BILL NUMBER: AB 938	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  FEBRUARY 11, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member  Salas  
Rodriguez 

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section 10722.4 of the Water Code, relating to
groundwater.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 938, as amended,  Salas   Rodriguez 
. Groundwater: basin reprioritization: establishment of groundwater
sustainability agency.
   Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to
identify the extent of monitoring of groundwater elevations that is
being undertaken within each groundwater basin or subbasin and to
prioritize basins or subbasins as high, medium, low, or very low
priority and requires the initial priority for each basin to be
established no later than January 31, 2015. Existing law, the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater
basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the
department that are designated as basins subject to critical
conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater
sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans
by January 31, 2020, and requires all other groundwater basins
designated as high- or medium-priority basins to be managed under a
groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater
sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as specified. The
act  requires   requires, any time the
department changes these basin priorities and elevates a basin to a
medium- or high-priority basin after January 31, 2015,  a local
 agency, any time the department changes these basin
priorities and elevates a basin to a medium- or high-priority basin
after January 31, 2015,   agency or combination of local
agencies overlying a groundwater basin  to either establish a
groundwater sustainability agency within 2 years of reprioritization
and adopt a groundwater sustainability plan within 5 years of
reprioritization, or to submit an alternative to the department that
the local agency believes satisfies the objectives of these
provisions within 2 years of reprioritization.
   This bill would  impose the requirement to establish a
groundwater sustainability agency or submit an alternative after
reprioritization on a local agency or combination of local agencies
overlying a groundwater basin.   make nonsubstantive
changes to these groundwater basin provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Section 10722.4 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
   10722.4.  (a) Pursuant to Section 10933, for the purposes of this
part the department shall categorize each basin as one of the
following priorities:
   (1) High priority.
   (2) Medium priority.
   (3) Low priority.
   (4) Very low priority.
   (b) The initial priority for each basin shall be established by
the department pursuant to Section 10933 no later than January 31,
2015.
   (c) Any time the department updates Bulletin 118 boundaries
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 12924, the department shall
reassess the prioritization pursuant to Section 10933.
   (d) Any time the department changes the basin priorities pursuant
to Section 10933, if a basin is elevated to a medium- or
high-priority basin after January 31, 2015, a local agency or
combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin shall
have two years from the date of reprioritization to either establish
a groundwater sustainability agency pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 10723) and five years from the date of reprioritization
to adopt a groundwater sustainability plan pursuant to Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 10727) or two years to satisfy the
requirements of Section 10733.6. 
   SECTION 1.    Section 10722.4 of the   Water
Code   is amended to read: 
   10722.4.  (a) Pursuant to Section 10933, for  the
 purposes of this  part   part, 
the department shall categorize each basin as one of the following
priorities:
   (1) High priority.
   (2) Medium priority.
   (3) Low priority.
   (4) Very low priority.
   (b) The initial priority for each basin shall be established by
the department pursuant to Section 10933 no later than January 31,
2015.
   (c) Any time the department updates Bulletin 118 boundaries
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 12924, the department shall
reassess the prioritization pursuant to Section 10933.
   (d) If the department changes priorities pursuant to Section 10933
to elevate a basin from a low- or very low priority basin to a
medium- or high-priority basin after January 31, 2015, the agency
formation and planning deadlines of this part shall be extended as
follows:
   (1) A local agency, or combination of local agencies overlying a
groundwater basin, shall have two years from the date of
reprioritization to either establish a groundwater sustainability
agency pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 10723) or two
years to satisfy the requirements of Section 10733.6.
   (2) A groundwater sustainability agency shall have five years from
the date of reprioritization to meet the requirements of subdivision
(a) of Section 10720.7, except that if the reprioritization occurs
before January 31, 2017, a groundwater sustainability agency subject
to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 10720.7 shall have
until January 31, 2022.