BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1063
PageA
Date of Hearing: June 12, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
SB 1063 (Gaines) - As Amended: April 23, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Bear Lake Reservoir
SUMMARY : Exempts Bear Lake Reservoir from bodily contact in a
reservoir prohibition. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows recreational activities that include body contact at
the Bear Lake Reservoir in Alpine County provided that the
drinking water system operator meets the following conditions:
a) Completes water treatment including coagulation,
flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection in
compliance with California Department of Public Health
(CDPH) regulations before being used for domestic purposes.
Requires the disinfection to include ozonation or
ultraviolet disinfection capable of inactivating organisms
such as giardia and cryptosporidium;
b) Monitors for total coliform bacteria, which includes E
coli and fecal coliform at the reservoir intake;
c) Complies with CDPH regulation and additional conditions
and restrictions adopted by the operating agency or CDPH.
2)Requires Lake Alpine Water Company to submit a report by
January 1, 2015, to the Legislature and CDPH on the
recreational uses at Bear Lake Reservoir and on the treatment
at the reservoir. Requires the report to include:
a) The level and type of recreation at the reservoir;
b) A summary of the monitoring in the Bear Lake Reservoir
watershed for giardia and cryptosporidium;
c) The sanitary survey of the watershed and water quality
monitoring plan;
d) An evaluation of recommendations relating to removal and
inactivation of cryptosporidium and giardia;
e) Annual reports provided to the CDPH;
f) An evaluation of the impact on source water quality due
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to recreational activities;
g) The reservoir management plan and operation plan; and,
h) The annual water reports submitted to the consumers each
year.
3)Sunsets allowable of body contact recreation at the Bear
Valley Reservoir on January 1, 2016.
4)Provides that this is an urgency measure. 2/3 vote required.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes as State policy that all public waters are to be
used for multiple purposes, to the extent that the uses are
consistent with public health and safety. (Health and Safety
Code, �115825).
2)Prohibits body contact recreation in a reservoir where water
is stored for domestic use, but makes exceptions for all
reservoirs in San Diego County, the Nacimiento Reservoir in
San Luis Obispo County, the Modesto Reservoir in Stanislaus
County, and Sly Park Reservoir in El Dorado County and Canyon
Lake Reservoir in Riverside County. (Health and Safety Code,
�115825 et seq).
3)Allows body contact recreation in reservoirs constructed and
operated as part of the State Water Project by providing that
body contact recreation shall be permitted on all such
reservoirs to the extent that it is compatible with public
health and safety requirements. (Water Code, �12944(a)).
FISCAL EFFECT : Not known.
COMMENTS :
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, the problem this
bill solves is that the bodily contact exemption for Bear Lake
Reservoir sunseted in 2007 and was not discovered by CDPH or
the new administration at the county or Lake Alpine Water
Company until years later. This bill will rectify that error
and bring the county back into compliance with state law.
2)Bear Lake Reservoir is a 13 acre private lake that has minimal
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recreational use. Only members and guests of the Bear Valley
Residents Incorporated are allowed to use the lake. The
number of visitors averages 10 per day with a maximum of 50
per day during the summer. The lake is located at an
elevation of about 7,100 feet and the water is very cold,
which also minimizes body contact recreation. No motorized
watercrafts are allowed in the lake and no pets are allowed
along the shoreline or in the water.
The Lake Alpine Water Company treats the lake water with a
membrane microfiltration plant. In addition, the treatment
plant includes chlorination disinfection treatment (chlorine
is not effective for inactivation Cryptosporidium).
3)Cryptosporidium and giardia . According to the CDPH Guidelines
for Evaluating Applications for Recreational Use Permits at
Domestic Water Supply Reservoirs in the 1980s and 1990s two
pathogenic organisms were identified as important causative
agents in waterborne disease - giardia and cryptosporidium.
These pathogens are very difficult to detect using standard
analytical techniques. As a result, recognition has grown
among water suppliers and regulatory agencies that indicator
organisms are of limited usefulness in predicting the safety
of water sources.<1>
Cryptosporidium oocytes are common and widespread in ambient
water and can persist for months in this environment. The
dose that can infect humans is low, and a number of waterborne
disease outbreaks caused by this protozoan have occurred in
the United States. Otherwise healthy people recover within
several weeks after becoming ill, but illness may persist and
contribute to death in those whose immune systems have been
seriously weakened (e.g., AIDS patients). Drugs effective in
preventing or controlling this disease are not yet available.
The public health concern is worsened by the resistance of
Cryptosporidium to commonly used water disinfection practices
such as chlorination. However, a well-operated water
filtration system is capable of removing at least 99 of 100
Cryptosporidium oocytes in the water. Monitoring for this
organism in water is currently difficult and expensive. EPA
--------------------------
<1> CDPH, Guidelines for Evaluating Applications for
Recreational Use Permits at Domestic Water Supply Reservoirs ,
November 15, 2000.
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believes that there is sufficient information to conclude that
Cryptosporidium may cause a health problem and occurs in
public water supplies at levels that may pose a risk to human
health.<2>
Cryptosporidium is regulated by the federal government as a
primary drinking water contaminant. The federal regulatory
activity associated with Cryptosporidium in drinking water was
prompted by the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water
Act.
4)Prior exemption from bodily contact prohibitions at Bear Lake
Reservoir . AB 1934 (Leslie) Chapter 374, Statutes of 2004,
exempted Bear Lake Reservoir from the bodily contact
prohibition, allowing bodily contact under specified
conditions. The exemption granted by AB 1934 to the Bear Lake
Reservoir sunseted on January 1, 2007. The provisions and
requirements of SB 1063 generally mirror those adopted by the
legislature in the provisions of AB 1934.
In reviewing the previous exemption granted, it was found that
the Lake Alpine Water Company had not complied with AB 1934 by
failing to compile and submit the required report to the
Legislature or CDPH and by continuing to allow bodily contact
in the reservoir through 2010 without statutory authorization.
In June 2011, DPH issued a letter to the Lake Alpine Water
Company notifying them that they were in violation of Section
115825 (b), Article 1, Chapter 5 of the Health and Safety
Code, prohibiting bodily contact. The Lake Alpine Water
Company responded to the letter by prohibiting bodily contact
in 2011, and submitting the requisite report to the
Legislature.
The report submitted provided the requisite monitoring and
planning information except for information specific to
monitoring for giardia and cryptosporidium. According to Lake
Alpine Water Company's report, pursuant to the federal
regulation, they monitored for total fecal coliform and E.
--------------------------
<2> US EPA, Cryptosporidium: Drinking Water Health Advisory ,
March 2001
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coli. Because the annual average for E. coli is below federal
levels for monitoring requirements they did not pursue the
monitoring for cryptosporidium required by AB 1934. There was
no mention of monitoring data for giardia. Lake Alpine Water
Company conducts biweekly testing of fecal coliform and E.
coli and provided the annual reports to CDPH outlining that
data.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support:
Lake Alpine Water Company (source)
Alpine County Supervisor Terry Woodrow
Association of California Water Agencies
Bear Valley Residents, Inc.
California Association of Harbor Masters and Port Captains
California Marine Parks and Harbors Association
California Yacht Brokers Association
Marina Recreation Association
Northern CA Marine Association
Western Boaters Safety Group
Opposition:
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965