BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          SB 1168 (Pavley) - Groundwater management. 
          
          Amended: April 23, 2014         Policy Vote: NR&W 7-2
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 23, 2014      Consultant: Marie Liu
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.
          
          
          Bill Summary: SB 1168 would provide a very broad outline for the  
          development of sustainable groundwater management plans and  
          makes a number of definitions.

          Fiscal Impact: Unknown, at least in the mid-hundreds of  
          thousands to millions of dollars annually, from the General Fund  
          for the state's oversight of groundwater management.

          Background: Existing law allows certain existing local agencies  
          to develop groundwater management plans (Water Code �10750 et  
          seq.), which are commonly referred to as AB 3030 plans. These  
          plans must be developed with public hearings and only if less  
          than half of the landowners in the proposed district do not  
          protest the development of the plan. However, there is no  
          mandatory statewide system of groundwater management.

          In January, the Governor released the California Water Action  
          Plan which includes a call to improve sustainable groundwater  
          management. 

          Proposed Law: This bill would establish the Sustainable  
          Groundwater Management Act which declares the Legislature's  
          intent to have all groundwater basins and subbasins managed by  
          local entities pursuant to an adopted sustainable groundwater  
          management plan. 

          This bill makes numerous definitions and provides a very  
          approximate outline of requirements for local groundwater  
          management plans and the local agencies which create the plans.  
          This bill also would allow the state to take action to cause a  
          plan to be developed, adopted, and implemented.

          Related Legislation: AB 1739 (Dickenson) would require the  








          SB 1168 (Pavley)
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          development of sustainable a groundwater management plan for  
          each groundwater basin in the state. AB 1739 is currently in  
          Assembly Appropriations. 

          Staff Comments: This bill does not include any detail on the  
          state's oversight responsibilities in local groundwater  
          management planning, including which department would be  
          responsible for these activities. Therefore, costs are unknown.  
          However, staff believes that it is reasonable to assume that the  
          state will need several positions for basic oversight functions,  
          for a minimum annual cost in the mid-hundreds of thousands of  
          dollars, though a more comprehensive program will likely cost  
          millions of dollars.