BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 935|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 935
Author: Salas (D), et al.
Amended: 7/16/15 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: 7-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Water projects
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Water Resources
(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.
ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources
Agency the Department of Water Resources (DWR), which manages
and undertakes planning with regard to water resources in the
state.
AB 935
Page 2
This bill requires the DWR, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, 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.
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
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
AB 935
Page 3
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.
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.
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The Final Report ranked this project 12th of 21, with an
estimated cost of $53.6 million, and, including planning and
environmental review, a little over 4 years to complete the
project.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, cost pressure
of $61.2 million to the General Fund for DWR to fund the
specified projects.
Appropriations Committee staff further commented: "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.
"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."
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
AB 935
Page 5
California Citrus Mutual
Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District
Desert Water Agency
Kern-Tulare Water District
South Valley Water Association
Tulare County Farm Bureau
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
City of Clovis
City of Fresno
City of Reedley
City of Selma
Consolidated Irrigation District
Fresno Irrigation District
Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District
Kings River Conservation District
Kings River Water Association
Raisin City Water District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "We need to
develop and improve conveyance facilities in order to optimize
inter-regional water supplies, facilitate the movement of water
from the east side to the west side, and make additional water
available to be distributed to places of need."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A coalition of irrigation
districts and other water suppliers "are concerned with the
'shall fund' directive to the California Department of Water
Resources (DWR), particularly as valley water agencies are
forced to compete for limited funding for projects developed
through regional integrated water management planning. AB 935
must be amended to clarify that funds appropriated from
voter-approved General Obligation bonds may not be used to
support these projects unless they are awarded under the
competitive processes administered by DWR."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/3/15
AB 935
Page 6
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/30/15 19:13:07
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