BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1244
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 1244
(Gray) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT: Water rights: small irrigation use
SUMMARY: Requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(State Water Board) to adopt general water rights conditions for
small irrigation registrations in consultation with the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), the
University of California Cooperative Extension (UC Extension),
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and others,
unless insufficient funding exists.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines small irrigation use as an irrigation use, heat
control use, or frost protection use, not to exceed diversion
to storage of 20 acre-feet annually or direct diversion of
42,000 gallons per day up to a maximum of 20 acre-feet
annually.
2)Adds small irrigation to the existing uses for which an
applicant may obtain a right to appropriate water by
registering with the SWRCB.
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3)Limits the total combined water use covered by registrations
to one registration per 20 irrigated acres and, on all acreage
covered by the registrations including any water use based on
other rights, 100 acre-feet.
4)Requires the SWRCB to establish general conditions for small
irrigation use to protect instream beneficial uses before the
small irrigation registration process can be used.
5)Makes the SWRCB's duty to establish general conditions subject
to SWRCB having available funds.
6)Allows the SWRCB to adopt general conditions for some methods
of diversion or categories of small irrigation use before
establishing general conditions for others.
7)Requires, by June 30, 2012, that the SWRCB establish general
conditions for small irrigation uses for facilities used for
frost protection in the area of northern California Coastal
Streams, as defined, unless the SWRCB finds it has
insufficient funds to do so.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose: This bill requires the State Water Board to consult
with the CDFA, UC Extension, DFW and unspecified others in
developing general water permit terms for small irrigation
registrations.
2)Background on small irrigation registrations: The small
irrigation registration process was created by AB 964
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(Huffman), Chapter 579, Statutes of 2011, in response to
resource conflicts that were occurring when sprinklers used to
protect vineyards against frost were creating simultaneous
water demands that, when combined with other water uses, were
causes drops in river flows that could be harmful to salmon
and other fish. The small irrigation use registration process
was created in order to create an expedited water right for a
pond that stores less than 20 acre-feet annually so that a
vineyard could draw from its pond for frost protection instead
of directly from the stream. However, the bill was not
limited to frost protection uses. The State Water Board at
that time identified that one quarter of its currently-pending
water rights applications were for uses of 20 acre-feet per
year or less. Therefore, creation of a small irrigation
registration process was expected to streamline permitting for
some of those small irrigation uses and help the SWRCB
eliminate some of its water right permitting backlog.
In addition to increased flexibility for irrigators, AB 964
included environmental safeguards. In addition to DFW's
ability under existing law to impose project-specific terms
and conditions on water registrations, AB 964 required the
State Water Board to develop general conditions that protect
in-stream beneficial uses before the small irrigation
registration process may be used. AB 964 allowed the State
Water Board to develop general conditions for some areas or
uses before others but mandated that the State Water Board
develop general conditions for frost protection uses in the
northern California coastal stream area by June 30, 2012,
unless the SWRCB determines it has insufficient funds for that
purpose.
3)Supporting arguments: The author state that this bill will
expand small irrigation use registrations in a manner that
ensures protection of senior water rights and environmental
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water needs by creating general permit terms for small
irrigation registrations. Other supporters state AB 1244 would
assist the SWRCB in approving small projects with obvious
environmental benefits by working with others to develop site
specific criteria that could expedite their approval.
4)Committee staff suggests: Amend the existing Section 1229
regarding small irrigation registrations to specify that
coordination with CDFA and the UC Extension is for technical
agricultural information and that coordination with the DFW is
regarding fish and wildlife.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Winegrape Growers
California Farm Bureau Federation
Opposition
None on file
AB 1244
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Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096