BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1896
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1896 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: April 7, 2014
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Vote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill adds landscaped common areas of residential
developments maintained by a homeowner's association to those
entities within the service area of the Coachella Valley Water
District (CVWD) for which a person or local public agency is
prohibited from using potable water for non-potable uses.
FISCAL EFFECT
No direct state costs. Any costs incurred by the CVWD to
enforce this prohibition would be covered by local water user
fee revenue.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, the Coachella Valley
aquifers are over-drafted and CVWD and other area water
districts have aggressive and expanding replenishment programs
in place. These programs have significantly reversed trend in
one of the aquifers but the most efficient approach is to
decrease the dependency and increase the efficiency of use of
domestic groundwater.
SB 1557 (Ducheny) Chapter 67, Statutes of 2006, specified five
areas within the CVWD jurisdiction in which non-potable water
could be substituted for domestic quality groundwater:
cemeteries, parks, highway landscaped areas, new industrial
facilities and golf course irrigation.
Since homeowner's associations frequently manage private golf
courses, it makes sense to add other landscaped common areas
AB 1896
Page 2
to the mandate to use non-potable water. According to the
sponsor, CVWD, adding the common area landscaping at the same
time that the golf courses are switched to non-potable water
will be more efficient, less costly, and reduce groundwater
demand by as much as 40% for each HOA development.
2)Background. In California, the use of potable domestic water
for non-potable purposes is a waste or unreasonable use within
the meaning of the California Constitution, Article X, Section
2, if non-potable water is available that meets specific
conditions. Those conditions include that the non-potable
water is of adequate quality, is furnished at a reasonable
cost, meets public health requirements, will not adversely
affect downstream water rights, and will not degrade the
environment. If non-potable water is available that meets the
established conditions, and a water user instead uses potable
water, the water rights associated with the potable water are
at risk of violating Article X, Section 2 of the California
Constitution.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081