BILL NUMBER: SB 20 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
DECEMBER 1, 2014
An act to repeal and add Section 13752 of
add Division 36 (commencing with Section 86000) to the Water
Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 20, as amended, Pavley. Wells: reports: public
availability. California Water Resiliency Investment
Act.
Under existing law, various measures provide funding for water
resources projects, facilities, and programs.
This bill would create the California Water Resiliency Investment
Fund in the State Treasury and provide that moneys in the fund are
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of
providing a more dependable water supply for California. This bill
would create various accounts within the fund for prescribed
purposes.
Existing law requires a person who digs, bores, or drills a water
well, cathodic protection well, or a monitoring well, or abandons or
destroys a well, or deepens or reperforates a well, to file a report
of completion with the Department of Water Resources. Existing law
prohibits those reports from being made available to the public,
except under certain circumstances.
This bill would instead require the department to, upon request,
make the reports available to the public. The bill would require the
department to provide specified disclaimers when providing the
reports to the public. The bill would authorize the department to
charge a fee for the provision of a report to recover the department'
s costs, that does not exceed the reasonable costs to the department
of providing the report. The bill would require the release of a
report to comply with the Information Practices Act of 1977 and would
require the department to redact from the report specified
information pertaining to the well owner. The bill would require a
person who requests a report to provide his or her name, address,
identification number from a government-issued source, as provided,
and reason for making the request.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Division 36 (commencing with Section
86000) is added to the Water Code , to read:
DIVISION 36. California Water Resiliency Investment Act
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
86000. This division shall be known and may be cited as the
California Water Resiliency Investment Act.
86010. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California's extreme multiyear drought is raising significant
concerns regarding the long-term dependability of water supplies that
are critical to the state's residents, economy, and environment.
(b) Nearly three-quarters of California is impacted by the severe
drought underscoring the need for additional statewide action.
(c) The 2015 water year was the driest winter in California's
written record and water experts indicate that we could face
multiyear droughts that extend years beyond any droughts previously
experienced by the state.
(d) California could lose 25 percent of the Sierra snowpack by
2050 as a result of warmer weather, according to the department.
Because the Sierra snowpack is our largest water reservoir, this loss
will significantly reduce water supplies when Californians need them
the most.
(e) By 2050, California is expected to add more than 10 million
residents, placing even greater pressure on our water supplies.
(f) The current drought has had a disproportionate impact on
disadvantaged communities. Falling groundwater levels in portions of
the state from reduced rainfall and increased groundwater pumping
have left more than 2,000 wells dry or critically near dry, impacting
more than 10,000 residents and with a disproportionate impact on
disadvantaged communities.
(g) Furthermore, thousands of residents of disadvantaged
communities lack access to a secure long-term supply of clean
drinking water due to polluted groundwater and falling groundwater
levels.
(h) Reduced streamflows and water for wildlife areas have had a
severe impact on fish and wildlife populations, threatening some
species with extinction.
(i) Reports by the Public Policy Institute of California and
others indicate that state and local agencies face a multibillion
dollar annual funding deficit in addressing the state's long-term
water needs and that greater investments are needed to protect the
state's economy and natural resources and to ensure that
disadvantaged communities have access to safe drinking water.
(j) Enactment of Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, provided a critical down
payment to address California's near-term and long-term water needs.
Additional actions are needed now to ensure state and local agencies
continue to make the needed investments to provide a more dependable
water system to meet California's ongoing needs.
(k) To protect the public health and welfare and to protect
residential, agricultural, commercial, and environmental uses of
water, it is vital that state and local agencies have the resources
they need to make responsible and reasonable investments in a more
dependable water supply, including by making more efficient use of
California's current sources of water.
CHAPTER 2. CALIFORNIA WATER RESILIENCY INVESTMENT PROGRAM
86020. (a) The California Water Resiliency Investment Fund is
hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund are
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of,
and in held in trust for, providing a more dependable water supply
for California.
(b) The following accounts are hereby created within the
California Water Resiliency Investment Fund:
(1) The Emergency Drought Response and Recovery Account to support
emergency actions to protect vulnerable populations from the severe
impacts of droughts, including providing emergency drinking water and
other residential water supplies, food assistance, employment
training and placement, and other economic relief.
(2) The Integrated Regional Water Resiliency and Management
Account to provide matching grants to local and regional agencies to
increase regional self-reliance and result in integrated,
multibenefit solutions for ensuring sustainable water resources.
Eligible projects may include groundwater storage, wastewater
recycling, stormwater capture, water conservation, flood management,
and other water supply and quality projects.
(3) The Safe Drinking Water for Disadvantaged Communities Account
to support planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of
drinking water systems for disadvantaged communities.
(4) The Environmental Resilience and Recovery Account to provide
funding to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitats and
populations to avoid or reduce conflicts with water management
systems. Funding from the account shall only be used for projects
that will provide fisheries, wildlife, or ecosystems with benefits or
improvements that are greater than required applicable environmental
mitigation measures or compliance obligations and shall not be used
to pay for the mitigation or environmental review costs of any
current or proposed water supply project.
(5) The Smart Water Data Program Account to support improved data
and information systems that enable better management of water
resources and to further facilitate expansion of water markets.
SECTION 1. Section 13752 of the Water Code is
repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 13752 is added to the Water
Code, to read:
13752. (a) Upon request, the department shall make available to
the public a report made in accordance with paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 13751.
(b) When providing a report to the public pursuant to subdivision
(a), the department shall also provide a statement that includes all
of the following:
(1) The information provided in a report varies in accuracy,
scale, origin, and completeness.
(2) The information is provided without warranty of the
suitability of the information for any particular purpose.
(3) Use of the information in the report may require professional
interpretation or judgment.
(4) Any use of the information provided in a report is at the user'
s own risk.
(c) (1) The department may charge a fee for the provision of a
report to recover the department's costs, that does not exceed the
reasonable costs to the department of providing the report pursuant
to this section. These costs may include the costs of promulgating
regulations to implement this section.
(2) The release of a report in possession of the department shall
comply with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3
of the Civil Code).
(3) Prior to releasing a report pursuant to this section, the
department shall redact from the report the name and address of the
well owner.
(d) (1) A person making a request pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall, on a form provided by the department, provide his or her name,
address, identification number from an identification card issued
pursuant to Section 13000 of the Vehicle Code, driver's license, or
passport, and reason for making the request.
(2) The department shall maintain copies of the forms submitted
pursuant to paragraph (1) for five years.