BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 149 Hearing Date: June 9,
2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Chávez | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Version: |April 29, 2015 Amended |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Urban water management plans.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Under the Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act), all urban
water suppliers are required to prepare and adopt an urban water
management plan.
The Act requires plans to include, among other things, a
description of the service area of the supplier, the identity
and quantity of water resources, and water use projections.
Generally, all urban water agencies are required to update
their urban water management plans (UWMPs) by December 31 of
each year ending in a zero or a five.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is required to submit
a report to the Legislature that summarizes the submitted
urban water management plans by December 31 of years ending in
one and six.
SB7X 7 (Steinberg, Ch. 4, Stat. 2009, 7th Extraordinary Session)
requires a 20% reduction in urban per capita water use by
December 31, 2020 with an interim deadline of a 10% per capita
reduction by December 31, 2015.
This requirement is sometimes referred to as the 20x2020
requirement.
Urban water suppliers were further required to report on their
progress in meeting that goal through the year 2015 in the
2015 update of their UWMPs.
AB 149 (Chávez) Page 2
of ?
Last year, the legislature passed AB 2067 (Webber, stat. 2014,
Ch. 463), which, among other things, delayed the due date for
the 2015 update to July 1, 2016. According to this committee's
analysis of AB 2067, the delay was to allow urban water
suppliers to include in its UWMP information through calendar
year 2015 to fully document its progress in complying with the
20x2020 requirements.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would:
Delay the due date for the UWMPs due in 2020 by six months to
July 1, 2021.
Delay the due date for DWRs report on the 2015 and 2021 UWMPs
by six months to July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2022.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, "A simple change in code would make a
significant improvement in water supply planning data management
and access. It would also allow water suppliers to use the most
current data for future planning and reporting, benefitting all
stakeholders involved in California water management issues."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None Received
COMMENTS
Delay Is To Aid Compliance With 20x2020. A part of the 2009
water package required that urban water agencies reduce their
per capita water use by 20% by the year 2020. Urban water
suppliers are further required to report on their progress in
meeting that goal through the year 2015 in the 2015 update of
their UWMPs. Similarly, the 20X2020 results through 2020 are to
be reported in the 2020 update of UWMPs. Last year's AB 2067
delayed the 2015 reports six months to allow the UWMPs to report
on the full calendar year. This bill does the same for the 2020
UWMP update.
Similarly, this bill delays DWR's reports to the legislature six
months to provide it sufficient time to summarize the UWMPs.
Drafting Error. The suggested amendment corrects a drafting
error regarding the delay DWR's reports to the legislature.
AB 149 (Chávez) Page 3
of ?
SUGGESTED AMENDMENT
On page 3, line 33, delete "July 1, 2016" and insert "July 1,
2017"
SUPPORT
San Diego County Water Authority (Sponsor)
City of Sacramento
Desert Water Agency
East Bay Municipal Utility District
El Dorado Irrigation District
Newhall County Water District
Rowland Water District
Santa Clara Valley Water District
OPPOSITION
None Received
-- END --