BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 935 (Salas) - Water projects.
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|Version: July 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 9 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 935 would require the Department of Water Resources
(DWR) to fund two projects: (1) the Reverse Flow Pump-back
Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal Restoration Project and (2)
the San Joaquin River Recapture at Patterson Irrigation
District.
Fiscal
Impact: Cost pressure of $61.2 million to the General Fund for
DWR to fund the specified projects.
Background: In September 2006, the US Department of Interior and Commerce,
the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Friant Water
Users Authority entered into a settlement that ended an 18-year
lawsuit to provide sufficient fish habitat in the San Joaquin
River below Friant Dam near Fresno. The settlement resulted in
the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) which has two
goals and objectives: (1) a restored river with continuous flows
AB 935 (Salas) Page 1 of
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to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and naturally
reproducing populations of Chinook salmon; and (2) a river
management program to minimize water supply impacts to San
Joaquin River water users.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) initiated an investment
strategy in support of the SJRRP water management goal. The
purpose was to identify projects that, in conjunction with other
activities, could cost-effectively reduce or avoid water supply
impacts to the Friant Division long-term contractors. USBR, in
collaboration with the Friant Contractors, identified, screened,
developed, evaluated, and ranked over 500 project concepts to
form a list of approximately 60 projects. Of these, 21 projects
were further evaluated as ready-to-implement priority projects.
The results were presented in a March 2015 report titled Water
Management Goal Investment Strategy: Final Report.
Among other things, the Final Report presented a list of
priority projects evaluated at an appraisal level that support
the water management goal of the SJRRP. The two projects that
would be funded through this bill are among the 21 projects
evaluated in the Final Report.
Reverse Flow Pump-Back Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal.
The Friant-Kern Canal is Federal Central Valley Project (CVP)
canal that conveys water from Friant Dam on the San Joaquin
River near Fresno, southward to various Friant Contractors
along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, terminating at
the Kern River near Bakersfield. Currently, the Friant-Kern
Canal has limited pump-back operational capacity, which is
used occasionally to deliver north the water from the Cross
Valley Canal or water extracted from water banks on the Kern
River fan. This project would install permanent pump-back
facilities with higher capacities along the southern portion
of the Friant-Kern Canal. The project would allow water that
was released for restoration flows on the San Joaquin River
that was then recaptured downstream to be conveyed via the
Cross Valley Canal to be pumped back up the Friant-Kern Canal
to a number of Friant Contractors.
The Final Report ranked this project 4th of 21, with an
estimated cost of $7.6 million, and, including planning and
environmental review, a little over 2 years to complete the
project.
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San Joaquin River Recapture at Patterson Irrigation District
Conveyed Through Delta-Mendota Canal to San Luis Reservoir.
Patterson Irrigation District (ID) is located just downstream
from the San Joaquin River and Merced River confluence.
Patterson ID has senior San Joaquin River water rights, and it
is the first district downstream of the SJRRP Restoration Area
capable of recapturing restoration flows. With this project,
USBR and Friant Contractors propose to 1) assist Patterson ID
modernize and expand the capacity of its cross district
conveyance facilities and 2) to facilitate water conveyance or
exchange agreements between Friant Contractors and Patterson
ID so that recaptured restoration flows can be stored via the
Delta-Mendota Canal in San Luis Reservoir for future direct
delivery and/or exchange to benefit Friant Contractors. This
project provides a method to recapture restoration flows
before it enters the Delta.
The Final Report ranked this project 12thof 21, with an
estimated cost of $53.6 million, and, including planning and
environmental review, a little over 4 years to complete the
project.
Proposed Law:
This bill would require DWR to fund the Reverse Flow Pump-Back
Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal and the San Joaquin River
Recapture at Patterson Irrigation District Conveyed Through
Delta-Mendota Canal to San Luis Reservoir, upon appropriation of
the Legislature.
Staff
Comments: This bill would require DWR to provide up to 100% of
the funding of the two specified projects for a total of $61.2
million. As this bill does not actually make an appropriation,
these costs are technically cost pressures. This bill does not
specify a funding source and it is unclear whether there are
bond monies available for these projects. DWR is on pace to
awarding all of its remaining Proposition 84 funds by the end of
this year and Proposition 1 included a provision stating that
the Legislature cannot appropriate Proposition 1 funds for a
specified project. In the absence of a fund source being
specified, staff assumes the cost would be borne by the General
Fund.
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Staff notes that while the state has made a commitment to
helping restore the San Joaquin River itself, the state was not
a party to the settlement. Thus the projects are solely the
responsibility of the federal government.
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