BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1465 HEARING DATE: July 6, 2009
AUTHOR: Hill URGENCY: No
VERSION: June 30, 2009 CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Urban water management planning.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Under the Urban Water Management Planning Act, urban water
agencies are required to develop and adopt urban water
management plans by December 31, in years ending in 0 and 5.
1.Among other things, urban water management plans are to
describe specific elements of the supplier's water demand
management measures, such as:
Water survey programs for residential customers.
Residential plumbing retrofit.
System water audits, leak detection, and repair.
Metering with commodity based rates.
Conservation pricing.
Large landscape conservation programs and incentives.
High-efficiency washing machine rebate programs.
Public information and school education programs.
Conservation programs for commercial, industrial, and
institutional accounts.
Water conservation coordinator.
Residential ultra-low-flush toilet replacement programs.
Urban water management plans are further required to provide
an evaluation of each of the above listed water demand
management measures that are not being implemented or
scheduled for implementation. In the course of the evaluation,
first consideration is to be given to water demand management
measures, or combination of measures, that offer lower
incremental costs than expanded or additional water supplies.
Urban water suppliers that are members of the California Urban
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Water Conservation Council (CUWCC) and that submit annual
reports to that council in accordance with the "Memorandum of
Understanding Regarding Urban Water Conservation in
California," (MOU) dated September 1991, may submit the annual
reports identifying water demand management measures currently
being implemented, or scheduled for implementation, to satisfy
the requirements described above.
On December 10, 2008, CUWCC significantly amended their MOU.
Among other things, the MOU was restructured to both increase
the required level of urban water conservation and to provide
significantly greater flexibility in how urban water suppliers
are to meet those requirements. Essentially, the MOU shifted
from a "check-list" approach to actions required to achieve
"best" levels of conservation, like that required under the
Urban Water Management Planning Act, to an "outcomes based"
approach, which allows agencies to determine the most
appropriate strategy to achieve the same or higher level of
conservation.
1.Urban water management plans are also required to provide a
description and quantification of specific potential uses of
recycled water.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would provide that urban water suppliers that are
members of the California Urban Water Conservation Council, that
are complying with all the provisions of the updated MOU, and
are submitting the annual reports required by that MOU, shall be
deemed to be in compliance with the above listed requirements
the Urban Water Management Planning Act.
This bill would also require that the description and
quantification of specific potential uses of recycled water
address the potential for indirect potable reuse of recycled
water.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, "Last December, the CUWCC revised and
updated its BMPs. The intent was to incorporate advances in
conservation practices and to provide a more flexible set of
BMPs that will allow urban water agencies to tailor their BMPs
to better fit their local circumstances. The revised BMPs
include Foundational BMPs, relating to utilities operations and
education, and Programmatic BMPs, organized into residential,
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commercial, industrial and institutional, and landscape
categories. Water agencies may also chose "Flex-Track"
activities that provide water savings at least equal to or more
than the savings that would be achieved through the foundational
and programmatic BMPs. AB 1465 incorporates the updated BMPs
into state law."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: None
COMMENTS: None
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT
San Diego County Water Authority (Sponsor)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Landscape Contractors Association
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Special Districts Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Irvine Ranch Water District
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Southern California Water Committee
OPPOSITION
None Received
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