BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1061
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 1061
Gallagher - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage District: powers
SUMMARY: Allows the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage
District (District), which is under the management and control
of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (Board), to
acquire, sell, lease, or rent properties and use any revenue
that is generated from those sales, leases or rentals for flood
control purposes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides the Board authority for the protection and oversight
of levees, weirs, channels, and other features of federally
and state-authorized flood control facilities located in the
Sacramento River and San Joaquin River drainage basins.
2)Requires plans that involve the construction, enlargement, or
alteration of any levee, embankment, canal, or other
excavation in the bed of or along or near the banks of the
Sacramento or San Joaquin Rivers or any of their tributaries
or specified lands to be approved by the Board before such
activity is commenced.
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3)Vests management and control of the District in the Board.
4)Authorizes the District to acquire, own, hold, use, and enjoy
any and all properties necessary for the purposes of the
District.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill gives the District broader property-related
powers. In addition to being able to hold and enjoy property,
this bill allows the District to acquire, sell (or otherwise
dispose of), lease or rent property, including rights-of-way and
easements, and applies any revenue from property transactions to
the flood control purposes of the District and the Board.
1)Author's statement: The author states that the District has
property rights dating back to the 1900s and that the SPFC
retains fee title, easements, and other land use agreements on
about 18,000 parcels. According to the author, there are
agreements that allow for agricultural crop production, which
generates lease revenues to the State. But the author adds
the revenues must go directly to the General Fund and cannot
be used for the maintenance and repair of flood control
projects.
2)Background: The District boundaries comprise more than 1.9
million acres in the Central Valley along the general course
of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, stretching from
Glenn and Butte Counties in the north to Madera and Fresno
Counties in the south. The District was created in 1913 to
allow the State Engineer at the time, to procure data, and
perform surveys and examinations of the San Joaquin and
Sacramento rivers and their tributaries for the purpose of
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preparing a report to the Reclamation Board, which was the
current Board's predecessor agency.
The purpose of the report was to further plans for controlling
the floodwaters of the rivers and improve and preserve
navigation, reclamation, and the protection of the lands that
are susceptible to overflow from those rivers and their
tributaries. Those plans culminated in the State Plan of
Flood Control (SPFC), a State-Federal flood protection system
in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds.
Property rights for the SPFC are held by the District. But
currently, lease revenues must go directly into the General
Fund.
3)A statutory change solved a similar issue for the Department
of Fish and Wildlife (DFW): DFW supplemented the costs of
maintenance and operations of DFW-managed lands by granting
revenue-generating leases for agricultural activities, where
compatible. A state audit conducted in 2012 raised questions
regarding the accountability of the leasing process and the
reporting of revenues. AB 749 (Wolk) Chapter 387, Statutes of
2013, authorized, among other provisions, that DFW could enter
into contracts, agricultural leases, or other agreements, as
specified, and use the revenues for the management and
operation of DFW lands. One example of a successful project is
the Yolo Basin Wildlife Refuge, where lands leased for the
growing of rice provide habitat for waterfowl and other
wildlife species, and managed grazing in other parts of the
refuge help to maintain vernal pool habitat. The revenues
generated from the leases also assist the DFW in covering
maintenance and operations costs for the refuge.
4)Prior and related legislation: AB 162 (Wolk), Chapter 369,
Statutes of 2007 requires, among other actions, that each city
and county located within the boundaries of the District
submit the draft element, or draft amendment to the safety
element of its general plan, to the Board for review and
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comment.
5)Supporting arguments: Supporters state that allowing the
lease revenue funding under this bill will improve
maintenance, help maximize environmental mitigation and
enhancement, and assist in offsetting mitigation costs.
6)Suggested Committee amendment: The current bill language
could create a possible legal ambiguity by suggesting that any
successor to the "lands of the district" receives the
district's powers. Staff suggests amending lines 3 and 4 of
the bill, as follows, to clarify that the successor is to the
district itself:
8504. The district district, and any successor to the of
the land of the district, may do all of the following:
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Central Valley Flood Control Association (sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
Opposition
AB 1061
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096