BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






    SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES
                    Jim Costa, Chairman

SB60  (Hayden)
As Introduced
Hearing Date: March 2, 1999
Fiscal: Yes
Consultant: Dan Webb

PURPOSE OF BILL: 

To enact fiscal, ethical, and environmental reforms relative to  
the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.


BACKGROUND:

The Metropolitan Water District Act authorizes the creation of  
metropolitan water districts for the purpose of developing,  
storing, and distributing water for municipal and domestic  
purposes.  The only district organized under this act is the  
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).  The  
MWD wholesales water to 27 member agencies and serves nearly 16  
million people in Southern California.  The district's water  
sources include the Colorado River via the Colorado River  
Aqueduct, the north state via the California Aqueduct, the east  
side of the Sierra via the Los Angeles Aqueduct, supplies gained  
through water transfers, and local supplies resulting from  
conservation, recycling, and groundwater recovery.

In recent years, tensions within the MWD family and relations  
with its neighbors and the Legislature resulted in the  
appointment of a Senate Select Committee on Southern California  
Water Districts Expenditures and Governance.  The committee is  
in its second year of operation, and is charged with examining  
allegations of ethical and fiscal abuse.


PROPOSED LAW:

This bill would enact the following water policies affecting the  
MWD:

 1.  Prohibits the Metropolitan Water District of Southern  
  California from using public funds to conduct political  
  research.  










2.  Requires the establishment and operation of an Office of  
Ethics charged to:
          A.  Regulate the behavior of its board members,  
officers and employees. 
          B.  Protect the confidentiality of sources, the job  
            security of "whistle blowers," and the due process  
            rights of the accused.
          C.  Make publicly available the results of any  
investigations.
          D.  Adopt rules related to business relationships  
between board members, 
                contractors, vendors, and public agency members.
          E.  Regulate the solicitation of campaign  
            contributions by board members, officers, employees,  
            bidders, and contractors.
          F.  Prevent the use of coalitions as a means to  
            advance public opinion where use of aliases is  
            likely to be mislead the public as to the group's  
            true identity or funding source.

3.  Mandates public notice and procedures for contracts of  
$50,000 or more.
  
 4.  Requires the district to place increased emphasis on  
  various sustainable, environmentally sound, cost-effective  
  water conservation programs, and requires an annual report on  
  water conservation to incept February 1, 2001.


COMMENTS:

With the exception of the incepting date for an annual water  
conservation report, this bill is identical to the enrolled  
version of SB 1875 (Hayden and Ayala) of 1998, which passed the  
Legislature but was vetoed by Governor Wilson.

It is the request of the Committee on Rules that any do-pass  
motion include a re-referral of this bill to the Senate  
Committee on Local Government.


SUPPORT:

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California











OPPOSED:

None Received