AB 2357,
as amended, Dahle. Water rights:begin delete measurement of diversion.end deletebegin insert monitoring and reporting.end insert
Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt regulations requiring measurement and reporting of water diversion and use by persons including, among others, those authorized to appropriate water under a permit, license, registration for small domestic, small irrigation, or livestock stockpond use, or a certification for livestock stockpond use.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would restrict the state board’s authorization to adopt regulations requiring measurement and reporting of water diversion and use by persons authorized to appropriate water under a registration or certification to uses that are year-round.
end insertExisting law requires a person who diverts 10 acre-feet of water per year or more under a permit or license to install and maintain a device or employ a method capable of measuring the rate of direct diversion, rate of collection to storage, and rate of withdrawal or release from storage, as specified, and with certain exceptions.
end deleteThis bill would delay those requirements for 2 years.
end deleteVote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertSection 1841 of the end insertbegin insertWater Codeend insertbegin insert is amended to
2read:end insert
(a) The board may adopt regulations requiring
4measurement and reporting of water diversion and use by either
5of the following:
6(1) Persons authorized to appropriate water under a permit,
7license, registration for small domestic, small irrigation, or
8livestock stockpond use,begin insert if the registered use is year-round,end insert or
9certification for livestock stockpondbegin delete use.end deletebegin insert use, if the certified use
10is year-round.end insert
11(2) Persons required to comply with measurement and reporting
12regulations pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of
13subdivision (e) of Section 5103.
14(b) The initial regulations that the board adopts pursuant to this
15section shall be adopted as emergency regulations in accordance
16with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
17Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The adoption of
18the initial regulations is an emergency and shall be considered by
19the Office of Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate
20preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare.
21Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340)
22of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, any
23emergency regulations adopted under this section shall remain in
24effect until revised by the board.
25(c) The adoption of the initial regulations
pursuant to this article
26is exempt from Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of
27the Public Resources Code.
Section 1840 of the Water Code is amended to
29read:
(a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a person
31who, on or after January 1, 2018, diverts 10 acre-feet of water per
32year or more under a permit or license shall install and maintain
33a device or employ a method capable of measuring the rate of
34direct diversion, rate of collection to storage, and rate of withdrawal
35or release from storage. The measurements shall be made using
P3 1the best available technologies and best professional practices, as
2defined in Section 5100, using a device or methods satisfactory to
3the board, as follows:
4(A) A device shall be capable of continuous monitoring of the
5rate and quantity of water diverted and shall be properly
6maintained. The permittee or licensee shall provide the board with
7evidence that the device has been installed with the first report
8submitted after installation of the device. The permittee or licensee
9shall provide the board with evidence demonstrating that the device
10is functioning properly as part of the reports submitted at five-year
11intervals after the report documenting installation of the device,
12or upon request of the board.
13(B) In developing regulations pursuant to Section 1841, the
14board shall consider devices and methods that provide accurate
15measurement of the total amount diverted and the rate of diversion.
16The board shall consider devices and methods that
provide accurate
17measurements within an acceptable range of error, including the
18following:
19(i) Electricity records dedicated to a pump and recent pump test.
20(ii) Staff gage calibrated with an acceptable streamflow rating
21curve.
22(iii) Staff gage calibrated for a flume or weir.
23(iv) Staff gage calibrated with an acceptable storage capacity
24curve.
25(v) Pressure transducer and acceptable storage capacity curve.
26(2) The permittee or licensee shall maintain a record of all
27diversion monitoring that includes the date, time, and diversion
28rate
at time intervals of one hour or less, and the total amount of
29water diverted. These records shall be included with reports
30submitted under the permit or license, as required under subdivision
31(c), or upon request of the board.
32(b) (1) The board may modify the requirements of subdivision
33(a) upon finding either of the following:
34(A) That strict compliance is infeasible, is unreasonably
35expensive, would unreasonably affect public trust uses, or would
36result in the waste or unreasonable use of water.
37(B) That the need for monitoring and reporting is adequately
38addressed by other conditions of the permit or license.
39(2) The board may increase the
10-acre-foot reporting threshold
40of subdivision (a) in a watershed or subwatershed, after considering
P4 1the diversion reporting threshold in relation to quantity of water
2within the watershed or subwatershed. The board may increase
3the 10-acre-foot reporting threshold to 25 acre-feet or more if it
4finds that the benefits of the additional information within the
5watershed or subwatershed are substantially outweighed by the
6cost of installing measuring devices or employing methods for
7measurement for diversions at the 10-acre-foot threshold.
8(c) At least annually, a person who diverts water under a
9registration, permit, or license shall report to the board the
10following information:
11(1) The quantity of water diverted by month.
12(2) The maximum rate of diversion by months in the preceding
13calendar year.
14(3) The information required by subdivision (a), if applicable.
15(d) Compliance with the applicable requirements of this section
16is a condition of every registration, permit, or license.
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