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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Dodd | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Version: |May 31, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -- END --