BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1704
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1704 (Dodd)
As Amended May 31, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Water |11-1 |Levine, Dababneh, |Harper |
| | |Dodd, Gordon, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Lopez, Medina, | |
| | |Olsen, Salas, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |15-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
AB 1704
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| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) to adopt general conditions for small irrigation uses
according to certain timelines, and specifies some of the
conditions. Specifically, this bill:
1)Modifies the information to be included in a registration of
water use for appropriation of water to include a
certification that the registrant has provided a copy of the
registration form to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW)
and agrees to comply with the general conditions applicable.
Requires that the registration form include instructions for
complying with those conditions.
2)Requires the SWRCB, in consultation with DFW, to establish
general conditions for small irrigation use. Allows the SWRCB
to include in the general conditions requirements that are
applicable only to specific methods of diversion or categories
of registration commensurate with the project's environmental
impact. Requires that the general conditions adopted by the
SWRCB include the following:
a) That the appropriation is subject to prior rights,
b) That diversion works shall be constructed and water
applied to beneficial use with due diligence,
c) That the registration shall be renewed and water use
reported as required by law and SWRCB rules, and
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d) Any general conditions required by DFW to comply
with laws regarding streambed alteration agreements.
3)Requires DFW to adopt general conditions for small irrigation
uses to address requirements for streambed alteration
agreements, but only after DFW determines that funds are
available for that purpose. Authorizes the conditions adopted
by DFW for small irrigation uses to include all of the
following:
a) An assessment to avoid potential site-specific
impacts on fish and wildlife.
b) Submission of site-specific information.
c) Consultation with DFW regarding the findings of site
specific assessments and information.
d) Implementation of additional measures DFW lawfully
deems necessary to avoid site-specific impacts on fish
and wildlife.
4)States legislative intent that the SWRCB and DFW adopt general
conditions to simplify the issuance of registrations in a
cost-effective and environmentally protective manner, and that
the regulatory burden of complying with the general conditions
be commensurate with the complexity and type of resources
potentially affected.
5)Authorizes the SWRCB to continue to approve small irrigation
use appropriations pursuant to any general conditions in
effect on December 31, 2016, including any conditions lawfully
required by DFW, before the adoption of general conditions by
DFW under this bill.
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6)Repeals a provision of existing law providing that the SWRCB
does not need to adopt general conditions for small irrigation
use until the SWRCB determines that funds are available for
that purpose.
7)Requires the SWRCB, no later than June 30, 2017, to adopt
general conditions that would permit a registrant to construct
facilities to store water for small irrigation use during
times of high stream flow in exchange for the registrant
reducing existing diversions during periods of low stream
flow, for all of the following:
a) Diversions from coastal streams entering the Pacific
Ocean and streams entering the San Francisco Bay to
off-stream storage reservoirs or on-stream storage
reservoirs located on stream reaches where fish are not
present, as specified.
b) Diversions from watersheds that support salmonid
fisheries and from drainage areas of one square mile or
less, subject to additional specified conditions.
c) Diversions from other streams for which, in the
judgment of the SWRCB, the reduction in existing
diversions during low flow periods will result in a
benefit to fish and wildlife.
8)Requires that facilities to store water for small irrigation
uses shall be subject to all of the following general
conditions:
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a) No water shall be diverted or used and no
construction shall commence until the applicant has
obtained and is in compliance with all necessary permits
and approvals required by other agencies;
b) All appropriations, including the method of
diversion, purpose of use, and quantity of water
diverted, are subject to the continuing authority of the
SWRCB to protect the public trust and prevent waste and
unreasonable use.
c) Diversion of water under appropriation is subject to
prior rights, and applicants may be required to
compensate downstream holders of prior rights for any
injury caused by releases.
d) The appropriations are subject to available flows.
e) The appropriations do not authorize take of species
protected under state or federal endangered species acts.
f) The appropriations are subject to applicable SWRCB
water measurement and reporting regulations.
9)Requires the SWRCB to adopt general conditions for
registration of small irrigation uses for purposes other than
those described in paragraph 7) above, by no later than June
30, 2018.
10)Requires that a registration fee of $500, and a renewal
registration fee of $250, be paid to the DFW for small
irrigation use registrations.
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11)Authorizes the SWRCB, beginning January 1, 2020, to
periodically adopt regulations to update the general
conditions specified in this bill.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the SWRCB to establish general conditions to which
all registrations of appropriations for small domestic, small
irrigation, and livestock stock pond uses shall be subject.
Requires that the conditions include that the appropriation is
subject to prior rights, that all conditions lawfully required
by DFW are conditions of the appropriation, that diversions be
constructed and water applied to beneficial use with due
diligence, and that the registration be renewed and water use
reported pursuant to law and rules of the SWRCB.
2)Provides that the SWRCB is not required to adopt general
conditions for small irrigation use until the SWRCB determines
that funds are available for that purpose.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Significant annual administrative costs of approximately $4
million [General Fund (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.
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3)DFW estimates it will require 31.0 Personnel Years and
$4,727,000 (GF) to implement this bill. However, DFW is only
required to adopt general conditions if funding is available.
4)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: This bill requires the SWRCB, in consultation with
DFW, to adopt general conditions for registrations to divert and
store water for small irrigation uses, and specifies in statute
what some of the conditions shall be. The SWRCB would be
required, by June 30, 2017, to adopt general conditions for some
small irrigation uses, and by June 30, 2018, for others.
According to the author, this bill facilitates small irrigation
use registrations statewide during periods of high stream flow
that result in reduction of diversions during periods of low
stream flow. The author maintains this bill will assist growers
and benefit habitat for fish in our streams and rivers.
The small irrigation registration process was created by AB 964
(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, caused drops
in river flows that could be harmful to salmon and other fish.
The small irrigation use registration process was created to
provide 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 SWRCB at that time identified that one quarter of its
pending water rights applications were for uses of 20 acre-feet
per year or less. Creation of a small irrigation registration
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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 DFW's ability under existing law to impose
project-specific terms and conditions on water registrations, AB
964 required the SWRCB to develop general conditions that
protect in-stream beneficial uses before the small irrigation
registration process may be used. AB 964 allowed the SWRCB to
develop general conditions for some areas or uses before others
but mandated that the SWRCB develop general conditions for frost
protection uses in northern California coastal streams by June
30, 2012, unless the SWRCB determined it had insufficient funds
for that purpose. On July 25, 2012, the SWRCB approved an
initial set of general conditions for Small Irrigation Use
registrations.
The author of this bill indicates that although the SWRCB did
adopt general conditions for small irrigation use registrations
for purposes of frost protection in the north coast region,
registrants still needed to comply with additional conditions
and processes imposed by DFW. The information that was required
by DFW to be included for a successful application was not
always clear to the applicant, and registrations still were
being reviewed and acted upon by the DFW on a case by case
basis. As a result, 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.
Supporters emphasize that rural water users have opportunities
to change water use practice in ways that can benefit threatened
and endangered fish species in critically dry years. However,
in some cases, landowners who are willing to make such changes
are unable to do so due to delays in the approval process for
small irrigation uses. This bill would establish general
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conditions for such uses that should accelerate permit
processing, especially during times of drought. According to
supporters, many wine grape growers would like to reduce
diversions during the warm weather irrigation season by
obtaining rights to store water during peak flow winter months
in small on-farm storage ponds, but obtaining permits for such
small irrigation storage ponds has been difficult. Supporters
also express support for the provisions in this bill that would
require the DFW to propose general conditions, and to make such
permits available statewide. There is currently no registered
opposition to this bill as amended.
Analysis Prepared by: Diane Colborn /
W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN: 0003303