BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 930|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
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                                   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  








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            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.








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             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.








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            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








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          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.








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           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


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