BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 20 Hearing Date: March 24,
2015
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|Author: |Pavley | | |
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|Version: |December 1, 2014 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Dennis O'Connor |
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Subject: Wells: reports: public availability
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In 1949, to help prevent groundwater pollution caused by
improperly constructed water wells, the California Legislature
first required well drillers to file a well completion report
with the State for each well drilled.
Two years later, in 1951, the legislature enacted AB 1512
(Dickey) which restricted access to well completion reports to
"to governmental agencies for use in making studies." According
to a May 21, 1951 letter from the Director of Public Works to
Governor Warren, it was because the information in the reports
"is regarded by some well drillers as part of their stock in
trade." That is, for competitive reasons.
While the statute has been amended a number of times in the
intervening 60 plus years, the restriction to access has largely
stayed the same.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would:
Make well completion reports available to the public.
Require persons requesting a report to do so on a form
identifying the name and address of the requestor, and the
reason for the request.
Require the release of the well logs to comply with the
privacy and other provisions of the Information Practices Act.
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Require a disclosure statement regarding the appropriate use
of the data.
Authorize DWR to charge a fee for providing the well
completion reports.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, "Every time a water well is drilled,
the driller is required by law to provide DWR a well completion
report, also known as a well log."
"These reports contain critical information for groundwater
managers, consulting hydrologists, academics, and others
interested in the geologic and hydrologic characteristics of
groundwater basins. Unfortunately, those who would benefit from
this information cannot have access to it.
Farmers can't know how deep they need to drill their wells.
Academics cannot develop sophisticated maps and models without
the sponsorship of the government.
Local community activists cannot gain the information they
need to better protect drinking water quality of disadvantaged
communities.
The list goes on."
"The Governor directed DWR to work with me 'to ensure
responsible public access to well logs.' This bill is the
result of those negotiations with DWR, along with the Department
of Health Services (DHS) and CalEMA, which is California's
official homeland security agency. This bill addresses and
resolves the various security concerns raised by DHS and
CalEMA."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
A coalition of agricultural interests asserts "Well logs are
already required to be submitted to the Department of Water
resources and are available to the appropriate public agencies.
For example, groundwater management agencies already have access
and utilize this information to better manage their groundwater
locally. We understand the importance of managing our scarce
groundwater resources and are fully supportive of local efforts
to do just that. We believe the well log data is available to
those entities that have a genuine need to evaluate and utilize
it for the benefit of managing our groundwater supplies. No
beneficial purpose could be gained by making this confidential
data available to the public. We believe this measure will only
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assist those trolling for lawsuits."
COMMENTS
What is a well completion report? Also known as drillers' logs
or well logs, well completion reports are a record of the
drilling and construction of the well. They include, among
other things, the location of the well, the depth of the well,
the type of soils encountered at each elevation as drilling,
depth to water, etc.
Why are they required? It is important that wells be properly
constructed, modified, or decommissioned. Well completion
reports provide the record necessary to demonstrate that the
well was properly constructed, modified, or decommissioned, and
further provides the necessary construction detail should the
well need to be modified at some later date.
What other uses do they have? Data in the reports can be used
to construct detailed underground aquifer maps. These maps are
critical to developing and implementing groundwater management
plans. For example, such data can be used to find the best
possible locations groundwater banking, identify key recharge
areas, and to better avoid impaired groundwater quality.
What Do Other States Do? No other western state restricts
access to well logs as in California. Indeed, 10 of 11 western
states provide internet access to well logs.
How Does California Deal With Similar Issues? Every time an oil
or gas well is drilled, the driller must provide a copy of the
well log to the Department of Conservation. Those logs are
deemed public records for purposes of the California Public
Records Act. (There are exceptions, logs for exploratory wells,
for example, are considered confidential for a specific period
of time.) The Department of Conservation provides public access
to those logs through a GIS map on the internet.
What Do Other Water Agencies Do? A review of urban water
management plans and capital improvement plans shows that over
160 water agencies have published the location of their wells,
usually on maps, but sometimes the actual addresses. This
represents locations of over 2,200 water system wells, of which
the author's staff has located 96 percent through online maps.
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Adjudicated groundwater basins have court appointed
watermasters, a number of whom have published maps showing the
location of production wells within their jurisdiction. For
example, the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster published a
fairly detailed 2008 map showing the location of 99 active
production wells.
The drilling of a new water system well is usually a project
subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
CEQA, among other things, requires the disclosure of the
location of the project. A review of CEQA Clearinghouse's
online database shows the location of over 70 wells.
What Would The Fee Cover? It is not clear how large the fee for
a copy of a well log would be. However, the fee would likely
include a share of the following:
Costs to create and maintain a copy of the log that redacts
personal information pursuant to the Information Practices Act
of 1977.
Costs of duplicating the redacted well log.
Cost to develop and disseminate the disclosure statement
regarding the appropriate use of the data.
Costs to develop and maintain the form identifying the name
and address of the requestor, and the reason for the request.
Any additional administrative costs associated with
implementing this bill.
Prior Year Efforts. In 2011, Senator Pavley carried SB 263 to
make well completion reports available to the public. To
address the opposition's concerns, the bill was amended on the
Assembly floor to restrict access to persons with specific
qualifications and added penalty provisions for disclosing
information in the well log. The Governor vetoed that bill
because of those provisions, and directed DWR to work with the
author "to ensure responsible public access to well logs."
The next year, Senator Pavley introduced SB 1146. That bill was
the result of negotiations with DWR, the Department of Health
Services, and CalEMA, "to ensure responsible public access to
well logs." That bill failed on the Senate Floor (19-16).
Double-referral The Rules Committee referred this bill to both
the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and to the
Committee on Environmental Quality. Therefore, if this bill
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passes this committee, it will be referred to the Committee on
Environmental Quality, which will consider the issues within
their jurisdiction.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT
California League of Conservation Voters
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Water Impact Network
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
Clean Water Action
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Community Water Center
Defenders of Wildlife
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Environmental Water Caucus
Food & Water Watch
Karuk Tribe
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
North County Watch
Planning and Conservation League
Policylink
Sierra Club California
Southern California Watershed Alliance
Wholly H@O
OPPOSITION
California Chamber of Commerce
California Citrus Mutual
California Cotton ginners Association
California Cotton Growers Association
California Dairies, Inc.
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California Farm Bureau Federation
California fresh Fruit Association
California League of Food Processors
Kings River Conservation District
Kings River Water Association
Nisei Farmers League
Valley Ag Water Coalition
Western Agricultural Processors Association
Western Growers Association
Western Plan Health Association
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