BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1704 Hearing Date: June 28,
2016
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|Author: |Dodd | | |
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|Version: |May 31, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor |
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Subject: Water rights
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Under current law, any person may obtain a right to appropriate
water for a small domestic, small irrigation, or livestock
stockpond use by registering the use with the State Water
Resources Control Board (state board) and then putting the water
to reasonable and beneficial use, subject to certain conditions.
One of the conditions requires the registration to include a
certification that the registrant has contacted a representative
of the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and has agreed to
comply with conditions set forth by DFW in what is often
referred to as a section 1602 or "streambed alteration" permit.
These permits establish the conditions under which a permittee
may "substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow of, or
substantially change or use any material from the streambed."
Current law also requires the state board to establish general
conditions to which all appropriations of water for small
domestic, small irrigation, and livestock stockpond use are
subject. The Board adopted the general conditions for small
irrigation use registrations on 9/20/13 and for small domestic
and livestock stockpond uses on 1/27/14.
PROPOSED LAW
AB 1704 (Dodd) Page 2
of ?
This bill would:
1.Provide that for a proposed registration, renewal of
registration, or amended registration of water use for a small
domestic, small irrigation, or livestock stockpond, DFW's
review and establishment of conditions on the appropriation of
water for that stockpond would be as follows:
DFW would determine if the notification is complete in
accordance with the Permit Streamlining Act.
DFW would propose any lawful conditions on the
registration in a draft agreement.
Any conditions on a registration that are included in a
final agreement would be deemed conditions on the water
rights.
1.Require the state water board, by January 1, 2018, to adopt
general conditions that would permit a registrant to construct
a facility that would store water for small irrigation use
during times of high stream flow in exchange for that
registrant reducing diversions during periods of low stream
flow, pursuant to this section, for the following:
Diversions from coastal streams entering the Pacific
Ocean and streams entering the San Francisco Bay for
off-stream storage reservoirs and on-stream storage
reservoirs located on stream reaches where fish are not
present.
Diversions from other streams for which, in the judgment
of the board, the reduction in existing diversions during
low flow periods will result in a benefit to fish and
wildlife.
1.Further require the state water board, by June 30, 2019, to
adopt general conditions and, if necessary, amend existing
general conditions for the registration of small irrigation
use for purposes not described above.
2.Clarify provisions regarding the application of the stockpond
registration provisions in the Water Code concerning stream
segments for which the Director of DFW has established minimum
streamflow requirements.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
AB 1704 (Dodd) Page 3
of ?
According to the author, "In 2011, AB 964 was enacted to create
a program whereby growers could obtain a temporary water right
to divert water into small irrigation ponds. The purpose of
this measure was to ease the burden of obtaining authorization
for these projects, as they provide significant environmental
benefits by allowing growers to divert water during high stream
flows and avoid such diversions during low stream flows. This
both enhances growers' water security, and protects natural
resources."
"Unfortunately, since the bill's enactment, very few
registrations have been processed. The principal reason
identified for this was that the still-burdensome process of
obtaining these rights has led growers to conclude that the
program is not worth applying for vs. the more durable right
that can be obtained through the more traditional water right
process. This bill aims to make the registration process more
user-friendly for growers in order to encourage these beneficial
projects."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None Received
COMMENTS
AB 964 (Huffman, 2011). The genesis of the small irrigation
registration program was the significant drop in streamflow in
the Russian River that occurred when sprinklers used to protect
vineyards against frost kicked on. The jump in water demand for
the sprinklers in addition to usual demands on the river lead to
insufficient streamflow for salmon and other fish.
The small irrigation use registration process was created in
order to create 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 state board at that time identified that one quarter
of its currently-pending water rights applications were for uses
of 20 acre-feet per year or less. Therefore, creation of a
small irrigation registration process was expected to streamline
permitting for some of those small irrigation uses and help the
state board eliminate some of its water right permitting
backlog.
AB 1704 (Dodd) Page 4
of ?
So Far, Results Are Disappointing. There is general agreement
that the current process is less than ideal. Applications are
not nearly as high as expected when AB 964 was enacted.
The Question Is Why. This bill focuses mostly on trying to
speed up DFW's streambed alteration permitting process. Another
view might be that there are significant and unique site
specific issues associated with small irrigation use that are
not easily resolved, and so folks simply had unrealistic
expectations in the first place.
Timing May Be Problematic. The bill would require that by
January 1, 2018, the state board adopt general conditions for
facilities that would store water for small irrigation use
during times of high stream flow in exchange for that registrant
reducing diversions during periods of low stream flow. This
would give the state board a year, give or take a few months, to
develop and adopt those general conditions. This is a very
short timeline given that to adopt such conditions the state
board would need to comply with CEQA.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT
Wine Institute (Sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Association of Winegrape Growers
California Chamber of Commerce
Sonoma County Water Agency
Trout Unlimited
OPPOSITION:
None Received
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