BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 309


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          Date of Hearing:   January 12, 2016


                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE


                                 Marc Levine, Chair


          AB 309  
          (Mathis) - As Amended April 23, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr. Research Grant.


          SUMMARY:  Appropriates $145,000 from the State General Fund (GF)  
          to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) for an Edmund G.  
          "Pat" Brown, Sr., Research Grant program that will provide  
          one-year grants to University of California (UC) and California  
          State University (CSU) campuses to research ways to expand  
          California's water portfolio.


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Creates DWR and gives it the authority to manage and regulate  
            water use.


          2)Creates the UC and CSU to provide educational opportunities,  
            to expand our scientific knowledge and social understanding.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown; but appropriates $145,000 General Fund  
          (GF) to DWR.










                                                                     AB 309


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          COMMENTS:  This bill makes UCs and CSUs eligible for a new  
          one-year grant program administered by DWR for up to $145,000 to  
          research ways to expand water supplies.


          1)Purpose:  The author states that this bill would support  
            research that examines ways to increase fresh water yield,  
            improve energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions  
            from desalination and power generation facilities.  The author  
            states that Proposition 1 does not go far enough to address  
            the challenges for both the short and long-term drought  
            conditions in California.  The author adds that California has  
            many of the finest institutions of higher learning not only in  
            the United States but globally and that these institutions are  
            uniquely positioned to offer innovative solutions to  
            increasing fresh water supply to an ever growing and thirsty  
            state.


          2)Background: DWR was created in 1956 to protect, conserve,  
            develop, and manage California's water.  DWR works with other  
            agencies and the public to develop short and long term  
            strategies to conserve, manage, develop, and sustain  
            California's watersheds, water resources, and management  
            systems.


            The UC and CSU have already undertaken the following efforts  
            very similar to what this bill is attempting to accomplish.


                     UC Davis has a Center for Watershed Sciences that  
                 studies critical water challenges with a focus on  
                 solutions that are environmentally and economically  
                 sustainable.  


                     UC Berkeley has a Water Center that focuses on  
                 implementing solutions and creating new technologies to  








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                 address water shortages.  


                     The CSU has a Water Resources and Policies  
                 Initiatives (WRPI) consortium that has faculty and staff  
                 participants from all of the 23 CSU campuses.  The WRPI  
                 is working toward developing greater partnerships between  
                 water industries and government, and pursuing the  
                 development and use of innovative water technologies to  
                 enhance economic growth.             


          1)Supporting Arguments: No support has been received by the  
            committee.  


           2)Opposing Arguments: No opposition has been received by the  
            committee.


          3)Prior and related legislation:  AB 237 (Machado) of 1999 would  
            have transferred $7.5 million from the GF to the State Water  
            Resources Control Board for a grant program to help implement  
            water recycling studies, investigations, and research and  
            development by UCs, CSUs, public agencies and specified  
            nonprofits.  AB 237 was held by the Assembly Appropriations  
            Committee.


          4)Suggested Amendments:  This bill does not specify grant  
            criteria or how a grant program would be administered.  The  
            committee may want to provide a competitive grant process  
            based on a measurable deliverable from the educational  
            institution or institutions such as a report to DWR, the  
            Legislature, or both, by a date certain, with recommendations.  
             For example, the recommendations could be for the most cost  
            effective new strategy that would yield multiple benefits.










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          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          None on file




          Opposition




          None on file


          Analysis Prepared by:Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916)  
          319-2096