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 --