Amended in Assembly April 5, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1649

Introduced by Assembly begin delete Member end delete begin insert Members end insert Salas begin insert and Gallagher end insert

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bigelow, begin delete Gallagher, end delete Gray, Olsen, and Patterson)

(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Galgiani, and Vidak)

January 12, 2016

An act to begin delete amend end delete begin insert add end insert Section begin delete 79759 of end delete begin insert 114 to end insert the Water Code, relating to water storage.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1649, as amended, Salas. begin delete Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014: end delete begin insert State water policy: priority: end insert surface begin insert water end insert storage begin delete projects: end delete begin insert projects and end insert joint powers begin delete authorities: funding. end delete begin insert authorities. end insert

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Existing law establishes various state water policies, including that the protection of the public interest in the development of the water resources of the state is of vital concern to the people of the state and that the state shall determine in what way the water of the state, both surface and underground, should be developed for the greatest public benefit.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require the Department of Water Resources to develop a state water policy that gives priority to the formation of joint powers authorities that are formed to address critical surface water storage needs and to funding of the joint powers authorities’ surface water projects. The bill would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, including, but not limited to, that, of the water storage projects available, the Temperance Flat Dam and Sites Reservoir will meet statewide goals and provide specified public benefits to the greatest extent.

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Existing law, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,545,000,000 to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement program. The act continuously appropriates $2,700,000,000 to the California Water Commission for public benefits associated with water storage projects, including, among others, surface storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000. Funds allocated for this purpose are authorized by the act to be provided to local joint powers authorities formed by irrigation districts and other local water districts and local governments within the applicable hydrologic region to design, acquire, and construct those projects.

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This bill would require the California Water Commission to prioritize the funding of those local joint powers authorities surface storage projects and to move expediently to dispense project funds. This provision would become effective only upon approval by the voters at the next statewide election. The bill would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, including, but not limited to, that, of the water storage projects available, the Temperance Flat Dam and Sites Reservoir will meet statewide goals and provide those specified public benefits to the greatest extent.

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Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. 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 all of the
following:

(a) According to the United States Drought Monitor, over 90
percent of California is in “Severe Drought,” raising concerns over
water supply dependability and underscoring the need for
immediate statewide action.

(b) On November 4, 2014, voters approved Proposition 1, the
Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of
2014, which authorizes $7,545,000,000 in general obligation bonds
to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement
program, and continuously appropriates from the revenue of those
bonds $2,700,000,000 for water storage projects, including, but
not limited to, dams and reservoirs.

(c) With the promise of increased water storage, voters approved
Proposition 1 by 67 percent. The argument in favor of Proposition
1 in the state’s official voter information guide states “Proposition
1 invests in new storage increasing the amount of water that can
be stored during wet years for the dry years that will continue to
challenge California.”

(d) Expanding and improving California’s water storage capacity
is long overdue. The last time California saw significant state and
federal investments in the state’s water storage and delivery system
was in the 1960s, when the state’s population stood at 16 million.
Today, that same system supports 38 million individuals and will
need to support 50 million by 2050.

(e) Statewide water storage goals, as outlined in Chapter 8 of
Proposition 1 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 79750) of
Division 26.7 of the Water Code), are necessary to update
California’s aging water infrastructure, provide reliable water
supply for the public and our agricultural economy, and protect
the environmental health of the Delta.

(f) A water storage project may only be funded by Chapter 8 of
Proposition 1 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 79750) of
Division 26.7 of the Water Code) if it provides specified public
benefits, including: ecosystem improvements; water quality
improvements to the Delta and river systems that provide public
trust resources or restore groundwater resources; flood control
benefits, including increases in reservoir storage capacity in
response to decreasing snow pack; emergency response, including
securing emergency water supplies for salinity repulsion; and
recreational purposes.

(g) Of the water storage projects available, the Temperance Flat
Dam and Sites Reservoir will meet statewide goals and provide
all of these public benefits to the greatest extent. These projects
will allow California to store more water in years of high rainfall,
which will ease pressures placed on the Delta and groundwater
supply during years of prolonged drought, and facilitate the storage
of snow melt and timed releases of water to improve flow
conditions and water temperatures.

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 79759 of the Water Code is amended to read:

79759.  

(a) The funds allocated for the design, acquisition, and
construction of surface storage projects identified in the CALFED
Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000,
pursuant to this chapter may be provided for those purposes to
local joint powers authorities formed by irrigation districts and
other local water districts and local governments within the
applicable hydrologic region to design, acquire, and construct those
projects.

(b) The joint powers authorities described in subdivision (a)
may include in their membership governmental partners that are
not located within their respective hydrologic regions in financing
the surface storage projects, including, as appropriate, cost share
participation or equity participation. Notwithstanding Section 6525
of the Government Code, the joint powers agencies described in
subdivision (a) shall not include in their membership any for-profit
corporation or any mutual water company whose shareholders and
members include a for-profit corporation or any other private
entity. The department shall be an ex officio member of each joint
powers authority subject to this section, but the department shall
not control the governance, management, or operation of the
surface water storage projects.

(c) A joint powers authority subject to this section shall own,
govern, manage, and operate a surface water storage project,
subject to the requirement that the ownership, governance,
management, and operation of the surface water storage project
shall advance the purposes set forth in this chapter.

(d) As local joint powers authorities described in this section
form to address critical water storage needs and apply for funding
under this chapter, the commission shall prioritize the funding of
the local joint powers authorities surface storage projects and shall
move expediently to dispense project funds.

SEC. 3.  

Section 2 of this act would modify the single object
or work of a general obligation bond act previously submitted to
the voters by the Legislature pursuant to Section 1 of Article XVI
of the California Constitution, and subsequently approved by the
voters as Proposition 1 at the November 4, 2014, statewide general
election. Accordingly, Section 2 of this act shall become effective
only upon approval by the voters. The Secretary of State shall
submit Section 2 of this act to the voters on the ballot of the next
statewide election.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 114 is added to the end insert begin insert Water Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 114. end insert   

No later than 60 days after the effective date of the act
which added this section, the department shall develop a state
water policy that gives priority to the formation of joint powers
authorities that are formed to address critical surface water
storage needs and to the funding of the joint powers authorities’
surface water storage projects.

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