BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 758|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 758
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 8/17/15
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/28/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 6/3/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 9/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation, and
Climate Forecasting Program
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes the Atmospheric Rivers:
Research, Mitigation and Climate Forecasting 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
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change has on atmospheric rivers.
Assembly Amendments expand the authorized program to include
climate forecasting.
ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes DWR to manage the state's
water resources. Within DWR is the Hydrology and Flood
Operations Office that 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
Office also includes the California State Climatologist.
This bill:
1)Establishes the Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation and
Climate Forecasting Program.
2)Requires DWR, upon appropriation of special fund moneys,
including private funds, to study climate forecasting and the
causes and impacts that climate change has on atmospheric
rivers.
3)Requires DWR to take actions, including through reservoir
management, to increase water supply and reliability of water
resources by capturing water generated by atmospheric rivers.
Comments
What are atmospheric rivers? According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, atmospheric rivers are
relatively narrow regions in the atmosphere that are responsible
for most of the horizontal transport of water vapor outside of
the tropics. On the west coast, 30-50% of the annual
precipitation on average comes from a few atmospheric river
events.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
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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 atmospheric rivers.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15)
Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association
Orange County Water District
San Diego County Water Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sonoma County Water Agency
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/4/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "California
has the most variable precipitation annually of any location in
the U.S., ranging from severe drought to major floods. Research
has shown that this variability is largely due to a weather
condition known as 'atmospheric rivers' (AR). AR are responsible
for 30-50% of California's precipitation and water supply in
just a handful of days each year. Pineapple Express Storms are
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a common example of AR. Better forecasting of ARs (from hours,
to days, weeks and seasons) has the potential to enable new
levels of both water supply and flood protection through the use
of 'Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations' (FIRO). A pilot
project to test the feasibility of FIRO is being planned by an
expert committee on a vital reservoir on the Russian River, Lake
Mendocino. It is led by researchers at the Center for Western
Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San
Diego and the Sonoma County Water Agency. This pilot project has
the potential to predict AR patterns to make intelligent water
management decisions in order to both collect additional water
supply and protect against floods. Seasonal AR outlooks are
another promising direction that could help water managers and
emergency preparedness officials anticipate and prepare for
drought and/or flood. Developing such outlooks is on the
cutting edge of science today and SB 758 ensures the state
develops a program to study AR."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 9/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Brough, Gallagher, Gomez,
Jones-Sawyer, Ridley-Thomas, Weber
Prepared by: Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
9/4/15 18:02:48
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