BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 935
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Date of Hearing: August , 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 935
(Salas) - As Amended August 17, 2016
SUBJECT: Water projects
SUMMARY: This bill requires the Department of Water Resources
(DWR), upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund a reverse
flow pump-back project on the Friant-Kern Canal that
substantially conforms to the project description set forth by
the draft investment strategy released by the San Joaquin River
Restoration Program (SJRRP) in December 2014. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires the DWR, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
grant up to $7 million for the Reverse Flow Pump-back
Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal Restoration Project
(Project).
2)Limits the DWR's funding share of the Project to up to 80% of
the total.
3)Establishes prerequisites to funding, including:
a) All feasibility studies are complete and draft
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environmental impact reports (EIRs) required pursuant to
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) are
available for public review.
b) Financial commitments to the DWR director are equal to
or greater than 75% of the non-state cost share of the
project.
4)Requires the Project, if funded, to comply with any applicable
provisions of state and federal law.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the DWR within the Natural Resources Agency, which
manages and undertakes planning with regard to water resources
in the state.
2)Prohibits a public agency, under CEQA, from making a
discretionary decision to approve a project, including funding
a project, if there are potentially significant impacts on the
environment that could be reduced by feasible alternatives or
feasible mitigation measures.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: This bill requires the DWR, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to grant up to $7 million for the Reverse Flow
Pump-back Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal Restoration
Project.
1)Assembly Version: The Assembly version of this bill contained
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a general requirement for the DWR to fund local and regional
conveyance projects. The Senate version of this bill deletes
the general requirement and instead, specifies funding of a
project that would help minimize water supply impacts to
Friant Division Long-Term Contractors from actions to help
implement the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP).
2)Author's Statement: This bill would provide funding for the
planning, design, and construction of a Sustainable Water
Conveyance Project that would support regional and
interregional connectivity and deliver water to and from the
California Aqueduct. We need to develop and improve conveyance
facilities in order to optimize inter-regional water supplies,
facilitate the movement of water from east to the west, and
make additional water available to places of need. This
project would help increase water availability and enable
deliveries of surplus water in wet years to recharge
groundwater and banking facilities.
3)San Joaquin River Restoration Program: The San Joaquin River
is the second longest river in California and historically
supported large runs of salmon and other cold-water fish.
After Friant Dam was constructed by the U.S. Department of
Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), parts of the
San Joaquin River went completely dry in most years.
Environmental groups then brought litigation citing, among
other claims, the requirements in California law that the
owner of any dam must allow sufficient water to pass through
to keep fish in good condition below the dam. In 2006, after
18 years of litigation, a federal court approved a settlement
between the federal government, the environmental plaintiffs,
and the Friant Water Users Authority. The SJRRP settlement
had two objectives: a restoration program that would provide
the river with continuous flows to the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta and support naturally reproducing populations of
Chinook salmon, and a water management goal of minimizing
water supply impacts to San Joaquin River water users.
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Thereafter, Reclamation initiated an investment strategy in
support of the SJRRP water management goal in order to
identify projects that, in conjunction with other activities,
could cost-effectively reduce or avoid water supply impacts to
the Friant Contractors. Reclamation, 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 (Final
Report). The Reverse Flow Pump-Back Facilities on the
Friant-Kern Canal project that would be funded through this
bill was fourth among the 21 projects evaluated in the Final
Report.
4)Reverse Flow Pump-back Facilities on the Friant-Kern Canal
Restoration Project: The Friant-Kern Canal is a Federal
Central Valley Project 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
water north 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, captured downstream, and
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 that included planning and environmental
review, and a little over 2 years to complete. The project has
been estimated to convey approximately 15,000-30,000 acre-feet
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annually and is expected to avoid 2,750 metric tons of carbon
emissions over the life of the project.
5)Source of Funding: It is not clear what the source of funding
will be for the Project. This bill does not make an
appropriation. If and when there is an appropriation the
source of funds for that appropriation would be determined by
the Legislature and the Governor.
6)Support Arguments: The Reverse Flow Pump-back Facilities on
the Friant -Kern Canal Restoration Project is an important
water conveyance project in the San Joaquin Valley that will
greatly enhance the state's ability to manage water. This
bill will provide a means to better circulate water in the
south valley, will ensure greater flexibility in our
complicated water system, and where appropriate create more
water for the citizens, communities, and businesses of the
South San Joaquin Valley.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Citrus Mutual
Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District
Lower Tule River Irrigation District
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Pixley Irrigation District
Tea Pot Dome Water District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096