BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 758
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
758 (Block)
As Amended August 17, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Water |12-0 |Levine, Dahle, Dodd, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Beth Gaines, Cristina | |
| | |Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |Harper, Lopez, | |
| | |Mathis, Rendon, | |
| | |Salas, Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Nazarian, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
SB 758
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| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes the Atmospheric Rivers: Research,
Mitigation and Climate Forecasting Program (AR Program) at the
Department of Water Resources (DWR) in order to, contingent on
appropriation of special fund monies, conduct research relating
to climate forecasting and the causes and impacts that climate
change has on atmospheric rivers (ARs). Directs DWR to take all
actions within its existing authority to operate reservoirs in a
manner that improves flood control and increases water supply,
hydropower, and water reliability.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires DWR to plan for the orderly and coordinated control,
protection, conservation, development, and utilization of the
resources of the state through the California Water Plan.
2)Requires, as part of the California Water Plan, that DWR study
the amount of water needed to meet the state's future needs
and recommend programs, policies, and facilities to meet those
needs.
3)Establishes within DWR the Hydrology and Flood Operations
Office, which is responsible for directing DWR's flood and
water supply forecasting operations, hydrology and climatology
studies, emergency flood operations, and flood control project
inspections and encroachment permitting. The Flood Operations
Office also includes the California State Climatologist.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill creates the following special fund or
private fund cost pressures:
1)Approximately $3.5 million for additional sensors to help
monitor the formation of the Sierra Barrier Jet and the
dynamics of moisture flow up the Central Valley and into the
Burney Gap (includes operation and maintenance costs of
$500,000 per year).
2)Approximately $750,000 per year to continue operations of the
expanded extreme precipitation network.
3)Approximately $500,000 to improve predictability of the
formation and strength of ARs.
COMMENTS: This bill would, if special funds can be identified,
establish an AR Program at DWR in order to study the
newly-recognized phenomenon that storm-driven water vapor can
concentrate in the atmosphere in relative narrow bands and that
understanding and predicting the behavior of these so-called
rivers and their subsequent rainfall can lead to better water
supply management, including reservoir operations.
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) Earth
System Research Laboratory explains, better satellite imagery
has enabled us to document that storm-associated winds can draw
together water vapor into distinct long narrow bands that travel
through the atmosphere like a river. One such event, documented
by researchers in 2006, concluded that an AR produced roughly 10
inches of rain in two days and caused a flood on the Russian
River in northern California. NOAA advises that it is now
recognized that the well-known Pineapple express storms (a term
that was used on the United States West Coast for many years)
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correspond to a subset of ARs, i.e. those that have a connection
to the tropics near Hawaii. In some of the most extreme ARs,
the water vapor transport is enhanced by the fact that they
entrain (draw in) water vapor directly from the tropics.
According to NOAA, the community of flood control, water supply
and reservoir operators on the West Coast see understanding,
monitoring, and predicting ARs as key to mitigating the risk of
major flood events, while maintaining adequate water supply.
The author states that California has the most variable annual
precipitation of any state in the United States, ranging from
severe drought to major floods. The author adds that better
forecasting of ARs has the potential to enable new levels of
both water supply and flood protection through the use of
Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO). The author
states that due to California's continued drought, now is the
time for this critical research to ensure California accurately
forecasts ARs and has the information needed to impact water
management decisions.
Other supporters state that only in recent years have scientists
come to recognize that between 30% and 50% of annual
precipitation in California and more than 90% of the major
floods come from a very small number of storms known as ARs.
Supporters advise that this bill lays out the foundation for
developing a program to analyze and accurately predict
precipitation from these AR events. Supporters add that
California experiences, on average, $300 million per year in
flood damages and billions of dollars in economic and societal
disruption during drought events. Supporters maintain that
implementation of this bill would lead to more accurate and
quantitative prediction of precipitation from ARs, thus enabling
reservoir operators to safely store additional water for use in
drought periods.
There is no known opposition to this bill.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Tina Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN:
0001678