BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 937
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
937 (Salas)
As Amended June 1, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Water |15-0 |Levine, Bigelow, | |
| | |Dababneh, Dahle, | |
| | |Dodd, Beth Gaines, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Harper, | |
| | |Lopez, Mathis, | |
| | |Medina, Rendon, | |
| | |Salas, Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |12-0 |Gomez, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
AB 937
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
provide technical assistance to a disadvantaged community (DAC) so
that they may participate in groundwater planning and allows DWR
to waive state funding ineligibility for groundwater projects and
programs under certain circumstances. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DWR to provide technical assistance to disadvantaged
communities so that they may participate in groundwater
planning, including, but not limited to, plans for regional
groundwater banking.
2)Allows DWR to fund groundwater projects and programs that are
currently ineligible for state funding due to noncompliance with
state groundwater basin monitoring requirements if the entity
documents there are special circumstances that prevented
compliance, including, but not limited to that a significant
portion of the entity's service area qualifies as a DAC and that
the water grant or loan project includes those actions needed to
comply with groundwater basin monitoring requirements.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes $7.545 billion in general obligation funding for
water-related projects and programs in Proposition 1, the Safe
Drinking Water, Quality, and Infrastructure Act of 2014 (Prop.
1).
2)Provides $900 million for groundwater projects and programs
under Prop. 1, Chapter 10, and requires that:
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a) At least 10% of the funds shall be allocated for projects
serving severely disadvantaged communities (SDACs).
b) There be funding for technical assistance to DACs and that
the agency administering this funding shall operate a
multidisciplinary technical assistance program for small and
DAC communities.
3)Requires DWR to evaluate groundwater basins and designate them
as high, medium, low or very low, according to various factors
including, but not limited to, level of dependence upon the
basin by municipal and agricultural users.
4)Requires that local agencies in high- and medium-priority
groundwater basins subject to the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA) form one or more local Groundwater
Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) by June 30, 2017, in order to
develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs)
that provide for the sustainable management of the groundwater
basin or subbasin, as defined.
5)Requires that GSAs in basins with chronic overdraft develop and
adopt GSPs for their basin or subbasin by January 31, 2020, and
that all other high and medium priority basins subject to SGMA
develop and adopt GSPs by January 31, 2022.
6)Authorizes the State Water Board to declare a basin in
probationary status and adopt an interim plan for a basin,
subbasin, or portion of a basin or subbasin, if deadlines are
not met, as specified.
7)Requires all groundwater basins to be monitored locally and
systematically for their groundwater elevations.
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8) Requires reporting of groundwater basin elevation
information to DWR's California Statewide Groundwater
Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) program.
9)Requires DWR to assume groundwater elevation monitoring
functions if no local agency is able or willing to and prohibits
DWR from charging for the cost of monitoring.
10)Prohibits basins where DWR has assumed monitoring functions
from being eligible for state water grants and loans unless an
entity can prove that its entire service area qualifies as a
DAC.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown costs for DWR to provide local assistance to
disadvantaged communities, potentially in the millions of
dollars (General Fund or special fund).
2)Minor to moderate increased staff costs for DWR, likely in the
$100,000 to $150,000 range, to evaluate applications to
determine if the grant request would result in compliance with
groundwater basin monitoring functions.
COMMENTS: This bill would require DWR to provide technical
assistance to DACs so that they may participate in groundwater
planning, including banking, and would authorize DWR to fund some
previously ineligible local groundwater plans and programs upon
the requisite showing.
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The author states this bill is needed to help DACs, including in
circumstances where denying CASGEM noncompliant basins state
funding is having the negative consequence of preventing local
agencies from receiving much needed water grants and loans in
order to set up groundwater monitoring programs.
Other supporters state that many small and rural counties have
limited staff and resources to implement new and ongoing programs
proscribed by the state and that this bill would ensure necessary
funding is available to bring more entities into compliance with
the CASGEM program.
This bill could help DWR to establish a DAC assistance program
similar in some ways to the program created at the State Water
Resources Control Board (State Water Board). The State Water
Board has established a technical assistance office for
disadvantaged communities, the Office of Sustainable Water
Solutions (Office). The Office's purposes include, but are not
limited to: providing assistance, including technical assistance,
to small drinking water systems and disadvantaged communities
without clean, safe, and reliable drinking water or wastewater
treatment systems; promoting and facilitating regional drinking
water solutions and wastewater projects; and advancing the
delivery of affordable, safe, drinking water throughout the state.
The Office was established through AB 92 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015, as part of the 2015 Emergency Drought
Legislation. The Office was created in recognition that the
drought is affecting many disadvantaged communities, some with
shallow wells that are going dry, are impaired by contamination,
or both, and who may lack the technical assistance to develop and
implement long-term solutions.
The need to address CASGEM noncompliant basins is more acute due
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to drought. On January 17, 2014, as California entered its fourth
consecutive year of extremely dry conditions, Governor Brown
proclaimed a drought State of Emergency. That was followed on
April 25, 2014, by a continued State of Emergency and on April 3,
2015, by a seven-page Executive Order, B-29-15, with 31 directives
to address the drought crisis.
Directive 15 states that local agencies in all high and medium
priority groundwater basins are to immediately implement all
CASGEM requirements or be referred to the State Water Resources
Control Board for possible enforcement action.
There are currently 127 high and medium priority basins in
California. Those groundwater basins account for 96% of all
groundwater use. Of the high and medium priority basins, DWR has
determined that 9 are fully unmonitored and 16 are partially
unmonitored. In other words, 102 are currently CASGEM compliant
and 25 are noncompliant.
In the 25 non-compliant basins, local agencies can still be
eligible for a water grant or loan if their whole area is a
disadvantaged community. That is because it is assumed that the
bar to compliance is that the entity's customers are financially
incapable of supporting a monitoring program.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tina Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN:
0000801
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