BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1469 (Simitian)
Hearing Date: 05/03/2010 Amended: 04/14/2010
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: NR&W 6-3
SB 1469 (Simitian), Page 2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1469 requires the State Water Resources Control
Board to identify all parties that benefit from the waters
originating in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta watershed,
whose activities impact the Delta. The bill also requires the
State Board to develop a process for determining how to
attribute responsibility for impacts to the Delta environment
amongst those parties.
The bill requires the Department of Water Resources to include
additional, quantitative information about the state's future
water infrastructure needs and environmental mitigation
responsibilities in the California Water Plan.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Water Board investigations $195 $195 Special
*
and planning
Water Plan development Likely over $100 per year General
* Water Rights Fund.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Under current law, the State Water Resources Control Board
(Water Board) is responsible for administering and enforcing the
state's water rights system and enforcing state and federal
water quality laws and regulations.
Under current law, the Department of Water Resources is required
to develop and update the California Water Plan every five
years. The California Water Plan is designed to be the state's
master plan for developing and maintaining water infrastructure
over the long-term.
In November 2009, in the 7th Extraordinary Session, the
Legislature passed a package of bills relating to the management
of the Delta. These bills addressed governance issues in the
SB 1469 (Simitian), Page 2
Delta, water conservation, groundwater management, and a general
obligation bond measure to support water-related projects
throughout the state. A key issue that was debated throughout
the process, but ultimately left out of the Delta package, was
the inclusion of a long-term funding mechanism for the state's
Delta and water-related activities.
This bill requires the Water Board to identify all parties that
benefit from waters originating in the Delta watershed, whose
activities impact the environment of the Delta. The Water Board
is also required to develop a process to determine the degree of
responsibility for environmental impacts to the Delta
attributable to those parties. These activities must be
completed by January 1, 2012.
The Water Board estimates that it will need three positions to
perform these investigations and develop, but not implement, the
required process to attribute responsibility.
This bill requires the Department to include additional
information in the next update of the California Water Plan, due
on December 31, 2013, and all subsequent updates. The Department
is required to identify water infrastructure needs in the state
over the next 30 years, estimate the environmental mitigation
and restoration projects associated with those infrastructure
needs, and propose a policy for attributing responsibility for
the costs of infrastructure and environmental mitigation and
restoration to beneficiaries of the state's water system.
The cost to include additional information and analysis in the
California Water Plan is unknown. However, given the complexity
and controversy likely to surround the issues that would be
included, the Department is likely to need at least one full
time position to undertake these analyses.