BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1914
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
AB 1914 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Water permits: Trinity River Record of Decision
SUMMARY : Requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(State Water Board) to conform water permits that would affect
the Trinity River, excluding its tributaries, to the instream
flow requirements in the Federal Record of Decision for the
Trinity River (Trinity ROD). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the State Water Board, when approving an application
for a water permit or an application for a renewal or
amendment of a water permit that affects the Trinity River,
excluding its tributaries, to conform the use of that permit
to the minimum instream flows established by the Trinity ROD
and:
a) Adopt the Trinity River temperature water quality
objectives from the North Coast Water Quality Control Plan
(WQCP) as standard permit terms and conditions; and,
b) Adopt minimum cold water carryover storage operational
criteria to ensure compliance with the WQCP.
2)Specifies that the State Water Board shall reserve
jurisdiction over any existing permit affecting the Trinity
River, excluding tributaries, and apply the WQCP water quality
objectives and cold water carryover storage terms and
conditions.
3)States that nothing in this bill shall diminish, impair, or
otherwise affect any type of area of origin water rights or
other water rights protections.
EXISTING LAW vests the State Water Board with authority to
administer appropriative water rights permits and requires State
Water Board approval of any modification to a water rights
permit including a change in the point of diversion, place of
use, or purpose of use of an appropriative water right.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 1914
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COMMENTS : The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has failed
to amend its appropriative water rights permits, issued by the
State Water Board, to be consistent with the Trinity River
Record of Decision (Trinity ROD) it signed over 13 years ago.
Because of that inaction, this bill seeks to protect the minimum
instream flows established in the Trinity ROD by requiring the
State Water Board to conform water permits that could affect the
Trinity River, excluding its tributaries, to conform those
permits to the Trinity ROD.
Although much of California's water supply originates in the
Sacramento River Valley, that supply is augmented by water from
federal Central Valley Project (CVP) facilities outside of the
Sacramento River watershed that are located on the other side of
the Trinity Alps in the Trinity River watershed in northwest
California. Trinity River water is diverted through the Trinity
Alps via a tunnel and sent down the Sacramento River and through
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for delivery to CVP contractors
as far south as the San Joaquin Valley.
The Trinity River Diversion (TRD) was authorized by an act of
Congress in 1955 however at that time the Secretary of the
Interior was also specifically authorized and directed to "?
adopt appropriate measures to insure the preservation and
propagation of fish and wildlife." At that time it was believed
that there was an average of 704 thousand acre-feet of water
that was surplus to the present and future needs of the Trinity
River Basin that could be exported to the Central Valley
"without detrimental effect on the fishery resources."
Reclamation completed the TRD in 1964.
Unfortunately, TRD changes to the Trinity River altered the
quantity and quality of habitat for salmon and steelhead. The
habitat above the dams was entirely lost, and the remaining
in-river habitat was severely degraded. Following construction
of the dams, pools that were once deep and used by adult
salmonids filled with sand. During summer, water temperatures
reached lethal levels for juveniles and smolts, and gently
sloping banks necessary for fry and juveniles were eliminated by
riparian berms, and much of the spawning gravel was scoured
away. Remaining spawning gravel was choked with sand.
AB 1914
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December 19, 2000 the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) adopted
the Trinity ROD. The Trinity ROD was adopted after 20 years of
studies and requires a variable flow regime to mimic more
natural flows; channel rehabilitation; sediment management;
watershed restoration; infrastructure improvements, adaptive
environmental assessment and monitoring; and environmental
compliance and mitigation. The ROD is the formal decision by the
Secretary of the Interior to restore and maintain the Trinity
River's anadromous fishery resources, based on the best
available scientific information, while also continuing to
provide CVP water supplies for beneficial uses and power
generation. The Trinity ROD was required by the statutory
obligations of the DOI as well as federal trust responsibilities
to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Indian Tribes.
Supporting arguments : The author states that this bill is
needed to "simply conform state water rights with the federal
Trinity River [ROD], which is consistent with federal law. The
author states that this bill would require the State Water Board
"to determine adequate cold water carryover storage in Trinity
Reservoir to meet Trinity River temperature objectives and
incorporate those requirements into [Reclamation's] water
right." Supporters state that the "current reality is that
approximately half of the Trinity River's water is already
allocated to in-basin uses and maintenance of water quality,
therefore it should be reflected in the Bureau of Reclamation's
water right permits."
Opposing arguments : Opponents state that this bill would
"result in millions of dollars of additional power costs to the
residents of Trinity County" by "dramatically scaling back the
amount of water that runs through the Trinity River Division
hydropower units, thereby eliminating an inexpensive and
abundant supply of clean power." Opponents also believe it
would be "a mistake to enshrine current scientific opinion in
state law at a time with the science of restoring the Trinity
fishery is evolving" and state that this "could prevent more
effective measures from being implemented in the future."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Water Impact Network
AB 1914
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Opposition
Trinity Public Utilities District
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096