Amended in Senate August 1, 2016

Amended in Senate June 13, 2016

Amended in Assembly May 11, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 5, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 1, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1755


Introduced by Assembly Member Dodd

February 2, 2016


An act to add Part 4.9 (commencing with Section 12400) to Division 6 of the Water Code, relating to water data.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1755, as amended, Dodd. The Open and Transparent Water Data Act.

Existing law imposes on the Department of Water Resources various duties with respect to water in the state. Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the state board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water. Existing law regulates water transfers and authorizes a permittee or licensee to change the point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use due to a transfer or exchange of water or water rights if certain conditions are met.

This bill would enact the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. The act would require the department,begin delete by January 1, 2018,end deletebegin insert in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the state board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in accordance with a specified schedule,end insert to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform that, among other things, would integrate existing water and ecological data information from multiple databases and provide data on completed water transfers and exchanges.

The act would require the department,begin insert in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council,end insert the state board, and the Department of Fish andbegin delete Wildlifeend deletebegin insert Wildlife,end insert to develop protocols for data sharing, documentation, quality control, public access, and promotion of open-source platforms and decision support tools related to water data and to submit to the Legislature a report on those protocols. The act would require a recipient of state fundsbegin insert through a grant or contractend insert for research orbegin delete projectsend deletebegin insert a projectend insert relating to the improvement of waterbegin insert or ecologicalend insert data to adhere to those protocols or be ineligible for state funding.

The act would create the Water Data Administration Fund. The act would specify that moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation, to the department, the state board, or the Department of Fish and Wildlife for thebegin insert collection, management, andend insert improvement of waterbegin insert and ecologicalend insert databegin delete orend delete forbegin delete certain otherend deletebegin insert theend insert purposes of the act.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Part 4.9 (commencing with Section 12400) is
2added to Division 6 of the Water Code, to read:

3 

4PART 4.9.  The Open and Transparent Water Data
5Act

6

6 

7Chapter  1. General Provisions
8

 

9

12400.  

This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the Open
10and Transparent Water Data Act.

11

12401.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

12(a) The recent drought reveals that California needs to integrate
13existing water and ecological data into an authoritative open-access
14platform to help water managers operate California’s water system
P3    1more effectively and help water users make informed decisions
2based on water availability and allocation.

3(b) State and federal leadership, increased awareness by
4business, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations
5through open and transparent access to data, and improved
6technology and availability of open-source platforms create a
7unique opportunity that California should seize upon to integrate
8and increase access to existing water data.

9(c) California is working to increase access to water data
10collected by state agencies. The state board is piloting a project to
11make water quality datasets available online through an open data
12portal. The portal creates an opportunity to foster collaboration
13among state agencies, share and integrate existing datasets, improve
14state agency operations through data-driven decisionmaking, and
15improve transparency and accountability.

16(d) State agencies should promote openness and interoperability
17of water data. Making information accessible, discoverable, and
18usable by the public can foster entrepreneurship, innovation, and
19scientific discovery.

20(e) Water data andbegin delete research that isend deletebegin insert information technology tools
21and applications developed andend insert
gathered using state funds should
22be made publicly accessible. State delegation of data management
23to contractors should not result in the public losing access to its
24own information.

25(f) The availability of open-source tools makes it easier to access
26and explore water and ecological data and could facilitate the
27creation of an online integrated water data platform without the
28need to create an expensive new centralized database.

29

12402.  

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
30definitions govern the construction of this part:

31(a) “Department” means the Department of Water Resources.

32(b) “Metadata” means data that describes data.

33(c) “Platform” means the statewide integrated water data
34platform described in Section 12415.

35(d) “State board” means the State Water Resources Control
36Board.

 

P4    1Chapter  2. Statewide Water Data Integration
2

2 

3Article 1.  General Provisions
4

 

5

12405.  

The department, the state board, and the Department
6of Fish and Wildlife shall coordinate and integrate existing water
7and ecological data from local, state, and federal agencies. The
8purposes for integrating water and ecological databegin delete are to provideend delete
9begin insert include, but are not limited to, providingend insert adequate information to
10implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Part
112.74 (commencing with Section 10720)),begin delete improveend deletebegin insert improvingend insert the
12management of the state’s water resources, andbegin delete bringend deletebegin insert bringingend insert
13 greater transparency to water transfers and the market.

14

12406.  

(a) The department,begin insert in consultation with the California
15Water Quality Monitoring Council,end insert
the state board, and the
16Department of Fish andbegin delete Wildlifeend deletebegin insert Wildlife,end insert shall develop protocols
17for data sharing, documentation, quality control, public access,
18and promotion of open-source platforms and decision support tools
19related to water data. Thebegin delete agenciesend deletebegin insert departmentend insert shall develop and
20submit to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the
21Government Code andbegin delete before the establishment of a statewide
22integrated water data platform pursuant to Section 12410,end delete
begin insert by
23January 1, 2018,end insert
a report describing these protocols. The report
24shall be developed in collaboration withbegin insert the California Water
25Quality Monitoring Council, the state board, the Department of
26Fish and Wildlife,end insert
relevant federalbegin delete agenciesend deletebegin insert agencies,end insert and interested
27stakeholders, including, but not limited to, technology and open
28data experts and water data users.

29(b) begin deleteGrant recipients end deletebegin insertRecipients of state funds through grants or
30contracts end insert
for research or projects relating to the improvement of
31waterbegin insert or ecologicalend insert databegin delete that receive state funds shallend deletebegin insert shall, as a
32condition of the receipt of a grant or contract,end insert
adhere to the
33protocols developedbegin delete by state agenciesend delete pursuant to subdivision (a)
34for data sharing, transparency, documentation, and quality control.

35(c) Abegin delete researcher orend delete grantbegin insert or contractend insert recipient that does not
36comply with subdivision (b) is not eligible for state funding until
37thebegin delete researcher orend delete grantbegin insert or contractend insert recipient complies with those
38requirements.

 

P5    1Article 2.  Statewide Integrated Water Data Platform Creation
2

 

3

12410.  

(a) Thebegin delete departmentend deletebegin insert department, in consultation with
4the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the state board,
5and the Department of Fish and Wildlife,end insert
shall create, operate, and
6maintain a statewide integrated water data platform in accordance
7with Section 12415begin delete by January 1, 2018.end deletebegin insert and the following schedule:end insert

begin insert

8
(1) By January 1, 2018, the department shall do both of the
9following:

end insert
begin insert

10
(A) Make public the protocols developed pursuant to Section
1112406.

end insert
begin insert

12
(B) Publish a strategic plan for data management to guide the
13implementation of this part.

end insert
begin insert

14
(2) By April 1, 2018, the department shall release any request
15for proposals necessary for the development of a statewide
16integrated water data platform.

end insert
begin insert

17
(3) (A) By September 1, 2019, the department shall make
18available existing water and ecological data held by state agencies
19on the platform.

end insert
begin insert

20
(B) The department shall quarterly add the information
21described in subparagraph (A) not available as of September 1,
222019, that becomes available at a later date.

end insert
begin insert

23
(4) (A) By August 1, 2020, the department shall make available
24on the platform available water and ecological data related to
25California water supply and management that is held by the
26following agencies:

end insert
begin insert

27
(i) The United States Bureau of Reclamation.

end insert
begin insert

28
(ii) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

end insert
begin insert

29
(iii) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

end insert
begin insert

30
(iv) The United States Geological Survey.

end insert
begin insert

31
(v) The United States Forest Service.

end insert
begin insert

32
(B) The department shall quarterly add the information
33described in subparagraph (A) not available as of August 1, 2020,
34that becomes available at a later date.

end insert
begin insert

35
(5) By August 1, 2020, the department shall make available on
36the platform any other existing information listed in Section 12415.

end insert

37(b) The department may partner with an existing nonprofit
38organization, with a new nonprofit organization that the department
39creates, organized under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section
40501 of Title 26 of the United States Code, or with another state
P6    1agency to create, operate, or maintain, or any combination thereof,
2the platform.

3(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may enter
4into an agreement with an existing nonprofit organization, with a
5new nonprofit organization that the department creates, organized
6under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of Title 26
7of the United States Code, or with another state agency for that
8nonprofit organization or state agency to create, operate, or
9maintain, or any combination thereof, the platform.

begin delete

10(d) A nonprofit organization that participates in creating,
11operating, or maintaining the platform may receive public funds,
12court-ordered mitigation funds, or other funds to assist in carrying
13out the responsibilities for integrating and managing existing water
14and ecological data as described in Section 12415.

end delete
begin insert

15
(d) The Department of Technology is deemed to have delegated
16to the department any authority over the implementation of this
17part granted to it pursuant to Section 11546 of the Government
18Code.

end insert
begin insert

19
(e) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall prevent a state agency from
20disseminating, managing, or publishing data separately from the
21platform.

end insert

22 

23Article 3.  Statewide Integrated Water Data Platform Features
24

 

25

12415.  

The statewide integrated water data platform created
26pursuant to Section 12410 shall, at a minimum, do all of the
27following:

28(a) Integrate existing water and ecological data information
29from multiple autonomous databases managed by federal, state,
30and local agencies and academia using consistent and standardized
31formats.

32(b) begin deleteIntegrate, at a minimum, end deletebegin insertIntegrate end insertthe followingbegin delete datasets:end delete
33
begin insert datasets, as available:end insert

34(1) The department’s information on State Water Project
35reservoir operations, groundwater use,begin delete andend delete groundwaterbegin delete levels
36through California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring
37(CASGEM),end delete
begin insert levels,end insert urban water use, and land use.

38(2) The state board’s data on water rights, water diversions, and
39water quality through California Environmental Data Exchange
40Network (CEDEN).

P7    1(3) The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s information on fish
2abundance and distribution.

3(4) The United States Geological Survey’s streamflow
4conditions information through the National Water Information
5System.

6(5) The United States Bureau of Reclamation’s federal Central
7Valley Project operations information.

8(6) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s, United States
9Forest Service’s, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
10Administration Fisheries’ fish abundance information.

11(c) Provide data on completed water transfers and exchanges,
12including publicly available or voluntarily provided data on the
13volume, price, and delivery method, identity of the buyers and
14sellers, and the water right associated with the transfer or exchange.

15(d) Providebegin delete clear and carefulend delete documentation of data quality and
16data formats through metadata.

17(e) Adhere to data protocols developed by state agencies
18pursuant to Section 12406.

19(f) Be able to receive both spatial and time series data from
20various sources.

begin delete

21(g) Enable custom dashboards, visualizations, graphing, and
22 analysis.

end delete

23 

24Chapter  3. Water Data Administration Fund
25

 

26

12420.  

begin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insertThe Water Data Administration Fund is hereby
27created. All moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation,
28to the department, the state board, or the Department of Fish and
29Wildlife for thebegin insert collection, management, andend insert improvement of
30waterbegin delete data, for entering into an agreement with, or establishing, a
31nonprofit organization pursuant to Section 12410, or creating,
32operating, or maintaining the statewide integrated water data
33platform described in Section 12415, including the cost to verify
34data, and modernizing water information databases.end delete
begin insert and ecological
35data for the purposes of this part.end insert

begin insert

36
(b) The Department of Finance shall develop a standardized
37agreement to allow for the voluntary donation to the fund by any
38person, educational institution, government entity, corporation or
39other business entity, or organization.

end insert
begin delete
P8    1

12421.  

(a) (1) The department, the state board, or the
2Department of Fish and Wildlife may enter into an agreement to
3accept funds or services from any person, educational institution,
4government entity, corporation or other business entity, or
5organization for the maintenance, development, improvement, or
6enhancement of a designated agencies’ data, decision support tools,
7or information technology projects. Under the direction of the
8respective agency, the funds or services received shall supplement,
9but not replace, existing resources for the maintenance,
10development, improvement, or enhancement of designated agency
11data, decision support tools, or information technology systems.
12The respective agency and the sponsoring or donating person,
13entity, government, or organization shall specify in the agreement
14the level of service that is to be performed.

15(b) Funds received pursuant to this section shall be deposited
16in the Water Data Administration Fund created pursuant to Section
1712420.

end delete


O

    94