BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 930|
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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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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.
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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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