BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 359
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 359 (Huffman) - As Amended: April 11, 2011
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 7-0
Local Government 5-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires groundwater management plans to include a map
of groundwater recharge areas. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, commencing January 1, 2013, a local agency that
provides water service that is preparing a groundwater
management plan to include a map identifying the recharge
areas for the groundwater basin
2) Requires the local water agency to provide the map to local
planning agencies after it adopts the groundwater management
plan.
3)Requires DWR to post on its website information regarding the
local water agencies that have jurisdiction to develop
groundwater management plans and maps.
4)Requires a local water agency that adopts a resolution of
intent to draft a groundwater management plan to provide a
copy of the resolution to DWR within 30 days of the adoption
and to provide interested persons with copies of proposed
plans and maps.
5)Authorizes a local water agency to request state funds to map
groundwater recharge areas to the extent the request is
consistent with eligibility requirements for the funds.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor, absorbable costs to DWR to accepts copies of
AB 359
Page 2
resolutions of intent, post information online and review
funding requests.
2)Cost pressure of an unknown amount, potentially in the
millions of dollars, to DWR or other state agencies to fund an
increased number of local water agency efforts to map
groundwater recharge areas. (Bond funds or special funds.)\
(Nothing in current law prevents a local water agency from
requesting state funds to map groundwater recharge areas. In
fact, DWR's Local Groundwater Assistance Program (authorized
by AB 303 (Thomson, Chapter 708, Statutes of 2000) makes
grants to assist local agencies to manage groundwater. It is
therefore reasonable to expect an increase in applicants for
state funding to pay for groundwater recharge area mapping as
a result of this bill. DWR indicates program fund has about
$5 million in bond proceeds remaining and likely would be able
to fund all eligible requests.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends it is critical to attain,
through mapping of groundwater recharge areas, and make
available information on groundwater, given the state's heavy
reliance on this natural resource.
2)Background. According to DWR's 2003 update of its Bulletin
118, groundwater provides about 30% of California's water
supply in an average year, though, in some years on some
locations, groundwater accounts for more than half of water
supply. DWR estimates that extraction of groundwater
outstrips recharge by between 1 million and 2 million
acre-feet annually. DWR also notes that, in many basins,
little is known about the location of recharge areas and their
effectiveness and that local land use planning agencies rarely
consider protection and preservation of recharge areas.
3)Related Legislation. This bill is nearly identical to AB 2304
(Huffman, 2010), which was not heard by this committee but
passed the Assembly 48-28 and the Senate 22-12. The governor
vetoed the bill, citing concerns about the effect the bill
might have on private properties as a result of land use
decisions made in response to groundwater recharge mapping
data.
AB 359
Page 3
4)Supporters of this bill include several conservation and
environmental organizations, who contend the bill will allow
better management of groundwater by increasing knowledge about
groundwater recharge areas.
5)Opponents include the California Chamber of Commerce and a
number of agricultural organizations, who claim the mapping
required by the bill will lead to rezoning of land uses in
ways that will negatively affect current land uses.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081