BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER Senator Fran Pavley, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1755 Hearing Date: June 28, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Dodd | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Version: |May 11, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: The Open and Transparent Water Data Act BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW The authority to acquire information technology goods and services in state government is spread over three agencies. The Department of Finance (Finance) is responsible for review and approval of funding related to IT project proposals. The California Department of Technology (CDT) has broad responsibility and authority to guide the application of information technology (IT) in California State Government. CDT's areas of responsibility include policy making, interagency coordination, IT budget and procurement review, technical assistance, and advocacy. The Department of General Services (DGS) is generally responsible for the acquisition of all IT goods and services. DGS also has statutory authority to delegate IT purchasing authority to those departments demonstrating the capability to make purchases that adhere to State statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures. AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 2 of ? According to the Department of Water Resources, they have delegated authority for IT goods and services costing up to $2 million. State agencies frequently develop and maintain data regarding their activities and compliance with regulations. For example: The Department of Water Resources DWR maintains data associated with the State Water Project (SWP), groundwater monitoring, urban water management, and land use. The State Water Resources Control Board (state board) maintains data associated with water rights, water diversions, and water quality. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) maintains data associated with fish populations and locations. PROPOSED LAW This bill would enact the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. The Act would: Require DWR, state board, and DFW to "coordinate and integrate existing water and ecological data from local, state, and AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 3 of ? federal agencies." Establish that the purposes for integrating water and ecological data are "to provide adequate information to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), improve the management of the state's water resources, and bring greater transparency to water transfers and the market." The Act would require DWR to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform by January 1, 2018. To do so, the Act would: Require DWR, the state board, and DFW 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. Require the agencies, before establishing the data platform, to develop and submit to the Legislature a report describing these protocols. Require the agencies to develop the report in collaboration with relevant federal agencies and interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to, technology and open data experts and water data users. Authorize DWR to partner with an existing nonprofit organization, a new nonprofit organization, or another state agency, to create, operate, and maintain the platform. The Act would require the statewide integrated water data platform to do the following: Integrate existing water and ecological data information from multiple autonomous databases managed by federal, state, and local agencies and academia using consistent and standardized formats. Integrate, at a minimum, the following datasets: o DWR's information on State Water Project reservoir operations, groundwater use, and groundwater levels through California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM), urban water use, and land use. o The state board's data on water rights, water AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 4 of ? diversions, and water quality through California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN). o DFW's information on fish abundance and distribution. o The United States Geological Survey's streamflow conditions information through the National Water Information System. o The United States Bureau of Reclamation's federal Central Valley Project operations information. o The United States Fish and Wildlife Service's, United States Forest Service's, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries' fish abundance information. Provide data on completed water transfers and exchanges, including publicly available or voluntarily provided data on the volume, price, and delivery method, identity of the buyers and sellers, and the water right associated with the transfer or exchange. Provide clear and careful documentation of data quality and data formats through metadata. Be able to receive both spatial and time series data from various sources. Enable custom dashboards, visualizations, graphing, and analysis. The Act would create the Water Data Administration Fund. Moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, would be available to DWR, the state board, and DFW to: Improve water data. Create, operate, or maintain the statewide integrated water data platform, including the cost to verify data, and modernizing water information databases. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT According to the author, "Recent climate swings highlight the need to assess our water management system, fix any of its shortcomings, and improve water management techniques. One of those fixes concerns the availability and use of water data." AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 5 of ? "Data exists in many locations on hydrology, water quality, water rights, water use, and much more, and the amount of data is growing. Many water operators and regulators have been unable to harness this information and make timely, science based decisions that can lead to a more sustainable water future." "AB 1755 addresses these water data shortcomings by creating open and transparent access to water data by way of a statewide integrated water data platform that will bring together critical water and ecological data in a user friendly, publicly accessible website. This will simplify and expedite water allocation and management decision-making. Open data protocols for data sharing, transparency, documentation, and quality control will promote greater compatibility among data sets and encourage the application of new methods to synthesize information to support better decision making." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None received COMMENTS Part Of A General Trend. There seems to be growing interest in consolidating state data into one data portal or system. For example, http://www.opendata.ca.gov/ is a similar effort whose goals include: Expanding the number of state datasets that are shared with the public and with other departments, and that can be combined with other state open datasets, as well as non-government data. Joining existing and planned state government open data portals, so that the departments and the public have access to one-stop shopping for open data. Can DWR Do This? One year seems like a very ambitious time line, especially without a current year budget augmentation. The Senate Appropriations Committee will more fully explore the costs of this effort, but if the projected costs of the project are over DWR's delegated authority there would likely be additional administrative steps that could further delay the implementation of this bill. It is also not clear if DWR has the technical capacity to do AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 6 of ? this. If not, DWR will need to contract out for IT services, further adding time to implementing this bill. Other Data That Might Be Of Interest. In addition to the data sources listed in this bill, DWR has additional data that may be of interest. These include data about flood operations and flood risk, urban water management plans, and agricultural water management plans. There may also be data that support the California Water Plan that would be of use. The state board and DFW may also have additional data that may be of interest as well as data collected and maintained by the Department of Food and Agriculture. Data Standards? To truly be of use, it is important that data are consistent both spatially and temporally. Ensuring this may lead to the adoption of data standards in regulation. SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None SUPPORT Bay Area Council (Sponsor) American Rivers Association of California Water Agencies The Bay Institute California Association of Environmental Health Administrators California Municipal Utilities Association California Trout Center for Food Safety Ceres Contra Costa Water District Cliff Bar Dignity Health Environmental Defense Fund Gap Inc. Kellogg Company Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Metropolitan Water District North Bay Leadership Council Northern California Water Association Pacific Water Quality Association Patagonia San Diego County Water Authority San Francisco Chamber of Commerce AB 1755 (Dodd) Page 7 of ? Santa Clara Valley Water District Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Silicon Valley Leadership Group Sonoma County Water Agency Sungevity Symantec Corporation The Coca-Cola Company The Nature Conservancy Trout Unlimited Tuolumne River Trust Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District Union of Concerned Scientists VMware OPPOSITION None Received -- END --