BILL ANALYSIS
SB 133
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Date of Hearing: June 30, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared William Huffman, Chair
SB 133 (Corbett) - As Amended: May 12, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Groundwater Wells: Alameda County
SUMMARY : Transfers authority to regulate groundwater wells
from the cities of Fremont, Newark and Union City to Alameda
County Water District (Alameda CWD), Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes Alameda CWD to regulate groundwater wells in the
cities of Fremont, Newark and Union City, including the
authority to:
a) Inspect and investigate wells and enforce regulations
regarding the construction, use, maintenance, repair,
decommissioning, or destruction of wells.
b) Take measurements, collect data, including samples of
groundwater, and make analyses pertaining to wells and the
use of groundwater within the district.
c) Require persons or entities to obtain a permit from the
district to construct, operate, decommission, abandon, or
destroy a well, exploratory hole, or other excavation.
d) Impose and collect fees to recover the cost of
inspecting wells, exploratory holes, and other excavations
and otherwise implement and enforce this article.
e) Require the sealing of abandoned or unused wells
according to regulations adopted by the board that are
designed to protect groundwater from contamination.
f) Require any person applying for any land development
permit or approval to obtain documentation from the Alameda
CWD regarding existing wells on the property.
2)Defines a "public nuisance" in the context of abandoned wells
that threaten water quality and establishes a process to abate
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such nuisances.
3)Specifies that all actions authorized, shall be consistent
with the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water
Quality Control Act.
EXISTING LAW allows cities and counties to regulate groundwater
wells, while the state and regional water quality control boards
have jurisdiction over groundwater quality issues.
FISCAL EFFECT : Senate Appropriations Committee Chair
determined that the costs of this bill are not significant,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.
COMMENTS : This bill transfers authority for regulating wells
from Newark, Fremont and Union City to the Alameda CWD, in order
to ensure consistency in protection for the Niles Cone
Groundwater Basin. Niles Cone provides 40% of the water supply
for the Alameda CWD, which in turn provides water to these East
Bay cities that overlie the aquifer. (Alameda CWD, founded in
1914, only covers this portion of Alameda County overlying Niles
Cone.) The aquifer also underlies a small portion of Hayward,
but this bill does not apply to wells in Hayward. Alameda CWD's
remaining water supply comes from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta through the State Water Project's (SWP) South Bay
Aqueduct.
Until SWP water arrived from the Sacramento River and the Delta
in the 1960's, this area overdrafted the Niles Cone Groundwater
Basin, leading to salt water intrusion from the adjacent San
Francisco Bay and deterioration of the area's water quality.
Additional contaminants invaded the aquifer as a result of
underground storage tanks and other sources, which led to
additional wells for monitoring groundwater levels and quality.
Delta water allowed the area to replenish its groundwater basin
and prevent additional saltwater intrusion, although some of the
area's groundwater remains brackish.
In order to protect groundwater quality, the three cities
adopted uniform well ordinances in 1973, appointing Alameda CWD
as the "enforcing agency" for well regulation. Since then, well
technology and operations, as well as drilling practices, have
changed, requiring changes in the city ordinances and Alameda
CWD's regulations. Instead of continuing to change ordinances
in three different cities, the cities and Alameda CWD have
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requested this bill to transfer responsibility for well
regulation to Alameda CWD. The sponsors patterned this bill on
the statute for an adjacent water district - Santa Clara Valley
Water District - that was adopted and has worked well since the
1950's.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Alameda County Water District (Sponsor)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
Association of California Water Agencies
California Groundwater Association
City of Fremont
City of Newark
City of Union City
East Bay Municipal Utility District
League of Women Voters of Freemont, Newark, and Union City
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Tri-City Ecology Center
Opposition :None submitted
Analysis Prepared by : Alf W. Brandt / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096