BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1465
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared William Huffman, Chair
AB 1465 (Hill) - As Amended: April 21, 2009
SUBJECT : Urban water management planning.
SUMMARY : Revises the best management practices (BMPs), or
water demand management measures, of the Urban Water Management
Planning Act to reflect the revisions to the memorandum of
understanding (MOU) signed by the California Urban Water
Conservation Council (CUWCC) in December 2008. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires that the urban water management plans (plans)
establish the goal of the urban water supplier for water
demand management through implementation of the following
listed measures, alternative equivalent water demand
management measures, or an overall reduction in gallons per
capita per day of urban water use and provide a description of
each water demand management measure that is currently being
implemented, or scheduled for implementation:
a) Utility operations programs, including programs
relating to conservation coordination, water waste
prevention, wholesale agency assistance, pricing,
metering, and water loss control.
b) Education and information programs, including
programs relating to school education and public
information.
c) Residential programs, including programs relating to
residential assistance, landscape water surveys, high
efficiency clothes washer incentives, ordinances, and
low-flow toilet incentives.
d) Commercial, institutional, and industrial programs,
including programs relating to device-based incentives,
audits and process improvement incentives.
e) Landscape programs, including programs relating to
water budgets, water use surveys, and financial
incentives.
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2)Requires every urban water supplier to provide:
a) A schedule of implementation for all water demand
measurements proposed or described in the plan.
b) An estimate of the water savings or reduction in
gallons per capita per day of urban water use that will
be achieved through implementation of the proposed water
demand management measures.
c) A description of the methods, if any, that the
supplier will use to evaluate the effectiveness of water
demand management measures implemented or described in
the plan.
3)Requires that the plan evaluate and describe:
a) Any alternative water demand management measures being
implemented by the supplier to provide a level of water
savings that is equivalent to the savings provided by the
implementation of the listed water demand management
measures.
b) Each listed water demand measure that is not currently
being implemented due to lack of legal authority or lack of
cost effectiveness.
c) Opportunities for development of recycled water
supplies, including opportunities for non-potable and
indirect potable reuse as a long-term water supply.
d) Opportunities for stormwater recapture and reuse as a
long-term water supply.
1)Requires DWR to determine that an urban water supplier is
eligible for a water management grant or loan, despite a
failure to implement all of the water demand management
measures identified in the urban water management plan, if the
supplier submits documentation for DWR's approval
demonstrating that the supplier's proposed water demand
management measures provide a level of water savings that is
equivalent to the savings provided by the implementation of
the listed measures, or that the supplier lacks the authority
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to implement one or more of the listed measures.
EXISTING LAW incorporates the water demand management measures
from the 1991 CUWCC MOU into the Urban Water Management Planning
Act. Existing law also requires, with certain exceptions, that
an urban water supplier must implement the water demand
management measures identified in the supplier's urban water
management plan in order to be eligible for a water management
grant or loan administered by DWR, the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB), the California Bay-Delta Authority or its
successor agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : AB 1465 codifies the recently approved BMPs for water
conservation adopted by the CUWCC in their December 2008 MOU.
During the 1990's drought, the CUWCC was created to increase
efficient water use statewide through partnerships among urban
water agencies, public interest organizations, and private
entities. CUWCC's goal is to integrate urban water conservation
BMPs into the planning and management of California's water
resources. Currently the CUWCC has 398 members.
The December 2008 CUWCC MOU incorporates advances in
conservation practices and provides a more flexible set of BMPs
to allow urban water agencies to tailor their BMPs to better fit
their local circumstances. AB 1465 incorporates these updated
BMPs into the Urban Water Management Planning Act, including
Foundational BMPs, relating to utilities operations and
education, and Programmatic BMPs, organized into residential,
commercial, industrial, and landscape categories. Water
agencies may also choose "Flex-Track" activities that provide
water savings equal to or greater than the savings that would be
achieved through the foundational BMPs. The CUWCC MOU was last
updated in 1991.
The author notes that AB 1465 and the CUWCC MOU are a response
to the Governor's 2008 call for a decrease in water demand of 20
percent by 2020, and an effort by water agencies to improve the
efficiency of water use through changes in public attitudes
toward conservation and through changes in their own operating
systems.
Currently under the Urban Water Management Planning Act, BMPs
are not mandatory, and AB 1465 does not make the updated BMPs
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mandatory. However, in order be eligible for a water management
loan or grant from DWR, SWRCB, Cal-Fed Bay Delta Authority or
its successor agency, an agency must be implementing BMPs or
submit documentation proving that BMPs are not cost effective or
that the supplier lacks the legal authority to implement them,
establishing an incentive for BMP implementation. AB 1465
incorporates the language from SB 27XXX (Negrete McLeod),
Chaptered March 27, 2009, stating that this section does not
apply to water management projects funded under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Diego County Water Authority (Sponsor)
East Bay Municipal Utility District
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Landscape Contractors Association
Southern California Water Committee
Opposition: None submitted
Analysis Prepared by : Lindsey Scott-Florez / W., P. & W. /
(916) 319-2096