BILL ANALYSIS
AB 39
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 39 (Huffman) - As Amended: April 2, 2009
Policy Committee: WPW Vote:9-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the yet-to-be-created California Delta and
Ecosystem Water Council (CDEWC) to prepare a plan to implement
the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, issued by the Delta Vision
Blue-Ribbon Task Force, and to submit that plan to the
Legislature by January 1, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT
One-time special fund costs, ranging from $500,000 to $1
million, to provide staffing and logistical support to the work
of the CDEWC in its preparation of the plan called for by this
bill.
COMMENTS
1) Rationale. The author, citing the numerous economic,
ecological, infrastructure, legal, and governance
challenges in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, feels there
is a pressing need for a comprehensive, long-term plan for
management of the Delta. The author envisions this bill
becoming a vehicle to further ongoing discussions about
Delta management, with the recommendations made in the
Delta Vision Strategic Plan being central to those
discussions. However, the author acknowledges that this
bill is a work in progress. As such, it currently lacks
specificity beyond the creation of the CDEWC and the
requirement to prepare a plan to be submitted to the
Legislature.
2) Background. AB 1574 (Kuehl, 2006) required a cabinet
committee to develop a new, long-term vision for the Delta.
AB 39
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In response, the governor created the Delta Vision
Blue-Ribbon Task Force, to advise the cabinet committee. In
October 2008, the task force released its Strategic Plan,
which the cabinet committee largely adopted and submitted
to the Legislature in January of 2009. The principal
recommendations included in the task force's Strategic Plan
are:
a) Legally acknowledge the co-equal goals of restoring the
Delta ecosystem and creating a more reliable water supply
for California;
b) Recognize and enhance the unique cultural,
recreational, and agricultural values of the California
Delta as an evolving place, an action critical to achieving
the co-equal goals;
c) Restore the Delta ecosystem as the heart of a healthy
estuary;
d) Promote statewide water conservation, efficiency, and
sustainable use;
e) Build facilities to improve the existing water
conveyance system and expand statewide storage, and operate
both to achieve the co-equal goals;
f) Reduce risks to people, property, and state interest in
the Delta by effective emergency preparedness, appropriate
land uses, and strategic levee investments; and
g) Establish a new governance structure with the authority,
responsibility, accountability, science support, and secure
funding to achieve these goals.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081