BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1755| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1755 Author: Dodd (D) Amended: 8/1/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-0, 6/28/16 AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-4, 5/31/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: The Open and Transparent Water Data Act SOURCE: Bay Area Council DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Water Recourses (DWR), in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and the California Water Quality Monitoring Council (CWQMC) to create and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform by August 1, 2020, based on a specified schedule. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Distributes the authority to acquire information technology AB 1755 Page 2 (IT) goods and services in state government over three agencies: a) The Department of Finance is responsible for review and approval of funding related to IT project proposals. b) The California Department of Technology (CDT) has broad responsibility and authority to guide the application of IT in California State Government. CDT's areas of responsibility include policy making, interagency coordination, IT budget and procurement review, technical assistance, and advocacy. c) 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. According to the Department of Water Resources, they have delegated authority for IT goods and services costing up to $2 million. This bill enacts the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. Specifically, it: 1)Requires DWR, the SWRCB, and the CDFW to "coordinate and integrate existing water and ecological data from local, state, and federal agencies." 2)Requires DWR, in consultation with the CWQMC, SWRCB, and the CDFW, to develop and submit to the Legislature protocols for data sharing, documentation, quality control, and public access by January 1, 2018. 3)Conditions the receipt of grant funds is on adherence to the AB 1755 Page 3 protocols established. 4)Requires DWR, in consultation with the CWQMC, SWRCB, and the CDFW, to create and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform by August 1, 2020, based on a specified schedule. 5)Delegates the CDT's role over implementation of IT projects to DWR. 6)Specifies that the integrated water data platform must, among other things, do the following: a) 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. b) Integrate, at a minimum, the following datasets: i) The DWR's information on the SWP reservoir operations, groundwater use, and groundwater levels through California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring, urban water use, and land use. ii) The SWRCB's data on water rights, water diversions, and water quality through California Environmental Data Exchange Network. iii) The CDFW's information on fish abundance and distribution. iv) The United States Geological Survey's streamflow conditions information through the National Water Information System. AB 1755 Page 4 v) The United States Bureau of Reclamation's federal Central Valley Project operations information. vi) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service's, United States Forest Service's, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries' fish abundance information. c) 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. d) Provide clear and careful documentation of data quality and data formats through metadata. e) Be able to receive both spatial and time series data from various sources. f) Enable custom dashboards, visualizations, graphing, and analysis. 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. AB 1755 Page 5 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. 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 CDFW may also have additional data that may be of interest as well as data collected and maintained by the Department of Food and Agriculture. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: One-time costs between $750,000 and $1.5 million to DWR to develop the data platform, plus annual staffing costs of $1.6 million to maintain and continue to develop the platform as it grows (General Fund). Unknown, potentially significant, costs to CDFW to consult with DWR on required protocols, the required report, and the data platform. Unknown, potentially significant, costs to SWRCB to consult with DWR on required protocols, the required report, and the data platform. Unknown, potentially significant, costs to CWQMC to consult with DWR on required protocols, the required report, and the data platform. SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/16) AB 1755 Page 6 Bay Area Council (source) American Rivers Association of California Water Agencies California Association of Environmental Health Administrators California Municipal Utilities Association California Trout Center for Food Safety Ceres Coca-Cola Company 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 Santa Clara Valley Water District Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Silicon Valley Leadership Group Sonoma County Water Agency Sungevity Symantec Corporation The Bay Institute The Nature Conservancy Trout Unlimited Tuolumne River Trust Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District Union of Concerned Scientists VMware OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/16) None received AB 1755 Page 7 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. "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." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-4, 5/31/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Brough, Dahle, Grove, Harper NO VOTE RECORDED: Patterson AB 1755 Page 8 Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 8/18/16 16:11:02 **** END ****