BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 142|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 142
Author: Bigelow (R), et al.
Amended: 9/4/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-3, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Wild and scenic rivers: Mokelumne River
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency (secretary) to study and report on the
suitability of designating the Mokelumne River, its tributaries,
or portions thereof, under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 add an intent provision,
restructure the boundaries of the segment of the river that will
be studied as a potential addition to the wild and scenic river
system, and state that the bill does not affect the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Mokelumne River
Project of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
AB 142
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law, the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Act):
1)Declares that it is the policy of the state that certain
rivers that possess extraordinary scenic, recreational,
fishery, or wildlife values be preserved in their
"free-flowing" state, together with their immediate
environments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of
the state.
2)Declares that such use of these rivers is the highest and most
beneficial use, and is a reasonable and beneficial use of
water.
3)Defines "free-flowing" as existing or flowing without
artificial impoundment, diversion, or other modification of
the river. (The presence of low dams, diversion works, and
other minor structures does not automatically bar a river's
inclusion within the wild and scenic rivers system (system).
4)Requires that those rivers or segments of rivers included in
the system be classified as one of the following: a) Wild
rivers, which are those rivers or segments of rivers that are
free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by
trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and
waters unpolluted; b) Scenic rivers, which are those rivers or
segments of rivers that are free of impoundments, with
shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and
shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by
roads; or c) Recreational rivers, which are those rivers or
segments of rivers that are readily accessible by road or
railroad, may have some development along their shorelines,
and may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the
past.
5)Designates several California rivers and segments thereof as
components of the system.
6)Requires the California Natural Rivers Agency (NRA) to be
responsible for coordinating the activities of state agencies
whose activities affect the rivers in the system with those of
other state, local, and federal agencies with jurisdiction
over matters that may affect the rivers.
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7)Requires the NRA to study and submit to the Governor and
Legislature reports on the suitability or nonsuitability for
addition to the system when the Legislature designates
potential additions to the system. The reports shall include
the following:
a) Recommendations and proposals with respect to the
designation of a river or segment;
b) Maps and illustrations to show the area included within
the report;
c) Characteristics which do or do not make the area a
worthy addition to the system;
d) Status of land ownership and use; and
e) Potential uses which will be enhanced, foreclosed, or
curtailed if included in the system.
This bill:
1)Requires a study by the NRA that analyzes the suitability or
non-suitability of the designation of the Mokelumne River, its
tributaries, or portions thereof as additions to the system.
The costs of the study will be divided between the state and
the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority. The local share
may be from appropriated funds or a contribution of services.
2)Requires the study to include:
a) A suitability analysis that includes the potential
effects on the ability of public agencies and utilities
within the watershed to feasible and projected future water
requirements through the development of new water supplies
from the Mokelumne River;
b) Any effects of climate change on river values and water
supply;
c) Specified feasibility studies of the Mokelumne Watershed
Interregional Sustainability Evaluation Final Report.
d) Instances in which the secretary of the NRA allowed a
water diversion to be constructed on a river segment listed
in the system;
e) Instances in which the State Water Resources Control
Board approved an application to appropriate water from a
river segment that is a part of the system and what
restrictions, if any, were placed on the appropriation of
water as a result of that river segment's inclusion in the
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system.
f) Maps and illustrations to show the area included within
the report;
g) Characteristics which do or do not make the area a
worthy addition to the system;
h) Status of land ownership and use; and
i) Potential uses which will be enhanced, foreclosed, or
curtailed if included in the system.
3)Requires the NRA's clear recommendation on whether the
designated portion of the Mokelumne River or any segment of
that portion is suited or not to be added to the system in a
report due on or before December 31, 2017.
4)Establishes interim protections for the Mokelumne until
December 31, 2021, or until the study is completed (whichever
occurs first) and implementation of any recommendation to add
segments to the system that prohibit dams, reservoirs, or
other water impoundment facilities from construction unless
the secretary determines that the facility is needed to supply
domestic water to the residents of the county or counties
through which the river and segment flows and the secretary
also determines that the facility will not adversely affect
the freeflowing condition and natural character of the river.
This provision exempts the Amador Water Agency's water rights
application (5647X03) that is pending before the State Water
Resources Control Board and also states that the bill does not
affect the Mokelumne River Project operated by PGE.
5)Defines the segments of the Mokelumne that may be added to the
system after the study is completed.
6)Extends existing law prohibiting state agencies from
cooperating with new dams on rivers in the system to the
stretch of the Mokelumne that is subject to the study.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time costs
of up to $125,000 to the General Fund for the Natural Resources
Agency to complete the required study with 50% of the resources
for the study coming from the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed
Authority.
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SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15)
Amador City
Amador City
Amador County Board of Supervisors
Amador County Business Council
Amador County Republican Central Committee
Amador Water Agency
American Whitewater
Association of California Water Agencies
CA Wildlife Foundation
CA Oaks
Calaveras Amador Mokelumne River Authority
Calaveras Community Action Project
Calaveras County Board Of Supervisors
Calaveras County Republican Party
Calaveras County Taxpayers Association
Calaveras County Water District
Calaveras Public Utility District
California League of Conservation Voters
California Outdoors
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
California Water Impact Network
Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
Central Sierra Mining
City of Ione
City of Jackson
City of Plymouth
City of Sutter Creek
Clean Water Action
East Bay Municipal Utility District
El Dorado Irrigation District
Environmental Water Caucus
First Mace Water Association
Foothill Conservancy
Friends of the River
Jackson Valley Irrigation District
Mountain Counties Water Resources Association
My Valley Springs
Natural Heritage Institute
North Coast Rivers Alliance
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Northern California Council of the International Federation of
Fly Fishers
O.A.R.S. Companies, Inc.
Pine Grove CSD
Planning and Conservation League
Rabb Park CSD
Sierra Business Council
South Yuba River Citizens League
Terre Rouge & Easton Wines
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/4/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The goal of the author and many of the
supporters is to ensure that a study is completed before
designation of the Mokelumne is considered in legislation. Last
year, Senator Hancock carried SB 1199 which would have achieved
such a designation without a study. That bill was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-3, 6/1/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth,
Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood,
Atkins
NOES: Grove, Levine, Mark Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher,
Gonzalez, Salas
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
9/8/15 17:26:25
AB 142
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