BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1200
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
AB 1200 (Levine) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
SUBJECT : Recycled water: agricultural ponds pilot project
SUMMARY : Requires the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality
Control Board (SF Regional Board) to authorize a five year pilot
project in Sonoma County that would study the effects, if any,
of allowing small agricultural irrigation ponds containing
recycled water to occasionally overflow during storm events into
an area that is already irrigated by recycled water.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings that include, but are not limited to:
acknowledging California's limited and oversubscribed
freshwater supplies and the resulting pressure on economic,
ecosystem and community needs; the opportunity to meet some of
those challenges with recycled water use; and, the State Water
Resource Control Board (State Water Board) adoption of a
recycled water policy mandating an increase in recycled water
use by 200,000 acre- feet per year annually and one million
acre-feet by 2020, as compared to 2002 levels.
2)Recognizes that Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District
produces an average of 3.5 million gallons of tertiary
recycled water daily, much of which discharges into a
tributary to San Pablo Bay, and that this pilot project would
help maximize the beneficial use of this recycled water.
3)Requires, on or before October 1, 2014, that the SF Regional
Board authorize a voluntary pilot project designed to measure,
analyze, and report water quality data collected upstream and
downstream of 3 to 4 small agricultural irrigation
impoundments containing recycled water before, during, and
after at least five storm events that cause water to overflow
and comingle with other surface waters.
4)Requires agricultural impoundments that are eligible for the
pilot project to:
a) Pre-exist as of January 1, 2013;
b) Hold 200 acre-feet or less of water; and,
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c) Be located within an agricultural area already receiving
disinfected tertiary recycled water.
5)Specifies water quality and environmental parameters that must
be included in the pilot project study.
6)Incorporates a ten-person stakeholder advisory group to review
and provide input on project design, implementation, and data
analysis. The group is comprised of the following:
a) 3 representatives from nongovernmental organizations
focused on San Francisco Bay region water quality and
habitat issues;
b) 1 representative from a regional agricultural
organization;
c) 2 private landowners;
d) 1 representative from the Sonoma Valley Sanitation
District;
e) 1 representative from the Napa Sanitation District;
f) 1 representative from the Sonoma County Water
Agency; and,
g) 1 representative from the SF Regional Board
7)Requires the pilot project to identify expected costs and
secure funding, such as local funds and state bond funds,
prior to project implementation.
8)Requires, within 12 months of final data collection that the
data shall be analyzed and a draft report made available for
stakeholder advisory group review. Requires a final report to
the SF Regional Board within three months of the release of
the draft report. Specifies the final report shall include
consideration of comments made by the stakeholder advisory
group.
9)Repeals authority for the pilot project on January 1, 2018,
unless that date is statutorily deleted or extended.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Vests the State Water Board, pursuant to the Porter-Cologne
Water Quality Control Act, with authority over State water
quality policy. Also establishes nine Regional Water Quality
Control Boards (Regional Boards) to oversee water quality on a
day-to-day basis at the local and regional level.
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2)Requires the Regional Boards or the State Water Board to
prepare and periodically update Basin Plans (water quality
control plans). Each Basin Plan establishes:
a) Beneficial uses of water designated for each water body
to be protected;
b) Water quality standards, known as water quality
objectives, for both surface water and groundwater; and,
c) The actions necessary to maintain these standards in
order to control point sources (end of pipe discharges) and
non-point sources of pollution to the State's waters.
1)Mandates permits issued to control pollution (i.e.
waste-discharge requirements and National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permits) that implement Basin Plan
requirements (i.e. water quality standards), taking into
consideration beneficial uses to be protected.
2)Requires any person proposing to discharge waste within any
region to file a report of waste discharge with the
appropriate Regional Board. Prohibits waste discharges, under
penalty of enforcement, until the Regional Board issues waste
discharge requirements or a waiver of the waste discharge
requirements.
3)Defines recycled water as a waste and therefore subject to
waste discharge prohibitions and requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : On February 3, 2009, the State Water Board adopted
Resolution 2009-0011, creating a state Recycled Water Policy.
In adopting the policy the Board referenced its Strategic Plan
Update which included "a priority to increase sustainable local
water supplies to meet existing and future beneficial uses by
1,725,000 acre-feet per year, in excess of 2002 levels, by 2015
and ensure adequate water flows for fish and wildlife habitat."
The Recycled Water Policy, the Board concluded, supported the
Strategic Plan because increasing the "acceptance and promoting
the use of recycled water is a means towards achieving
sustainable local water supplies" and will "encourage beneficial
uses of, rather than solely disposal of, recycled water."
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In January 2012 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a
report entitled: Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the
Nation's Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater. In
that report the NAS states that approximately 12 billion gallons
of municipal wastewater effluent is discharged each day to an
ocean or estuary and that reusing these coastal discharges could
directly augment public supply by 27 percent. Unlike water that
is discharged into a stream and potentially used by another
downstream party, water discharged to the ocean is considered
"irrecoverable." Currently, the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation
District produces an average of 3.5 million gallons of tertiary
recycled water daily, much of which is discharged into a
tributary to San Pablo Bay.
Prior Legislation : In 2012, AB 2398 (Heuso/2012) proposed to
overhaul and modernize the state's statutes related to recycled
water and bring them together under a new Water Code division.
AB 2398 was held in the Senate Natural Resources and Water
Committee with a commitment to put together a recycled water
stakeholder group to explore the potential administrative and
statutory barriers to more recycled water use. One issue
identified by that group was the need for better technical
information to inform state permitting of recycled water
projects.
Supporting Arguments : The author states that "farmers in the
water-scarce Los Carneros grape-growing region of the Sonoma and
Napa Valleys want to store and use high-quality recycled water
for irrigation and frost protection but a lack of environmental
impact data has resulted in restrictions." The author states
that this bill would authorize a temporary pilot project
designed to determine potential impacts resulting from
occasional rainy-season run-off from these ponds through a
science-based process. Other supporters state that this bill is
"crafted to help address an unfortunate situation in the Sonoma
and Napa Valleys where [the local water agency] and our
agricultural landowner partners risk being penalized if small
irrigation ponds storing high-quality recycled water overflow
during a rain event, despite the fact that we currently have
water quality permits allowing for discharge, tidal habitat
restoration, and agricultural irrigation within the same
watershed and using the same [recycled] water." Supporters add
that this fear of penalties has "limited our ability to use our
highly-treated recycled water to its greatest potential."
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Sonoma County Water Agency (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096