin delete Brough end delete begin insert Mathis end insert

April 20, 2016

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 36—Relative to overflow water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 36, as amended, begin delete Brough end delete   begin insert Mathis end insert . Overflow water: beneficial use.

This measure would declare that overflow water from reservoirs that are a part of the federal Central Valley Project should be redirected to put the water to the most beneficial use and released in the central valley and that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumping facilities should be put into operation to divert water from being wastefully sent out to the Pacific Ocean and instead sent to areas where the water is critically needed.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The State of California has been experiencing a
historic drought, lasting five years; and

WHEREAS, During this state-declared drought, California has
not seen a full water allocation from the federal government; and

WHEREAS, On April 1, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown
announced California’s first mandatory statewide water restrictions,
requesting a 25-percent decrease in urban water use from 2013
levels; and

WHEREAS, California is the world’s fifth largest supplier of
food, as it grows 43 percent of the nation’s fruit, nuts, and
vegetables and more than 90 percent of the nation’s almonds,
grapes, and broccoli. With the current drought conditions,
begin insert California end insert farmers’ ability to grow crops has been severely
affected. In 2014, California farmers were forced to fallow more
than 500,000 acres. The central valley is one of the state’s most
important economic regions, and with the continuance of drought
conditions, the economy and agricultural production will continue
to suffer; and

WHEREAS, Although the El Niño-fueled storms have improved
the water levels in some of the state’s largest reservoirs, the state’s
drought persists; and

WHEREAS, Under current federal law, the federal Bureau of
Reclamation requires a dam to release water when the dam reaches
a capacity of 60 percent; that water is known as overflow water.
However, there is no guarantee that the reservoirs will reach those
water levels again; and

WHEREAS, On March 18, 2016, pursuant to the federal Bureau
of Reclamation’s requirements, Shasta Lake Reservoir, a keystone
reservoir of the federal Central Valley Project and California’s
biggest reservoir that serves California growers, released water at
a rate of 20,000 cubic feet per second, a significant increase from
the normal rate of 5,000 cubic feet per second. This was the
quickest rate the bureau has released water into the upper
Sacramento River since 2011; and

WHEREAS, Overflow water that is released from the reservoirs
and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ultimately ends up in
the ocean; and

WHEREAS, There are more efficient uses of this overflow
water; and

WHEREAS, More than 23 million Californians and millions of
acres of farmland rely on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for
all or part of their water supply, and countless species count on
the delta for their habitat. Releasing water into the ocean that can
otherwise be used in a more efficient and beneficial manner results
in damage to the farms and species; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the State of California declares that the
overflow water from reservoirs that are a part of the federal Central
Valley Project, including, but not limited to, Shasta and Folsom
Lake Reservoirs, should be redirected to put the water to beneficial
use and released in the central valley; and be it further

Resolved, That the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumping
facilities should be put into operation to divert the water from
being wastefully sent out to the Pacific Ocean and instead sent to
areas, such as the central valley and southern California, where
the water is critically needed; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.