BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1587
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 1587
(Mathis) - As Amended March 15, 2016
SUBJECT: Groundwater
SUMMARY: Expands the ability in a drought or flood to extract
and recharge groundwater without oversight. Appropriates $50
million of Proposition 1 funds for groundwater sustainability
plans and projects, and requires that special consideration be
given to recharge basins in areas of fallow farmland.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations about the increasing rate and
impact of subsidence around the state.
2)Prohibits a city or county in a Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA) basin from limiting groundwater
extraction in a time of drought or flood, unless the state has
provided a safe, reliable, and permanent alternative source of
water.
3)Eliminates the need for a permit to recharge groundwater in
times of drought or flood when there is no injury or effect on
beneficial uses of water.
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4)Appropriates $50 million of Proposition 1 funds for
groundwater sustainability plans and projects, and requires
that special consideration be given to recharge basins in
areas of fallow farmland.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Expresses the state's regulatory and supervisory authority
over all waters in the state, surface and underground, by
declaring that all waters in the state are property of the
people of the State, while recognizing that rights may be
acquired to the use of water.
2)Establishes background principles that apply to all water
diversion and use, including the Constitutional prohibition
against waste, unreasonable use, unreasonable method of
diversion or unreasonable method of use.
3)Requires the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water
Board) administer the water rights system to permit the
acquisition of water rights for beneficial use while
preventing harm to other lawful water users.
4)Establishes the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Among other things, SGMA requires that each high- and
medium-priority groundwater basins be managed pursuant to a
groundwater sustainability plan by January 31, 2020, if in
critical overdraft, or by January 31, 2022, with the goal of
achieving sustainability within 20 years.
5)Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to prioritize
California's groundwater basins in order to focus state
resources. The basins are prioritized as either high, medium,
low, or very low based on a combination of factors including,
but not limited to, overlying population, level of dependence
for urban and agricultural water supplies, and impacts on the
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groundwater from overdraft, subsidence, saline water
intrusion, and water quality degradation.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Expands the ability in a drought or flood to extract
and recharge groundwater without oversight.
1)Author's statement: Many areas of the state are
disproportionately impacted by the drought because they are
heavily dependent or completely reliant on groundwater. A
critical number of these groundwater basins are in a state of
overdraft. NASA and USDA estimate that more than 1 million
acres of farms and ranches in California have gone fallow due
to drought conditions. This bill will provide an opportunity
to create "water farms" which will help people save their
farms and create additional water storage.
2)Background:
Pumping in a time of Drought or Flood
Subsidence is a significant and growing problem in the state.
In most parts of the state subsidence is typically caused by
depleting the groundwater table through groundwater pumping.
In times of drought when there is greater reliance on
groundwater because surface water is not available subsidence
can occur. Often times when subsidence occurs the future
availability of groundwater basin to store water is diminished
permanently.
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One of the driving forces behind the passage of SGMA was the
need to combat subsidence and ensure that groundwater basins
were available for use into the future by requiring that they
are managed sustainably. SGMA has laid out a long time frame
before a basin must be sustainable because it recognized that
long-term changes to long standing practices cannot happen
overnight.
In each SGMA basin defined as a high or medium priority basin
at least one Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) must form
or the State Water Resources Control Board will become the
GSA. It is not clear if a city or county will become a GSA,
but all GSA's will have to develop a Groundwater
Sustainability Plan (GSP). It is not clear if a GSP will
restrict pumping in times of drought or flood, but over the
long term the GSP will dictate how groundwater is managed in
the basin.
The committee may wish to consider if this bill would
undermine the ability of SGMA to provide for long-term
groundwater sustainability.
Permits for Groundwater Recharge
In November 2015 the Governor issued an Executive Order
directing the State Water Board to issue temporary permits
that enhance the ability for state or local agencies to
capture stormwater. In December 2015 the State Water Board
adopted an emergency regulation that reduced the fees for
permits and exempted the permits from CEQA pursuant to the
Governor's Executive Order. The State Water Board has
received and approved two temporary permits under this action.
This bill would eliminate the need for a permit to divert
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water for groundwater recharge in times of flood or drought.
In doing so it would remove the oversight of the State Water
Board and replace that oversight with a prohibition on the
diverter causing injury to other lawful users or having an
unreasonable effect on other beneficial users. It is the
State Water Board that is responsible for and has the
information to make an evaluation on the potential of a
diversion to cause injury or have an unreasonable effect. It
is hard to envision an individual diverter who would have the
information necessary to make this kind of determination and
harder to see their incentive to make a determination that
would limit their ability to divert.
Funding for Groundwater Recharge
Proposition 1 included $100 million for implementing
groundwater plans. The 2015 budget appropriated all of those
funds for DWR to implement a competitive grant program. DWR
is currently developing guidelines for these grant programs.
This bill would prioritize funding for recharge of basins in
areas of fallow farmland and appropriate $50 million of funds
that appear to have already been appropriated.
The State Water Board has an existing policy to prioritize the
issuance of water permits. That policy includes prioritizing
projects of regional or statewide significance, and projects
designed to minimize or avoid impacts to the environment.
The committee may wish to consider if prioritizing areas of
fallow farmland will undermine the existing policy.
Alternatively, the committee may wish to consider defining the
extent of fallow farmland for consideration in prioritization.
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3)Prior and Related Legislation:
a) The following pieces of legislation created the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
AB 1739 (Dickinson), Chapter 347,
Statutes of 2014
SB 1168 (Pavely), Chapter 346, Statutes
of 2014
SB 1319(Pavely), Chapter 348, Statutes
of 2014
b) AB 1471 (Rendon), Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014,
placed Proposition 1, a $7.545 billion general obligation
bond for water-related projects and programs on the
November 4, 2014 ballot, where it passed with 67% of the
vote.
1)Opposing Arguments: This bill makes a substantial and
inappropriate amendment to SGMA and reappropriates Proposition
1 funding that is intended to assist local agencies in the
implementation of the Act. Moreover, it removes permitting
requirements for surface water diversions to groundwater
recharge.
The proposal to revoke local authority could impair local
ability to sustainably manage the basin over time to achieve
sustainability, leading to state takeover of the basin. While
we support groundwater recharge, particularly through the
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capture of flood flows, the State Water Board needs to make a
finding that the water is not already appropriated to a more
senior water rights holder.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on File
Opposition
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Sierra Club California
Analysis Prepared by:Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096
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