BILL NUMBER: AB 1058 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Smyth
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 13971 of add
Section 13149 to the Water Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1058, as amended, Smyth. Clean Water Bond Law of 1970.
Water quality: salinity: agricultural use.
Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State
Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water
quality control boards are the principal state agencies with
responsibility for the coordination and control of water quality in
the state. The act requires the state board to formulate and adopt
state policies for water quality control, and requires the regional
boards to adopt regional water quality control plans in compliance
with the state policies.
This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1,
2013, to adopt a statewide policy establishing a statewide water
quality objective and plan of implementation for chloride and other
measures of salinity that may affect the suitability of water used
for agricultural purposes, in accordance with prescribed
requirements.
Existing law, the Clean Water Bond Law of 1970, a bond act
approved by the voters at the November 3, 1970, statewide general
election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of
$250,000,000, to be used for grants and contracts for specified
plans, surveys, research, development, and studies, and water quality
projects. The bond act includes legislative findings and
declarations relative to water quality.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
legislative findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13149 is added to the
Water Code , to read:
13149. (a) On or before July 1, 2013, the state board, in
cooperation with the regional boards and other interested parties,
shall adopt a statewide policy establishing a statewide water quality
objective and plan of implementation for levels of chloride and, to
the extent that inconsistencies exist among regional water quality
control plans, other measures of salinity that may affect the
suitability of water used for agricultural purposes. The statewide
water quality objective and plan of implementation shall apply to
water bodies identified as suitable for present or probable future
direct or indirect use for irrigation of agricultural crops.
(b) In developing the statewide water quality objective for
chloride and other measures of salinity, the state board shall do all
of the following:
(1) Identify the water bodies to which the water quality objective
will apply.
(2) Identify the source of chloride and chloride levels in the
water supply for communities within the watersheds of the water
bodies identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Identify irrigation and cultivation practices that are
available to mitigate chloride levels in water used to irrigate
agricultural crops, and factor those practices into the level at
which the water quality objective is set.
(4) Identify plans to develop and use recycled water within the
watersheds of the water bodies identified pursuant to paragraph (1),
and set the water quality objective at a level that does not impede
the expansion of recycled water use within those watersheds.
(5) Identify water bodies in which the water quality objective is
not currently being attained.
(c) The statewide policy adopted pursuant to this section shall be
consistent with the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et
seq.).
SECTION 1. Section 13971 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
13971. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Clean water, which fosters the health of the people, the
beauty of their environment, the expansion of industry and
agriculture, the enhancement of fish and wildlife, the improvement of
recreational facilities, and the provision of pure drinking water at
a reasonable cost, is an essential public need.
(b) Although the State of California is endowed with abundant
lakes and ponds, streams and rivers, and hundreds of miles of
shoreline, as well as large quantities of underground water, these
vast water resources are threatened by pollution, which, if not
checked, will impede the state's economic, community, and social
growth.
(c) The chief cause of pollution is the discharge of inadequately
treated waste into the waters of the state. Many public agencies have
not met the demands for adequate waste treatment or the control of
water pollution because of inadequate financial resources and other
responsibilities.
(d) Increasing population accompanied by accelerating
urbanization, growing demands for water of high quality, rising costs
of construction, and technological changes mean that, unless the
state acts now, the needs may soar beyond the means available for
public finance. Meeting these needs is a proper purpose of the
federal, state and local governments.
(e) Local agencies, by reason of their closeness to the problem,
should continue to have primary responsibility for construction,
operation, and maintenance of the facilities necessary to cleanse our
waters.
(f) Since water pollution knows no political boundaries and since
the cost of eliminating the existing backlog of needed facilities and
of providing additional facilities for future needs will be beyond
the ability of local agencies to pay, the state, to meet its
responsibility to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare
of the inhabitants of the state, should assist in the financing. The
federal government is contributing to the cost of control of water
pollution, and just provision should be made to cooperate with the
United States of America.
(g) It is the intent of this chapter to provide necessary funds to
ensure the full participation by the state under Section 8 of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 466 et (1970)) and
acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.