BILL NUMBER: AB 41	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member La Malfa
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aghazarian, Berryhill, Gaines, Maze,
and Villines)

                        DECEMBER 4, 2006

   An act to relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 41, as introduced, La Malfa. Water resources: bond proceeds.
   The Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006, a
bond act approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide
general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$4,090,000,000 for the purposes of financing disaster preparedness
and flood prevention projects. The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality
and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of
2006, an initiative bond act approved by the voters at the November
7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds
in the amount of $5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing a safe
drinking, water quality and supply, flood control, and resource
protection program.
   This bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature
that the funds derived from these bond acts, consistent with the
intent of the voters, be expended in the most cost-efficient and
effective manner and, to the greatest extent possible, to address
this state's critical lack of adequate surface water storage. The
bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) For years, California has failed to address adequately the
need for increased water storage to meet the state's residential,
business, agricultural, environmental, and water quality needs.
   (2) According to the Department of Water Resources, by 2020
California will fall short of meeting its water needs in
critically-dry years by 6.2 million acre-feet.
   (3) Our population will increase by an amount that is equivalent
to the current population of Michigan by 2020, or a city the size of
Long Beach each and every year.
   (4) The CALFED Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000,
identified five major dam projects that could provide significant new
surface water to California.
   (5) Two projects, Temperance Flat in Fresno County and Sites
Reservoir in Colusa County, hold the greatest promise for providing
new surface shortage. Environmental documentation for both projects
is expected to be completed by 2008.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the funds derived
from the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006
and the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control,
River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, which laws the voters
approved at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, be
expended, consistent with the intent of the voters, in the most
cost-efficient and effective manner and, to the greatest extent
possible, to address this state's critical lack of adequate surface
water storage.