BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1704
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1704 (Dodd) - As Amended March 30, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife
(DFW) to adopt general conditions for registrants to divert and
store water for small irrigation uses, as specified. This bill
requires registrants to pay initial fees of $500 and renewal
fees of $250 to DFW.
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FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Significant annual administrative costs of approximately $4
million (GF) plus $11 million in contract funds (GF) for SWRCB
to set general conditions statewide for small irrigation use.
2)Ongoing costs of approximately $2 million (Water Rights Fund)
for SWRCB to issue and renew registrations following the
development of general conditions.
3)DFW estimates it will require 31.0 PYs and $4,727,000 (GF) to
implement this bill. However, DFW has also requested $7.7
million (GF) and 31.0 PYs, in the proposed 2016-17 budget to
protect fish and wildlife resources from the harmful effects
of marijuana cultivation and fulfill duties established in the
medical marijuana regulatory framework. It is possible that
some duties can be streamlined between the two similar
activities, resulting in lower overall costs.
Although this bill authorizes fees for DFW, it is unlikely the
fee revenues would be sufficient to cover costs. This bill
does not provide additional fee authority for SWRCB beyond
their existing authority.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, many vineyards and other
farmers in the Central Coast and North Coast rely on water
diverted from streams that support salmon and steelhead. Some
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of these agricultural water diversions occur during the
irrigation season when streamflow is naturally low and
juvenile salmon and steelhead are in the streams.
Some existing diverters would like to reduce diversions during
the irrigation season and transition to winter water storage.
However, obtaining rights for a new storage pond is a complex
and expensive multi-year endeavor requiring compliance with
California appropriative water rights law, Fish and Game Code
streambed alteration agreements, Endangered Species Acts,
CEQA, and County land use and zoning requirements.
This bill allows SWRCB and DFW to develop general conditions
to allow small irrigation water users to divert and store
water for later use.
2)Background. AB 964, Chapter 579, Statutes of 2011, created
the current small irrigation registration process in response
to resource conflicts resulting from simultaneous water
demands. Sprinklers used to protect vineyards, when combined
with other water uses, were causing drops in river flows
potentially harmful to salmon and other fish.
The registration process created 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. At that time, SWRCB determined
one quarter of its currently-pending water rights applications
were for uses of 20 acre-feet per year or less. Creating the
small irrigation registration process was expected to
streamline permitting and help SWRCB eliminate some of the
permitting backlog.
AB 964 allowed SWRCB to develop general conditions for some
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areas or uses before others, but mandated that the SWRCB
develop general conditions for frost protection uses in the
northern California coastal stream area by June 30, 2012,
unless SWRCB determined there were insufficient funds. On
July 25, 2012, the SWRCB approved an initial set of general
conditions for Small Irrigation Use registrations.
3)Fish and Wildlife Restrictions. In addition to DFW's
authority to impose project-specific terms and conditions on
water registrations, AB 964 required SWRCB to develop general
conditions that protect in-stream beneficial uses before the
small irrigation registration process may be used.
The conditions were developed by the SWRCB's Division of Water
Rights staff in consultation with a stakeholder group that
included representatives from DFW, Trout Unlimited, the Wine
Institute, the California Association of Wine Grape Growers
and others.
Registrants still need to comply with additional conditions
and processes imposed by the DFW. As a result, according to
proponents of the bill, many of the proposed registrations
were not acted upon in a timely manner due in part to limited
staff resources at DFW, and to a lack of information as to
what should be included in the application.
In addition, the author objects to a provision in the existing
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law that prohibits new small irrigation use registrations from
being issued for diversions from streams for which DFW
recommends instream flow requirements. Instead, this bill
would allow the registrations to be issued for such streams if
the registration includes conditions that are consistent with
the proposed streamflow requirements.
4)Discussions Continue. The author and sponsors the California
Association of Winegrape Growers and the Wine Institute,
indicate this bill is a work in progress, and are committed to
continuing to work with the SWRCB and the DFW to address the
costs and other concerns.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081