Senate Bill No. 144

Introduced by Senator Pan

January 27, 2015

An act to amend Section 12670.14 of the Water Code, relating to water resources.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 144, as introduced, Pan. Water development projects: Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds.

Existing law provides for state cooperation with the federal government in the construction of specified flood control projects. Existing law adopts and authorizes federally adopted and approved projects, including a 200-year level of flood protection in the Natomas Basin, in areas within the City of Sacramento and the Counties of Sacramento and Sutter. The projects are authorized at an estimated cost to the state of the sum that may be appropriated by the Legislature for state participation upon the recommendation and advice of the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, formerly known as the Reclamation Board.

This bill would describe the Natomas Basin flood protection project as further modified by a specified report adopted by Congress. The bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes.

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.  

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:

(a) In April 2007, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency
(SAFCA) secured the support of property owners in the Sacramento
region for the imposition of a special benefit assessment to fund
the local share of the cost of the levee improvement projects along
the American and Sacramento Rivers, including the Natomas
Basin, and the project to modify Folsom Dam to provide the
Sacramento region with at least a 200-year level of flood protection
based on current estimates of the runoff likely to be produced by
such a flood event. Later that year, the Legislature passed Senate
Bill 276, enacted as Chapter 641 of the Statutes of 2007, which
modified existing state authorizations for these projects in order
to continue the historic federal-state-local cost-sharing partnership
governing the projects and ensure that project construction could
move forward as quickly as possible.

(b) Since 2007, more than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000)
in federal, state, and local funds has been expended on these
projects in a manner that has substantially increased the ability of
the existing flood control system to protect heavily urbanized areas
within the City of Sacramento and the Counties of Sacramento
and Sutter against very rare floods.

(c) Much of this work has occurred in the Natomas Basin where
SAFCA, with the state’s financial assistance, has raised and
strengthened about 18 miles of the most vulnerable segments of
the perimeter levee system protecting the Natomas Basin. Because
of changes in federal and state engineering standards since 2007,
these improvements and the improvements needed for the
remainder of the perimeter levee system have greatly exceeded
the scope of the Natomas Project set forth in the Final Engineer’s
Report dated April 19, 2007, which governed SAFCA’s special
benefit assessment proceedings and informed the Legislature’s
accompanying project authorization.

(d) The full scope of the work necessary to provide the Natomas
Basin with at least a 200-year level of flood protection is described
in an engineering report prepared in 2010 by the United States
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for the American River
Watershed, Common Features Project, Natomas Basin. This report,
which outlines the steps the Corps will take to complete the work
in Natomas initiated by the state and SAFCA, was transmitted to
Congress by the Chief of Engineers of the Corps in December
2010 and adopted by Congress as part of the Water Resources
Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-121).

(e) Consistent with its historic practice of providing state
approval for federally authorized projects affecting the State Plan
of Flood Control, the Legislature has determined that modification
of the 2007 state authorization for the Natomas Project is warranted
in order to enlarge the scope of the authorized project to match the
federal authorization without altering the federal-state-local cost
sharing made applicable to the project under the 2007 authorization.

SEC. 2.  

Section 12670.14 of the Water Code is amended to
read:

12670.14.  

The following projects in areas within the City of
Sacramento and the Counties of Sacramento and Sutter are adopted
and authorized at an estimated cost to the state of the sum that may
be appropriated by the Legislature for state participation upon the
recommendation and advice of the department or the begin delete Reclamation end delete
begin insert Central Valley Flood Protection end insert Board:

(a) The project for flood control in the Natomas and North
Sacramento areas adopted and authorized by Congress in Section
9159 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 1993
(Public Law 102-396) substantially in accordance with the
recommendations of the Chief of Engineers in the report entitled
“American River Watershed Investigation” dated July 1, 1992.

(b) The project for flood control along the American and
Sacramento Rivers adopted and authorized by Congress in Section
101(a)(1) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 begin insert (Public
Law 104-303) end insert substantially in accordance with the
recommendations of the Chief of Engineers in the report entitled
“American River Watershed Project, California” dated June 27,
1996, as modified by Congress in Section 366 of the Water
Resources Development Act of begin delete 1999, and end delete begin insert 1999 (Public Law
106-53), end insert as further modified to include the project features
necessary to provide a 200-year level of flood protection along the
American and Sacramento Rivers and within the Natomas Basin
as described in the begin delete final engineer’s report end delete begin insert Final Engineer’s Report end insert
dated April 19, 2007, adopted by the Sacramento Area Flood
Control begin delete Agency. end delete begin insert Agency, and as further modified by the 2010 final
feasibility study for the American River Watershed, Common
Features Project, Natomas Basin, adopted by Congress in Section
7002 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014
(Public Law 113-121). end insert

(c) The project to modify Folsom Dam adopted and authorized
by Congress in Section 101(a)(6) of the Water Resources
Development Act of begin delete 1999, end delete begin insert 1999 (Public Law 106-53), end insert as described
in the United States Army Corps of Engineers Supplemental
Information Report for the American River Watershed Project,
California, dated March 1996, as modified by the report entitled
“Folsom Dam Modification Report, New Outlets Plan,” dated
March 1998, prepared by the Sacramento Area Flood Control
Agency, and as further modified by the Post-Authorization Change
Report, American River Watershed Project (Folsom Dam
Modification and Folsom Dam Raise Projects), dated March 2007,
adopted by Congress in Section begin delete 3023 end delete begin insert 3029 end insert of the Water Resources
Development Act of begin delete 2007. end delete begin insert 2007 (Public Law 110-114). end insert

(d) (1) The project for flood control, environmental restoration,
and recreation along south Sacramento County streams adopted
and authorized by Congress in Section begin delete 101(a)(7) end delete begin insert 101(a)(8) end insert of the
Water Resources Development Act of 1999 begin insert (Public Law 106-53) end insert
as described in the report of the Chief of Engineers entitled “South
Sacramento County Streams, California” dated October 6, 1998.

(2) Notwithstanding Section 12657, at the discretion of the
begin delete Reclamation end delete begin insert Central Valley Flood Protection end insert Board, the
Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency may provide, for the
project described in paragraph (1), the assurances of local
cooperation satisfactory to the Secretary of the Army, in accordance
with Section 12657, in lieu of assurances by the begin delete Reclamation end delete
begin insert Central Valley Flood Protection end insert Board.