BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1465
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1465 (Hill) - As Amended: April 21, 2009
Policy Committee: WPW Vote:13-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill revises the best management practices (BMPs), or water
demand management measures, of the Urban Water Management
Planning Act. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires an urban water supplier to establish, as part of its
urban water management plan, its goal for water demand
management through implementation of specified measures,
alternative equivalent water demand management measures, or an
overall reduction in gallons per capita per day of urban water
use, and to include other specified information.
2)Requires the Department of Water Resources (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 demonstrating to DWR's satisfaction that:
i) the proposed water demand management measures
provide a level of water savings equivalent to the
savings provided by the implementation of the listed
measures,
ii) a demand management measure is not cost effective,
or
iii) the supplier lacks the authority to implement one or
more of the listed measures.
FISCAL EFFECT
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Negligible costs to DWR to review and make a determination
regarding information provided by a water supplier pursuant to
this bill.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The December 2008 California Urban Water
Conservation Council memorandum of understanding (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. The author describes AB 1465 and the
MOU as responses to the governor's 2008 call for a decrease in
water demand of 20% 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.
2)Background .
a) Urban Water Demand Management. Existing law requires an
urban water supplier to implement 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 and other
certain state agencies.
b) Urban Water Supplier. The Urban Water Management Act
defines an "urban water supplier" as public or privately
supplier of water for municipal purposes to more than 3,000
customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water
annually.
c) California Urban Water Conservation Council . The
mission of the Council is to increase urban water use
efficiency statewide. The Council was created by the MOU
Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California, first
signed in 1991 by a group of urban water suppliers,
environmental interest groups, and other interested
parties. Water suppliers signing the MOU agree to develop
and implement comprehensive conservation BMPs that are
cost-effective, using sound economic criteria. Since 1991,
over 200 urban water suppliers across California have
signed the MOU, representing nearly 75% of the state's
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urban water supply. Currently the Council has 398 members.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081