BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1896|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1896
Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D)
Amended: 4/7/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Jackson, Lara,
Monning, Wolk
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/25/14
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Coachella Valley Water District: nonpotable water
use
SOURCE : Coachella Valley Water District
DIGEST : This bill adds landscaped common areas of residential
developments maintained by a homeowners association to those
entities within the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD)
service area for which a person or local public agency is
prohibited from using potable water for nonpotable uses.
ANALYSIS :
CONTINUED
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Existing law:
1. Requires under the California Constitution Article X, Section
2 of requires the prevention of waste or unreasonable use of
water. It further provides that the right to water does not
extend to water that is wasted or unreasonably used.
2. Prohibits a person or local public agency from using, within
the district's service area, water from any source that is
suitable for potable domestic use for nonpotable uses for
cemeteries, parks, highway landscaped areas, new industrial
facilities, and golf course irrigation if the Board of
Directors of the CVWD determines that suitable nonpotable
water is available, as specified, and other requirements are
met.
This bill:
1. Extends, for the CVWD, the application of Article X, Section
2 to landscaped common areas of residential developments
maintained by a homeowner's association.
2. Makes legislative findings about the challenges of water
management in the Coachella Valley.
Background
Groundwater in the Coachella Valley . According to the CVWD,
groundwater is the source of virtually all drinking water and
other domestic water in the Coachella Valley. Potable water is
currently utilized for many nonpotable purposes, including
irrigation for golf courses and other outdoor landscaping. CVWD
states that as a result, the Coachella Valley's
significantly-sized aquifer is in a state of overdraft. Because
of this, the CVWD, the sponsor of this bill, are seeking to
limit nonpotable uses of potable water if there is suitable
nonpotable water available.
A waste or an unreasonable use of water . In California, the use
of potable domestic water for nonpotable purposes is a waste or
unreasonable use within the meaning of the California
Constitution Article X Section 2, if nonpotable water is
available that meets specific conditions. Those conditions
include that the nonpotable water is of adequate quality, is
AB 1896
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furnished at a reasonable cost, meets public health
requirements, will not adversely affect downstream water rights,
and will not degrade the environment. This means that if
nonpotable water is available that meets the conditions
established in statute, and a water user instead uses potable
water for the uses limited by statute, the water rights
associated with the potable water are at risk of violating
California Constitution Article X Section 2.
Current limitations on uses of potable domestic water . SB 1557
(Ducheny, Chapter 67, Statutes of 2006) prohibits a person or
local public agency from using, within the CVWD's service area,
water from any source that is suitable for potable domestic use
for specified nonpotable uses if the Board determines, after
notice and an opportunity for hearing, that suitable nonpotable
water is available, as specified, and other requirements are
met. SB 1577 listed cemeteries, parks, highway landscaped
areas, new industrial facilities, and golf course irrigation as
entities prohibited from using potable water if nonpotable water
is available.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/14)
Coachella Valley Water District (source)
Association of California Water Agencies
City of Palm Desert
Desert Valleys Builders Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Desert Valley Builders
Association this bill, "will allow the CVWD to, when cost
effective, transition the landscaped common areas of residential
developments maintained by homeowners associations to the use of
non-potable water for irrigation.
"The Coachella Valley's aquifer is in a state of overdraft.
While the CVWD has instituted an aggressive replenishment
program to replenish the aquifer, additional, meaningful
opportunities for groundwater still exist. The best public
policy is to reduce demand on the aquifer by substituting the
use of ground water for non-potable water when doing so is
cost-effective and feasible.
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"Substituting ground water for non-potable water will not only
reduce demand on the aquifer, but has the added benefit of
helping to replenish the aquifer as up to 40% of the non-potable
water used in lieu of groundwater will percolate back into the
aquifer."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande,
Vacancy
RM:d 8/4/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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