BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1755|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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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
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(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
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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
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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
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Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/18/16 16:11:02
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