AB 1242,
as amended, Gray. Water quality: begin deleteimpacts on groundwater: instream flows. end deletebegin insertgroundwater impacts.end insert
Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards as the principal state agencies with authority over matters relating to water quality. Existing law requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. Existing law requires each regional board to formulate and adopt water quality control plans for all areas within the region and prohibits a water quality control plan, or a revision of the plan, adopted by a regional board, from becoming effective unless it is approved by the state board.
Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources that are designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as specified.
This bill would require the statebegin delete board to take into consideration any applicable groundwater sustainability plan or alternativeend deletebegin insert board,end insert in formulating state policy for water quality control and adopting or approving a water quality controlbegin delete plan that affects a groundwater basin. This bill would require the state board to
identify projects for fish recovery that may be undertaken in lieu of instream flows before adopting or approving water quality objectives or a program of implementation that requires instream flows for protection of instream beneficial uses.end deletebegin insert plan, to take into consideration, consistent with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, any applicable groundwater sustainability plan or alternative and available information and data regarding the impacts of groundwater use and management on beneficial uses of surface waters.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 13145.5 is added to the Water Code, to
2read:
begin delete(a)end deletebegin delete end deleteIn formulating state policy for water quality
4control and adopting or approving a water quality controlbegin delete plan that begin insert plan,end insert the state board shall take into
5affects a groundwater basin,end delete
6begin deleteconsiderationend deletebegin insert consideration, consistent with the requirements of
7Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public
8Resources Code,end insert any applicable groundwater sustainability plan
9or alternative adopted or approved under Part 2.74 (commencing
10with Section 10720) of Divisionbegin delete 6.end deletebegin insert
6 and available information
11and data regarding the impacts of groundwater use and
12management on beneficial uses of surface waters.end insert
13(b) Before adopting or approving water quality objectives or a
14program of implementation that requires instream flows for
15protection of instream beneficial uses, the state
board shall identify
16projects for fish recovery that may be undertaken in lieu of instream
17flows.
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