BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1187
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 1187 (Fong) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : California Water Plan: safe drinking water.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
include the Safe Drinking Water Plan (Drinking Water Plan) in
updates of the California Water Plan (Water Plan) and requires
DWR to contract with the State Department of Public Health (DPH)
to incorporate the Drinking Water Plan in updates of the Water
Plan. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds "current and projected unmet safe drinking water needs"
to the list of subjects about which DWR must release
assumptions and other estimates as part of its requirements
relating to the Water Plan.
2)Requires DWR to include the Drinking Water Plan in updates of
the Water Plan.
3)Requires DWR to contract with DPH to incorporate the Drinking
Water Plan in updates of the Water Plan.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires DWR to update the Water Plan every five years.
Requires DWR to report the amendments, supplements, and
additions included in the updates of the Water Plan, together
with a summary of DWR's conclusions and recommendations, to
the Legislature in the session in which the updated plan is
issued.
2)Requires, as part of updating the Water Plan, DWR to conduct a
study to determine the amount of water needed to meet the
state's future needs and to recommend programs, policies, and
facilities to meet those needs.
3)Requires DWR, one year prior to issuing each update to the
Water Plan, to release a preliminary draft of the assumptions
and other estimates upon which the study will be based to
interested persons and entities throughout the state for their
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review and comments.
4)Requires DWR, as part of its requirements relating to the
Water Plan, to release assumptions and other estimates
relating to water supply, uses and needs.
5)Requires DPH to regulate drinking water, including conducting
research, studies, and demonstration programs for a
dependable, safe supply of drinking water, and to enforce the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act and other regulations.
6)Requires DPH, once every five years, to submit to the
Legislature a comprehensive Drinking Water Plan that must
include specified information on California's drinking water.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill: According to the author's office,
"Communities throughout California, especially in the rural
valleys of our state, are struggling to attain safe drinking
water. Communities like Kettlemen City, Culter, Orosi, Seville,
and many more. Although solutions to their drinking water
problems are sought on an individual basis; the real long-term
solutions are by necessity regional solutions. Integrating
Drinking Water into the California Water Plan will by design
provide for an initial framework for how regional solutions can
be further developed, because the water plan looks at aquifers
and surface water supplies and the demands regionally. The
inclusion of safe drinking water needs by region will facilitate
the potential for regional solutions. Furthermore, having a
statewide needs assessment of drinking water will provide for an
accurate assessment of the investment needed for safe drinking
water infrastructure in the State."
California Water Plan : DWR is statutorily required to update
the Water Plan every five years. The Water Plan provides a
framework for water managers, legislators, and the public to
consider options and make decisions regarding the future of
California's water. It presents basic data and information on
California's water resources, including water supply evaluations
and assessments of agricultural, urban, and environmental water
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uses, to quantify the gap between water supplies and uses. The
Water Plan also identifies and evaluates existing and proposed
statewide demand management and water supply augmentation
programs and projects to address the state's water needs.
DWR recently updated the Water Plan in 2005 and 2009, and is
scheduled to complete the next update in 2013.
Safe Drinking Water Plan : DPH is statutorily required to update
the Drinking Water Plan every five years. The Drinking Water
Plan must include, among other subjects, an analysis of the
overall quality of California's drinking water; the
identification of specific water quality problems and the types
and levels of contaminants found in public drinking water
systems; an analysis of the known and potential health risks
that may be associated with drinking water contamination; an
evaluation of how existing water quality information systems
currently maintained by local or state agencies can be more
effectively used to protect drinking water; and an analysis of
the current cost of drinking water paid by residential,
business, and industrial consumers based on a statewide survey
of large, medium, and small public water systems.
According to DPH, funding for the preparation of the initial
Drinking Water Plan for California was taken from the General
Fund. Since then, no funding has been provided to prepare or
update the Drinking Water Plan. CDPH has not completed an
update to the Drinking Water Plan since 1993 and is not
currently working on an update due to the lack of financial
resources.
Funding for the Water Plan : According to DWR, the DWR's fiscal
year (FY) 2010-11 budget for the development of the Water Plan
update is $5.751 million, broken down by funding source as
follows: $2.210 million from the general fund (GF,) $0.788
million from the State Water Project (SWP,) and $2.753 million
from Proposition 84 (Prop 84.) The proposed budget for the
Water Plan update in FY 2011-12 is $6.498 million, broken down
by funding source as follows: $2.210 million from GF, $0.788
million from SWP, and $3.5 million from Prop 84.
Beginning in FY 2013-14, after Prop 84 funds are exhausted,
DWR's annual baseline budget for future updates to the Water
Plan are estimated to be about $3 million ($2.2 million from GF
and $0.800 million from SWP), which is lower than DWR's
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historical annual baseline budget of about $3.7 million. This
reduction to DWR's baseline budget is due to a reduction in the
GF portion of the Water Plan budget (from about $3.0 million in
FY 2002-03 to about $2.2 million in FY 2010-11).
Funding of the Water Plan under the provisions of the bill :
This bill requires DWR to contract with DPH to incorporate the
Drinking Water Plan in updates of the Water Plan. The author's
intent is for DWR to fund updates of the Drinking Water Plan for
inclusion in updates of Water Plan. According to the sponsor,
"DPH has limited funding and decided internally not to
prioritize doing the �Drinking Water] plan because there was no
designated funding. . . . DWR has designated funding for the
�Water Plan]. This bill will attach the drinking water plan to
the �Water Plan] that is being completed every five years and
make the drinking water component a priority. . . . DPH already
has much of the relevant data in hand. So it seems like it
makes sense for them to do it and contribute it to the �Water
Plan]. DWR has numerous contracts related to the �Water Plan]
and for the 2005 �Water Plan] they contracted with a consultant
to do an appendix on access to safe drinking water."
Should the legislature require one agency to fund another agency
in order for the second agency to fulfill its existing statutory
requirements?
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California League of Conservation Voters
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (Co-sponsor)
Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton (Co-sponsor)
Clean Water Action (Co-sponsor)
Community Water Center (Co-sponsor)
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (Co-sponsor)
Food & Water Watch (Co-sponsor)
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
Southern California Watershed Alliance (Co-sponsor)
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry California
(Co-sponsor)
Urban Semillas (Co-sponsor)
Winnemem Wintu Tribe (Co-sponsor)
AB 1187
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Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney/ E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965