BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 43|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SCR 43
Author: Huff (R), et al
Amended: 6/23/09
Vote: 21
SENATE FLOOR : 38-0, 5/14/09
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk,
Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : California Water Awareness Month
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill proclaims May 2009 as California Water
Awareness Month, and encourages all Californians to
participate in a statewide campaign that focuses on
educating Californians about the value of water in everyday
life.
Assembly Amendments deleted language regarding the
implementation of water conservation plans, added
co-authors, and made technical corrections.
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SCR 43
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ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. California's 37 million residents and its agricultural,
industrial, commercial, and recreational industries rely
on the availability of water to support beneficial uses
of water.
2. California's hydrologic and geographic diversity
requires the implementation of multiple strategies to
ensure adequate, timely supplies of water throughout the
state.
3. Snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada has historically
yielded 18.5 million acre-feet of California's average
annual runoff that benefits riparian species and
habitat, as well as the state's urban and agricultural
users, and yet is a limited resource.
4. The Colorado River has historically supplied water to
about 20 million water users throughout southern
California, but provides uncertain reliability.
5. Groundwater reserves provide vital flexibility to water
users throughout the state, and must be managed to
maintain this flexibility.
6. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a key natural
estuary and the pathway through which more than 25
million Californians and 2.5 million acres of productive
farmland receive water, is in an ecological crisis that
threatens people as well as the environment.
7. California is now in its third consecutive year of
drought.
8. Much of California has a semiarid climate that provides
limited precipitation even in wet years, and further
urgent action is needed to address water shortages and
to protect the people of, and property in, California.
9. The first step toward ensuring the availability of water
is to understand the sources from which it comes.
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10.There are many simple actions each Californian can take
to conserve water without an appreciable effect on their
lives.
11.Many of California's water agencies have acted locally
to diversify their water portfolios and to implement
water conservation measures to ensure greater
reliability of their supplies.
12.The circumstances of the severe drought conditions, by
reason of their magnitude, are beyond the control of the
services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any
single county or city and therefore require mutual and
regional action.
13.The Governor has directed the Department of Water
Resources, in partnership with other appropriate
agencies, to launch a statewide water conservation
campaign calling for all Californians to immediately
decrease their water use.
This bill proclaims May 2009 as California Water Awareness
Month, and encourages all Californians to participate in a
statewide campaign that focuses on educating Californians
about the value of water in everyday life.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
CTW:nl 7/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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