BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 930| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 930 Author: Gaines (R) Amended: 3/28/16 Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/6/16 AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Leno, Pavley NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Rule 28.8 SUBJECT: Bear Lake Reservoir: recreational use SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset date for the bodily contact exemption for Bear Lake Reservoir from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2022, and requires the Lake Alpine Water Company file a report on the recreational uses of Bear Lake biennially. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Declares state policy that multiple uses should be made of all public water in the state consistent with public health and safety. 2)Prohibits recreational use in which there is bodily contact with water in a reservoir in which water is stored for domestic use. Statutory exceptions to this prohibition have been granted for specified reservoirs (San Diego County reservoirs, Modesto Reservoir, Nacimiento Reservoir, Sly Park Reservoir and Canyon Lake Reservoir). These reservoirs must SB 930 Page 2 meet specific standards and criteria set in statute. (Health and Safety Code §115825 et seq.). 3)Supplements, under the federal Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2 rule), existing regulations by targeting additional Cryptosporidium treatment requirements to higher risk systems. This rule also contains provisions to reduce risks from uncovered finished water reservoirs and to ensure that systems maintain microbial protection when they take steps to decrease the formation of disinfection byproducts that result from chemical water treatment. 4)Exempts from the above prohibition the Bear Lake Reservoir in Alpine County until January 1, 2016, and requires the Lake Alpine Water Company to file a report on the recreational uses at Bear Lake by January 1, 2015, with the Department of Public Health (DPH). This bill extends the sunset date for the bodily contact exemption for Bear Lake Reservoir from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2022 and provides that the above reference report be submitted biennially. Background 1)Bodily Contact in Drinking Water. Over 65% of the population of the United States receives drinking water from surface water sources. Many of these surface water systems rely on protected sources, off limits for human activity to ensure safe water supply. California law prohibits bodily contact in drinking water reservoirs because human activity on and near water adds an element of risk to the consumers of the water. Short of sewage discharge, human body contact with the water is the most threatening such human activity for several reasons: a) Enteric pathogens, including bacteria, viruses and protozoa may be shed into water during recreation from residual fecal material and from accidental fecal release. Inputs resulting from human contact will increase pathogen concentrations in the reservoir and thus may increase health risks to downstream consumers receiving this water. SB 930 Page 3 b) A single person sheds billions of fecal bacteria in a single day and water treatment plants are engineered to remove 99 to 99.99 percent of pathogenic organisms, not 100%; c) Unlike chemical contaminants, pathogenic organisms that survive the treatment process can multiply in the water distribution system and, more importantly, in the bodies of water, leading to infection, illness and death of water consumers; and d) Birds and wild animals also introduce potential pathogens to the water but pathogens from humans are more likely to ultimately be infectious to other humans than are pathogens originating from birds or animals. 2)Pathogens of particular concern with bodily contact. Microorganisms such as viruses, giardia and cryptosporidium are of special concern when there is bodily contact with drinking water supplies because traditional disinfection methods are not as effective at treating or inactivating organisms. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) studied water quality issues associated with body contact recreation at its Diamond Valley Lake. MWD information indicates that "Cryptosporidium is the pathogenic organism of greatest concern mainly because it is extremely resistant to conventional methods of disinfection such as chlorination, is difficult to detect through monitoring, and causes cryptosporidiosis." Cryptosporidiosis is a disease of the intestinal tract and has been known to cause disease in humans since 1976. Cryptosporidium lives in a protective shell that is referred to as an oocyst, and allows it to survive various environmental conditions and be resistant to disinfection. Sources of contamination at recreational waters are the individuals using those waters for recreation when constituents of residual fecal matter may be washed off the body on contact with water. Infants, young children, and others may also contribute more significantly to contamination by accidental fecal releases. SB 930 Page 4 MWD studies have shown an increased risk to consumers with body contact recreation, ranging from 20 to 140 times higher than the current cryptosporidium risk of 1 infection per about 28,000 people. Waterborne cryptosporidium outbreaks have occurred in both large and small communities. A large outbreak occurred in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993, affecting an estimated 403,000 people. According to the CDC, infection with cryptosporidium may have contributed to premature deaths of immunosuppressed individuals in these outbreaks. 3)Bear Lake Reservoir. Bear Lake Reservoir is a private 13 acre lake surrounded by lodge pole and white fir forest and residential homes in the unincorporated community of Bear Valley in Alpine County. Access to the lake is provided by three small sandy beaches. All other shoreline is private property or earthen dam. The weather allows for recreational use of the lake from June through September. The lake is posted as private and is used by members and guests of Bear Valley Residents Incorporated (BVRI). Uses of the lake include wading, swimming, sailing, windsurfing, paddling and fishing. Dogs and other pets are not allowed in the lake or at any of the access points. The number of visitors averages 10 per day with a maximum day of 50 throughout the summer (based on information provided by the Lake Alpine Water Company report noting that it was collected through interviews with BVRI residents). Comments Purpose of Bill. The author states that the exemption provided by previous legislation has reached its sunset and the recreational use of Bear Lake Reservoir is set to expire January 1, 2017. It is the desire of the author and sponsors (who represent the residents utilizing the Bear Lake Reservoir) that the current exemption from the bodily contact prohibition be continued. Related/Prior Legislation SB 930 Page 5 AB 1934 (Leslie, Chapter 374, Statutes of 2004) exempted Bear Lake Reservoir from the bodily contact prohibition. The statutory exemption sunsetted January 1, 2007. SB 577 (Gaines, 2011) would have reinstated the statutory exemption without a sunset date. A May 2, 2011, Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing on this bill was canceled at the request of the author. In reviewing the previous exemption granted, it was found that the Lake Alpine Water Company had not complied with AB 1934 by failing to compile and submit the required report to the Legislature or DPH and by continuing to allow bodily contact in the reservoir through 2010 without statutory authorization. In June 2011, DPH issued a letter to Lake Alpine Water Company notifying them that they were in violation of Health and Safety Code §115825(b), prohibiting bodily contact. Lake Alpine Water Company responded to the letter by prohibiting bodily contact in 2011 and submitting the requisite report to the Legislature. SB 1063 (Gaines, 2012) would have exempted Bear Lake Reservoir from the state prohibition on bodily contact recreation use in a reservoir used for domestic water uses and establishes standards to be met, including water treatment, monitoring, and reporting requirements. Governor Brown vetoed SB 1063 stating, "Unfortunately, the Department of Public Health believes that the water treatment requirements in this bill are not feasible and ineffective, and therefore the operation of the reservoir as a means to provide safe drinking water would be put at risk. I urge the author and sponsors to work with the Department to find a solution that allows for recreational swimming alongside effectively treated safe drinking water." SB 14 (Gaines, Chapter 172, Statutes of 2013) addressed the Governor's concerns regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of water treatment requirements in SB 1063 and reinstated the exemption from the bodily contact prohibition until January 1, 2017 and required an additional report be submitted by January 1, 2015. SB 930 Page 6 FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT: (Verified 4/25/16) Bear Valley Residents, Inc. Bear Valley Homeowner's Association County of Alpine, Board of Supervisors Lake Alpine Water Company OPPOSITION: (Verified4/25/16) None received Prepared by:Rachel Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108 4/27/16 15:57:15 **** END ****