BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1089
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1089 (Eduardo Garcia)
As Introduced February 27, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |9-0 |Williams, Dahle, | |
|Resources | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Hadley, Harper, | |
| | |McCarty, Rendon, Mark | |
| | |Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bloom, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
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SUMMARY: Expands the Coachella Mountains Conservancy
(Conservancy) jurisdiction to include the lands of the Cities of
Coachella and Indio and expands the membership of the governing
board to include representatives from these cities.
AB 1089
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor, absorbable cost increases of less than $1,000 per year.
2)Conservancy board members are entitled to a $75 per diem for
board meetings, the Conservancy typically meets six times per
year.
COMMENTS: The diverse desert landscape of the Coachella Valley
(Valley) provides habitat for dozens of plant and animal species,
some found nowhere else in the world. The Valley is also one of
the fastest growing areas in rapidly expanding Riverside County.
The Valley has a projected population growth of 600,000 over the
next 10 years. The Conservancy's mission is to protect the
natural and cultural resources of the Coachella Valley: the
scenic, wildlife, cultural, geologic, and recreational resources.
Since its inception, the Conservancy and its partners have
conserved over 81,000 acres. The Cities of Indio and Coachella,
located on the Valley floor, were not originally included within
the Conservancy's jurisdiction.
In 1997, the boundaries of the Conservancy were expanded to
coincide with the boundaries of the Coachella Valley Multiple
Species Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation
Plan (MSHCP). The MSHCP identified an additional 160,000 acres of
land to be acquired to create a total system of 725,000 acres of
conserved lands. The Conservancy has done trail work and
acquisitions on the borders of both the Cities of Coachella and
Indio. The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement
Act of 2014 (Proposition 1) allocated $10 million for the
Conservancy to do multibenefit water quality, water supply and
watershed protection and restoration projects. This bill would
allow for some of those projects to be in the Cities of Coachella
and Indio and revises the Conservancy jurisdiction to be
AB 1089
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consistent with the MSHCP.
Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0000246