BILL NUMBER: AB 957 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mathis
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend add Section
79720 of 79767.5 to the Water Code, relating to
water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 957, as amended, Mathis. Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014.
Existing law, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure
Improvement Act of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at
the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, authorizes the
issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,545,000,000
to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement
program. The bond act provides that the sum of $520,000,000
$725,000,000 is to be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditures, grants,
and loans for projects that improve water quality or help provide
clean, safe, and reliable drinking water to all Californians.
grants or loans for water recycling and advanced
treatment technology projects. The bond act requires these water
recycling and advanced treatment technology projects to be selected
on a competitive basis, considering specified criteria, including,
among other criteria, water supply reliability improvement and public
health benefits from improved drinking water quality or supply.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes in these
provisions. include in the water supply reliability
improvement criterion whether the project is proposed by a community
that is heavily dependent on groundwater from a basin in overdraft,
and would include in the public health benefits criterion whether the
project is proposed by a community that has extended, or
is in the process of extending, its water service delivery
to entities reliant on either contaminated groundwater or
groundwater wells that have run dry.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Many communities throughout the state are disproportionately
impacted by drought because they are heavily dependent or completely
reliant on groundwater from basins that are in overdraft and in which
the water table declines year after year.
(b) The use of recycled water is a cost-effective, reliable method
of helping to meet California's water supply needs.
(c) Increased use of recycled water in communities that are
heavily dependent on groundwater from a basin in overdraft can help
reduce strain on the basin and help facilitate groundwater recharge
efforts.
(d) Use of recycled water in place of drinking water for
irrigation and other purposes can help larger communities extend
their service delivery area to individuals and smaller communities
that lack safe or adequate water supplies.
SEC. 2. Section 79767.5 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
79767.5. (a) For purposes of subdivision (a) of Section 79767,
whether the project is proposed by a community that is heavily
dependent on groundwater from a basin in overdraft shall be
considered.
(b) For purposes of subdivision (c) of Section 79767, whether the
project is proposed by a community that has extended, or is in the
process of extending, its water service delivery to individuals or
communities, or both, reliant on either contaminated groundwater or
groundwater wells that have run dry shall be considered.
(c) For purposes of this section, "contaminated groundwater" means
groundwater that exceeds a primary or secondary drinking water
standard, as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 1. Section 79720 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
79720. Upon appropriation by the Legislature from the fund, the
sum of five hundred twenty million dollars ($520,000,000) shall be
available for expenditures, grants, and loans for projects that
improve water quality or help provide clean, safe, and reliable
drinking water to all Californians.