Water Legislation and Bond
Water bond finally makes it; Governor signs it on Nov. 9
It has been a long time in coming, but the California Legislature finally reached agreement on crafting an expensive, yet necessary measure to help address the state’s long-term water needs. Offering money for surface and groundwater storage, drought relief, Delta restoration, conservation and regional water management projects, the comprehensive package is called by some as the most important piece of legislation regarding water passed by the Legislature since 1960.
The $11.14-billion “Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010” was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Nov. 9 and now heads to State voters on the November 2010 ballot. The legislative package includes Senator Dave Cogdill’s general obligation bond measure SBX7 2 and four policy bills, which specifically focus on Delta governance and the Delta Plan, groundwater level monitoring, water conservation, Delta diversions and levees.
The policy measures will become law upon action by the Governor. The bond or funding component must have voter approval. One policy measure calls for groundwater monitoring programs to be conducted by local entities. According to a CA Farm Bureau Federation review, this measure does not specifically impose any new requirements, reporting or restrictions on individual well owners and proposed language to charge some well-owners fees for monitoring functions were deleted from the final version of the bill.
In addition, the bill expressly prohibits CA Department of Water Resources from assessing fees to recover the costs of this program. On the water conservation / use efficiency policy, agricultural water districts servicing 25,000 irrigated acres or more will be required to develop and implement water management plans. It does not establish specific conservation targets for agriculture.
Senator Cogdill said the legislation is “the most significant step that the State has taken in decades to invest in its crumbling water infrastructure. With this plan, we can improve the state’s water supply and protect the environment, without destroying our economy.”
The Senator said the agreement is especially critical for the Valley’s agriculture, and can help “reverse the tide that has forced farmers to fallow crops which has caused out-of-work laborers who once fed the world to stand in food lines.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a long-time supporter of a comprehensive water bond package and said this package will mean “a reliable water supply for businesses and local governments. It means jobs for our Central Valley. It means more economic development: more cranes and bulldozers more commerce…more action.”
Although the final versions of the bills won’t be available until early next week, the inclusion of money for surface and groundwater storage is a critical component that has been absent from previous water bonds put before voters. This bond includes $3-billion for surface and groundwater storage, allowing the state to capture excess water in wet years to use in dry years.
California Farm Bureau Federation President Doug Mosebar said the bills represent real progress toward meeting long-term water challenges. “There is still much work to do, but the Legislature and the Governor have recognized the key elements needed to achieve long-term solutions to our state’s water problems. To fix our broken water system, we must add new water storage both aboveground and underground; we must improve our ability to move water; we must protect the water rights that people depend on and we must enhance the Delta ecosystem,” said Mosebar.
The water bond legislation comes as welcomed news for farmers and rural communities on Fresno County’s west side. Westlands Water District General Manager Thomas Birmingham said the legislation clearly represents a sensible balance between efforts to restore the Delta and efforts to supply the water necessary to sustain the economy of the State.
The legislation creates a clear path for the construction of new water supply infrastructure, including conveyance facilities in the Delta, which will benefit both the environment and the people around this State who rely on water imported from the Sacramento River watershed. California has taken an important step toward fixing our broken water system,” Birmingham said. “The passage of this legislation will not provide immediate relief from the water shortages we are facing. However, the legislation lays the foundation for restoring reliability to California's water supplies over the long term,” he added.
FCFB President Dan Errotabere also is encouraged by the longer-term benefits, but remains cautious about short-term water supplies for the west side. “We are encouraged by the actions this week, but we must remain diligent in efforts to bring short-term relief for the farmers, farm workers and rural communities on the west side that are living with overwhelming day-to-day water supply uncertainties,” said Errotabere. “We must continue to work with the federal and state governments to implement immediate actions to help us move closer to restoring the west side’s contract water supply,” he added.
Absent final copies of the bill to-date, it remains to be seen what the legislation will mean for the Kings and San Joaquin river service areas. Under the regional water supply component of the bond, $64-million is listed for the San Joaquin River and $70-million for the Tulare/Kern integrated regional water management projects. It appears that money remaining unspent from previous water bonds, Propositions 50, 84 and 1E, have been rolled into this bond.
A summary of the final bond is available at the Association of CA Water Agencies Web site at: acwa.com/issues/09leg_Final_BondSummary.pdf
The 2010 Water Legislation and Bond - at a glance
California Farm Bureau Federation staff provided a brief snapshot of the comprehensive water legislative package, which includes a bond component that will appear on the November 2010 ballot. Here is a brief recap of the new policies signed into law by the Governor on Nov. 9:
| SBX7 1 (Simitian and Steinberg)- Governance - |
This legislation reforms state policies, programs and governance for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), and establishes guidelines for developing a new Delta Plan. The Delta Protection Commission is reconstituted and the bill creates a Delta Stewardship Council and a Delta Conservancy. The legislation allows the Bay Delta Conservation Planning (BDCP) process to go forward and requires the Council to incorporate the BDCP into the Delta Plan. Language was included in the bill to protect area of origin water rights. While the bill includes designation of a Delta Watermaster, the responsibilities and authority of the watermaster were significantly diminished in the final version of the bill. |
| SBX7 2 (Cogdill) – Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010- |
This bill enacts the bond measure, Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, which, if approved by the voters in November, 2010, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $11.14 billion. Funds from the bonds will provide for an array of new water supply projects including new surface storage as well as near term regional water supply reliability projects. This bill also includes language to protect area of origin water rights. Some bond allocations in the bill are as follows:
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| SBX 7 6 (Steinberg and Pavley)- Groundwater - |
This measure creates a groundwater supply monitoring program. Groundwater monitoring programs are to be conducted by local entities unless no entity exists in which case the Department of Water Resources (DWR) must conduct monitoring activities. This measure does not specifically impose any new requirements, reporting or restrictions on individual well owners and proposed language to charge some well-owners fees for monitoring functions were deleted from the final version of the bill. In addition, the bill expressly prohibits DWR from assessing fees to recover the costs of this program. |
| SBX7 7 (Steinberg) – Water Conservation/Use Efficiency - |
Establishes a statewide water conservation program for urban and industrial uses and a water use efficiency program for agriculture. The bill requires large agricultural water suppliers (districts servicing 25,000 irrigated acres or more) to develop and implement water management plans. Districts servicing 10,000-25,000 irrigated acres are only required to develop water management plans if DWR provides sufficient funding for the development and implementation of those plans. Districts servicing under 10,000 irrigated acres are totally exempt from these requirements. While the bill requires districts servicing urban and industrial users to meet specific conservation targets, the legislation does not establish specific conservation targets for agriculture. |
| SBX7 8 (Steinberg)- Water Diversions and Use Reporting- |
Generally requires that all surface water diversions in the state be reported to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Establishes penalties for not filing reports. The bill in a prior version would have established penalties at an amount equivalent to the highest market value of water and would have imposed such penalties for up to three years retroactively. These provisions were not included in the final version of the bill due to objections by Farm Bureau and other agricultural stakeholders. Prior versions of the bill also would have given the SWRCB broad new authority to levy fees for various enforcement purposes, as well as allowed the board to initiate water rights cases instead of merely responding to complaints. These provisions were also eliminated from the bill. |
Direct questions about the bill package to CFBF Director of Water Resources Danny Merkley at (916) 446-4647 or dmerkley@cfbf.com.