Amended in Assembly August 26, 2015

Senate Bill No. 20

Introduced by Senator Pavley

December 1, 2014

An act to begin delete repeal and add Section 13752 of end delete begin insert add Division 36 (commencing with Section 86000) to end insert the Water Code, relating to water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 20, as amended, Pavley. begin delete Wells: reports: public availability. end delete begin insert California Water Resiliency Investment Act. end insert

begin insert

Under existing law, various measures provide funding for water resources projects, facilities, and programs.

end insert begin insert

This bill would create the California Water Resiliency Investment Fund in the State Treasury and provide that moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of providing a more dependable water supply for California. This bill would create various accounts within the fund for prescribed purposes.

end insert begin delete

Existing law requires a person who digs, bores, or drills a water well, cathodic protection well, or a monitoring well, or abandons or destroys a well, or deepens or reperforates a well, to file a report of completion with the Department of Water Resources. Existing law prohibits those reports from being made available to the public, except under certain circumstances.

end delete begin delete

This bill would instead require the department to, upon request, make the reports available to the public. The bill would require the department to provide specified disclaimers when providing the reports to the public. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee for the provision of a report to recover the department’s costs, that does not exceed the reasonable costs to the department of providing the report. The bill would require the release of a report to comply with the Information Practices Act of 1977 and would require the department to redact from the report specified information pertaining to the well owner. The bill would require a person who requests a report to provide his or her name, address, identification number from a government-issued source, as provided, and reason for making the request.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Division 36 (commencing with Section 86000) is
added to the end insert begin insert Water Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Division  begin insert 36. end insert   California Water Resiliency
Investment Act

 

Chapter   begin insert 1. end insert General Provisions

 

begin insert 86000. end insert   

This division shall be known and may be cited as the
California Water Resiliency Investment Act.

begin insert 86010. end insert   

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) California’s extreme multiyear drought is raising significant
concerns regarding the long-term dependability of water supplies
that are critical to the state’s residents, economy, and environment.

(b) Nearly three-quarters of California is impacted by the severe
drought underscoring the need for additional statewide action.

(c) The 2015 water year was the driest winter in California’s
written record and water experts indicate that we could face
multiyear droughts that extend years beyond any droughts
previously experienced by the state.

(d) California could lose 25 percent of the Sierra snowpack by
2050 as a result of warmer weather, according to the department.
Because the Sierra snowpack is our largest water reservoir, this
loss will significantly reduce water supplies when Californians
need them the most.

(e) By 2050, California is expected to add more than 10 million
residents, placing even greater pressure on our water supplies.

(f) The current drought has had a disproportionate impact on
disadvantaged communities. Falling groundwater levels in portions
of the state from reduced rainfall and increased groundwater
pumping have left more than 2,000 wells dry or critically near
dry, impacting more than 10,000 residents and with a
disproportionate impact on disadvantaged communities.

(g) Furthermore, thousands of residents of disadvantaged
communities lack access to a secure long-term supply of clean
drinking water due to polluted groundwater and falling
groundwater levels.

(h) Reduced streamflows and water for wildlife areas have had
a severe impact on fish and wildlife populations, threatening some
species with extinction.

(i) Reports by the Public Policy Institute of California and others
indicate that state and local agencies face a multibillion dollar
annual funding deficit in addressing the state’s long-term water
needs and that greater investments are needed to protect the state’s
economy and natural resources and to ensure that disadvantaged
communities have access to safe drinking water.

(j) Enactment of Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, provided a critical down
payment to address California’s near-term and long-term water
needs. Additional actions are needed now to ensure state and local
agencies continue to make the needed investments to provide a
more dependable water system to meet California’s ongoing needs.

(k) To protect the public health and welfare and to protect
residential, agricultural, commercial, and environmental uses of
water, it is vital that state and local agencies have the resources
they need to make responsible and reasonable investments in a
more dependable water supply, including by making more efficient
use of California’s current sources of water.

 

Chapter   begin insert 2. end insert California Water Resiliency Investment
Program

 

begin insert 86020. end insert   

(a) The California Water Resiliency Investment Fund
is hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund are
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose
of, and in held in trust for, providing a more dependable water
supply for California.

(b) The following accounts are hereby created within the
California Water Resiliency Investment Fund:

(1) The Emergency Drought Response and Recovery Account
to support emergency actions to protect vulnerable populations
from the severe impacts of droughts, including providing
emergency drinking water and other residential water supplies,
food assistance, employment training and placement, and other
economic relief.

(2) The Integrated Regional Water Resiliency and Management
Account to provide matching grants to local and regional agencies
to increase regional self-reliance and result in integrated,
multibenefit solutions for ensuring sustainable water resources.
Eligible projects may include groundwater storage, wastewater
recycling, stormwater capture, water conservation, flood
management, and other water supply and quality projects.

(3) The Safe Drinking Water for Disadvantaged Communities
Account to support planning, construction, operation, and
maintenance of drinking water systems for disadvantaged
communities.

(4) The Environmental Resilience and Recovery Account to
provide funding to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitats
and populations to avoid or reduce conflicts with water
management systems. Funding from the account shall only be used
for projects that will provide fisheries, wildlife, or ecosystems with
benefits or improvements that are greater than required applicable
environmental mitigation measures or compliance obligations and
shall not be used to pay for the mitigation or environmental review
costs of any current or proposed water supply project.

(5) The Smart Water Data Program Account to support
improved data and information systems that enable better
management of water resources and to further facilitate expansion
of water markets.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 13752 of the Water Code is repealed.

SEC. 2.  

Section 13752 is added to the Water Code, to read:

13752.  

(a) Upon request, the department shall make available
to the public a report made in accordance with paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 13751.

(b) When providing a report to the public pursuant to subdivision
(a), the department shall also provide a statement that includes all
of the following:

(1) The information provided in a report varies in accuracy,
scale, origin, and completeness.

(2) The information is provided without warranty of the
suitability of the information for any particular purpose.

(3) Use of the information in the report may require professional
interpretation or judgment.

(4) Any use of the information provided in a report is at the
user’s own risk.

(c) (1) The department may charge a fee for the provision of a
report to recover the department’s costs, that does not exceed the
reasonable costs to the department of providing the report pursuant
to this section. These costs may include the costs of promulgating
regulations to implement this section.

(2) The release of a report in possession of the department shall
comply with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division
3 of the Civil Code).

(3) Prior to releasing a report pursuant to this section, the
department shall redact from the report the name and address of
the well owner.

(d) (1) A person making a request pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall, on a form provided by the department, provide his or her
name, address, identification number from an identification card
issued pursuant to Section 13000 of the Vehicle Code, driver’s
license, or passport, and reason for making the request.

(2) The department shall maintain copies of the forms submitted
pursuant to paragraph (1) for five years.

end delete