BILL NUMBER: AB 2373	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gray

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2016

   An act relating to the Merced Irrigation  District
  District,  and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2373, as amended, Gray. Merced Irrigation District
   The Irrigation District Law provides for the formation of
irrigation districts with prescribed powers, including acting to put
to any beneficial use any water under the district's control.
   This bill would appropriate $45,000 from the General Fund to the
Merced Irrigation District for implementing irrigation and water use
efficiency strategies for small communal farms in the County of
Merced.  The bill would require, on or before April 30, 2018, the
Merced Irrigation District to report to the Legislature how the
appropriated funds were spent, how the funds resulted in improvement
to irrigation efficiency, and how the funds reduced energy, fuel, and
water usage. The bill would additionally require the report, to the
greatest extent possible, to evaluate the   effectiveness of
expanding the program to assistance on small farms statewide. 
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the County of Merced.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares that the
implementation of irrigation and water use efficiency by farms
benefits the public as a whole, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
the production of food and reducing the production costs of food,
helping to keep food prices affordable for all Californians.
  SEC. 2.   (a)    There is hereby appropriated
forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) from the General Fund to the
Merced Irrigation District for implementing irrigation and water use
efficiency strategies for small communal farms in the County of
Merced. For purposes of this appropriation, small communal farms may
include a farm that is operated through an informal agreement by one
or more families. 
   (b) (1) For purposes of determining the effectiveness of the
appropriation in subdivision (a) on small communal farms, and the
cumulative impact on the County of Merced as a whole, on or before
April 30, 2018, the Merced Irrigation District shall report, at a
minimum, to the Legislature all of the following:  
   (A) How the appropriated funds were spent.  
   (B) How the funds resulted in improvement to irrigation
efficiency.  
   (C) How the funds reduced energy, fuel, and water usage. 

   (2) To the greatest extent possible, the report shall evaluate the
effectiveness of expanding the program to assistance on small farms
statewide.  
   (3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

  SEC. 3.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because many communal farms in the County of Merced lack adequate
economic opportunities as the county is home to a disproportionate
number of disadvantaged communities with traditionally high levels of
unemployment and poverty.