BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1061 Page 1 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. AB 1061 Page 2 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 AB 1061 Page 3 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 AB 1061 Page 4 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. Thedistrictdistrict, and any successor to theof the land of thedistrict, may do all of the following: REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support Central Valley Flood Control Association (sponsor) Association of California Water Agencies Opposition AB 1061 Page 5 None on file Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096