BILL NUMBER: AB 1201	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Salas

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to  amend Section 13000 of   add
Section 85308.5 to  the Water Code, relating to  water
quality.   the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1201, as amended, Salas.  Water quality.  
Delta Stewardship Council.  
   The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 establishes
the Delta Stewardship Council as an independent agency of the state,
and requires the council to develop, adopt, and commence
implementation of a comprehensive management plan for the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta Plan), meeting specified
requirements. The act also establishes the Delta Independent Science
Board to provide oversight of the scientific research, monitoring,
and assessment programs that support adaptive management of the Delta
through periodic reviews.  
   This bill would require the council, in the course of implementing
the Delta Plan, to direct the board to conduct an assessment of
stressors, in addition to the operations of the State Water Resources
Development System and the federal Central Valley Project, on
populations of native fish species in the Delta, the Sacramento and
San Joaquin rivers, and the tributaries to those rivers below the rim
dams of the central valley, containing specified information, and to
recommend changes in statute and actions that may be taken by state
agencies to remedy the situation at the earliest possible time. 

   The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act establishes a
statewide program for the control of the quality of all the waters in
the state and makes certain legislative findings and declarations.
 
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the
legislative findings and declarations. 
   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.    In order to protect and preserve the
existing populations of native fish species that live and migrate
through the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta, it is the intent of the Legislature that the Delta Stewardship
Council consider, in addition to measures addressing the impact of
the State Water Resources Development System (State Water Project)
and federal Central Valley Project operations, the identification of
effective and scientifically justified measures to reduce or
eliminate the impact of other significant stressors on California's
native fish populations. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 85308.5 is added to the  
Water Code   , to read:  
   85308.5.  The council, in the course of implementing the Delta
Plan, shall direct the Delta Independent Science Board to conduct an
assessment of stressors, in addition to the operation of the State
Water Resources Development System and the federal Central Valley
Project, on populations of native fish species in the Delta, the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and the tributaries to those
rivers below the rim dams of the central valley, and shall recommend
changes in statute and actions that may be taken by state agencies to
remedy the situation at the earliest possible time. The assessment
shall include, at a minimum, a description of those stressors
identified in the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, including the impacts
of invasive species and nonnative species, water quality impairments,
and predation on native species.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 13000 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
   13000.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the people of
the state have a primary interest in the conservation, control, and
utilization of the water resources of the state, and that the quality
of all the waters of the state shall be protected for use and
enjoyment by the people of the state.
   (b) The Legislature further finds and declares that activities and
factors which may affect the quality of the waters of the state
shall be regulated to attain the highest water quality that is
reasonable, considering all demands being made and to be made on
those waters and the total values involved, beneficial and
detrimental, economic and social, tangible and intangible.
   (c) The Legislature further finds and declares that the health,
safety, and welfare of the people of the state requires that there be
a statewide program for the control of the quality of all the waters
of the state; that the state must be prepared to exercise its full
power and jurisdiction to protect the quality of waters in the state
from degradation originating inside or outside the boundaries of the
state; that the waters of the state are increasingly influenced by
interbasin water development projects and other statewide
considerations; that factors of precipitation, topography,
population, recreation, agriculture, industry, and economic
development vary from region to region within the state; and that the
statewide program for water quality control can be most effectively
administered regionally, within a framework of statewide coordination
and policy.