After a legislative all-nighter, a deal was struck in the
early hours of Wednesday morning, and a five bill water
package was passed. Your CFRW Advocate read all five bills
and will digest what you need to know within this Capitol
Update. To pay for this water system overhaul, the
Legislature proposed an $11.1 billion dollar bond. The bond
requires approval by California voters and will be on the
November 2, 2010 general election ballot. The CFRW has not
taken an official position on the bond measure. There is
good and bad within the water package, and legislators
sometimes intentionally write vague policy so that
implementation is open to interpretation. Please remain
informed!
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I realize this Capitol Update is much longer than usual.
It would be easy to summarize where the money from this bill
is going; a billion here for groundwater storage, a hundred
million there for flood protection. But I wanted to tell our
CFRW members EXACTLY where the bond money
would be going. As you will be able to see, some of the bond
money has been appropriated towards earmarks and the
creation of government agencies and programs. The fact is
that California desperately needs water reform. Is this the
way? YOU decideÂ…
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Next weekÂ’s Capitol Update will be dedicated to your
questions about the water package. For those of you brave
enough to read all of the Capitol Update or even the
legislation itself; or if you have read some newspaper
articles regarding the water bills, please send your
questions to
advocate@cfrw.org. I will do my best to answer all of
the questions, space permitting. Send in those questions!
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-Reduces members of “Delta Protection Commission” from
23 to 15, and requires the commission to review and amend
the “Delta Plan” every 5 years
-Would establish the “Delta Investment Fund” in the
State Treasury. Money to be appropriated by the Legislature
and can receive funds from federal, state, local and private
resources
-Creates the “Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy”
as the primary state agency in implementation of ecosystem
restoration and environmental protection, consisting of 11
members
-Would establish the “Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Conservancy Fund” in the State Treasury. Money appropriated
by the Legislature to finance ecosystem restoration and
economic sustainability projects
-Creates the “Delta Stewardship Council” consisting of
7 members to develop the “Delta Plan” on or before January
1, 2012, as well as appointing a “Delta Watermaster”
-Appropriates $28 million to Two-Gates Fish Protection
program from $5.4 billion of the Safe Drinking Water, Water
Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Costal Bond Act
approved by voters in 2006
-Within the “Delta Plan” there will include, among
other things:
-The Conservancy shall not exercise the power of eminent
domain
-The Council appoints a “Delta Independent Science
Board” to establish an effective system of Delta watershed
diversion data collection by December 3, 2010
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-Allocates $11,140,000,000 to finance SBX7 2 from bonds
-$455,000,000 towards “Drought Relief”
-Of that, $190,000,000 towards planning, design and
construction of local and regional drought relief projects
-$90,000,000 towards “disadvantaged communities”
experiencing economic impacts from drought for drought
relief programs
-$75,000,000 to the Water Resources Control Board for
grants
-$80,000,000 deposited into the Safe Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund, and within this, $8 million to the
City of Maywood for water projects
-$20,000,000 to the New River clean up and water quality
improvement in Imperial Valley
-$1,050,000,000 towards Water Supply Reliability (with no
less than 10% towards “disadvantaged communities”)
Of that, here is the breakdown:-$45,000,000 to the
North Coast
-$132,000,000 to San Francisco Bay-$58,000,000 to
Central Coast
-$198,000,000 to Los Angeles-$128,000,000 to Santa Ana
-$87,000,000 to San Diego-$76,000,000 to Sacramento
River
-$64,000,000 to San Joaquin River-$70,000,000 to
Kern/Tulare
-$51,000,000 to North/South Lahontan-$47,000,000 to
Colorado River Basin
-$44,000,000 to Mountain Counties-$50,000,000 to
Interregional ($10 million of this to University of
California, Sierra Nevada Research Institute for Sierra
Nevada snow pack and runoff related research)
-$350,000,000 to the Department of Water Resources for
grants for conveyance projects
-$2,250,000,000 for Delta sustainability
-Of that, $750,000,000 towards projects for Delta counties
and cities for drinking water improvement, fortification
of levees, improvement of natural habitat, etc.
-$1,500,000,000 towards protecting Delta ecosystem,
restoring native fish and wildlife, reducing greenhouse
gas emissions from exposed soils and scientific studies
-$3,000,000,000 for public benefits towards water storage
projects that improve the state water system
-$1,785,000,000 towards conservation and watershed
protection and restoration projects
-Of that, $250,000,000 available to the State Coastal
Conservancy
-Within this, $40,000,000 to San Diego County
-$20,000,000 to the San Diego River Conservancy
-$40,000,000 to Santa Ana River Parkway
-$20,000,000 to Bolsa Chica wetlands
-$100,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Board for
acquisition of water rights from willing sellers
-$215,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Board for
protection of species in watersheds that are threatened or
endangered
-Of that, $25,000,000 to the San Joaquin River Conservancy
-$20,000,000 to Ventura County
-$75,000,000 to the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles
Rivers and Mountains Conservancy-$75,000,000 to the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
-$20,000,000 to Baldwin Hills Conservancy-$25,000,000
to Santa Monica Bay
-$50,000,000 to the State Coastal Conservancy for salmon
restoration projects-$100,000,000 to Lake Tahoe
Environmental Improvement Program
-$20,000,000 to the Department of Conservation for the
California Farmland Conservancy Program-$50,000,000 to
California River Parkways
-$75,000,000 to Sierra Nevada Conservancy-$100,000,000
to the Salton Sea restoration
-$10,000,000 to Natural Resources Agency
-$30,000,000 to California Department of Parks and
Recreation for watershed education facilities
-$20,000,000 for watershed education centers in urban
areas with a population of over one million-$10,000,000
deposited in the California Waterfowl Habitat Preservation
Account
-$100,000,000 to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection-$250,000,000 for dam removal in Klamath
River watershed
-$20,000,000 to Siskiyou County-$50,000,000 to
California State University for water related research
-$50,000,000 to the State Coastal Conservancy
-$60,000,000 to the Natural Resources Agency to improve
salmon passage in the Sacramento River watershed
-$50,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Board
-$1,000,000,000 for groundwater protection and water
quality
-Of this, $100,000,000 to the State Department of Public
Health for emergency and urgent actions for
“disadvantaged communities” in regards to unsafe water
-$100,000,000 for water recycling and advanced treatment
technology project
-Of that, $50,000,000 available for projects that help
restore lost water supply
-$250,000,000 for urban water suppliers for
implementation if water conservation programs
If the voters approve the selling of this $11.1 billion
dollar bond, the Treasurer may sell no more than $5.6
billion before July 1, 2015.
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-Establishes a groundwater monitoring program to be
implemented by January 1, 2012
-Monitoring agencies may be voluntary or local/regional
governments, but must comply with program once implemented
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-Requires the state to reduce urban water consumption by
20% by December 31, 2020
-Progress to this goal must be made by reducing per
capita water use by at least 10% by December 31, 2015
-Urban retail water suppliers must comply with water
conservation regulations by July 1, 2016
-Agricultural water suppliers must comply with water
conservation regulation by July 1, 2013
-Urban water suppliers must implement evaluations for
commercial, industrial, and institutional water use and
water demands for manufacturing processes
-Agricultural water suppliers must implement incentive
pricing structures that promotes efficient use of water,
conjunctive use of groundwater, reduction in problem
drainage and improved management of environmental resources
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-Appropriates from the state budget $3,750,000 annually
for the purpose of funding permanent water right enforcement
-Takes $546,000,000 from the Safe Drinking Water, Water
Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal
Protection Bond Act of 2006 for financing a safe drinking
water, water quality and supply, flood control, and resource
protection program
-$250,000,000 to the Department of Water Resources for
regional water management grants to reduce the dependence
on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for water supply
-$32,000,000 to the Department of Water Resources for
flood control programs
-$170,000,000 to the Department of Water Resources to
reduce the risk of levee failure
-$70,000,000 to the Department of Water Resources for
storm water flood management programs
-$24,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Board for grants
to local agencies to implement natural conservation plans
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Although we are unable to give our members access to our
web-based bill tracking service, there is a way you can find
and monitor California legislation. You can access that
information on the internet by going to the
Legislature Home
Page and completing the information on the right side by
either indicating the bill number, the author, or key words.
You can then subscribe to an email update and you will be
notified when there is action on legislation of interest to
you.
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Recent Legislative Updates
2009-11-07
2009-10-30
2009-10-23
2009-10-16
2009-10-10
2009-10-02
2009-09-25
2009-09-18
2009-09-12
2009-09-04
Disclaimer: The Capitol Update is an
activity of the CFRW Advocate's Office. The update is for
information only. CFRW official positions on legislation are
stated immediately preceding the stated legislation or
immediately following the stated legislation in this report.
This update is sent to members of the CFRW as a benefit
of membership and to select other subscribers. If you are a
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