Amended in Assembly April 4, 2016

Amended in Assembly February 8, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1585

Introduced by Assembly Member Alejo

(Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella)

(Coauthor: Senator Monning)

January 6, 2016

An act relating to water resources, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1585, as amended, Alejo. Monterey County Water Resources Agency: Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio.

Existing law establishes the Monterey County Water Resources Agency as a flood control and water agency within the County of Monterey. Existing law authorizes the agency to award a design-build contract for the combined design and construction of a project to connect Lake San Antonio, located in the County of Monterey, and Lake Nacimiento, located in the County of San Luis Obispo, with an underground tunnel or pipeline for the purpose of maximizing water storage, supply, and groundwater recharge.

This bill would appropriate $25,000,000 from an unspecified source to the agency for the purpose of constructing a water conveyance tunnel between Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio and spillway modifications at Lake San Antonio, as specified.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a) Over the past four years, California has grappled with one
of the worst ongoing droughts in the state’s history.

(b) The state is riddled with water supply and water quality
challenges posed by the relentless drought and is now facing
weather forecasts of one of the most powerful El Niño storms ever
recorded.

(c) A major flood event in California has the potential to
devastate communities and regional agriculture-based economies
and seriously impact the state’s economy.

(d) In Monterey County alone, agriculture generates eight billion
one hundred twenty million dollars ($8,120,000,000) into the local
economy and supports more than begin delete 76,000 end delete begin insert 53,500 end insert jobs. An additional
20,352 jobs are created as begin delete a direct end delete begin insert an indirect end insert result of the industry.

(e) The Monterey County Water Resources Agency manages
Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio, two reservoirs that supply
water for consumption and groundwater recharge and provide
flood begin delete control, end delete begin insert management, end insert prevention of begin delete salt water end delete begin insert saltwater end insert
intrusion, and recreation in the Salinas Valley.

(f) Lake Nacimiento’s watershed fills its reservoir nearly three
times faster than Lake San Antonio’s watershed fills its reservoir,
often causing water in Lake Nacimiento to exceed begin insert safe end insert capacity
and overflow from the spillway begin delete to the ocean, end delete begin insert into the Salinas River, end insert
even when Lake San Antonio still has available storage capacity.

(g) The Monterey County Water Resources Agency is planning
to begin delete correct these wasteful and potentially harmful consequences by
constructing both of the following: end delete begin insert improve this situation and
maximize the water supply availability and flood control benefits
for Zone 2C by doing both of the following: end insert

(1)  begin delete A end delete begin insert By constructing a end insert tunnel or pipeline between Lake
Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio that has the potential to reduce
water overflow events by 60 percent.

(2)  begin delete Spillway end delete begin insert By constructing spillway end insert modifications at Lake
San Antonio to begin insert manage flood control and end insert increase storage by
approximately 60,000 begin delete acre feet. end delete begin insert acre-feet. end insert

(h) These two projects will mitigate the impact of the drought
and improve the economic viability of the Salinas Valley, the
environmental sustainability of the region, and agricultural
production.

(i) The Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio region scores
40 percent to 50 percent as a disadvantaged community under
CalEnviroScreen.

(j) Given the Salinas Valley’s economic contribution to the
state’s agricultural economy and the stress the El Niño storms will
put on the region, the Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio
areas are considered distressed communities and therefore are a
priority for state funding.

SEC. 2.  

Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) from ____
is hereby appropriated to the Monterey County Water Resources
Agency for the purpose of constructing, in accordance with the
design-build process authorized by Section 11.1 of the Monterey
County Water Resources Agency Act (Chapter 1159 of the Statutes
of 1990, as amended by Chapter 865 of the Statutes of 2014), both
of the following in order to maximize water storage, water supply,
begin insert flood management, end insert and groundwater recharge at the lakes, within
the Salinas River groundwater basin, and the Salinas Valley:

(a) A water conveyance tunnel between Lake Nacimiento and
Lake San begin delete Antonio within zone 2c. end delete begin insert Antonio. end insert

(b) Spillway modifications at Lake San Antonio to increase
storage by approximately 60,000 begin delete acre feet. end delete begin insert acre-feet. end insert

SEC. 3.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because of the emergency circumstances of the
ongoing drought and the benefits these projects involving Lake
Nacimiento and Lake San begin delete Antonio end delete begin insert Antonio, end insert managed by the
Monterey County Water Resources begin delete Agency end delete begin insert Agency, end insert will provide
to the region.

SEC. 4.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to responsibly store water during California’s prolonged
drought, to protect the Salinas Valley from flooding, and to protect
water supply, water quality, distressed communities, and urban
and rural property and structures during a historic El Niño weather
pattern, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.