Bill Text: CA AB1755 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: The Open and Transparent Water Data Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-09-23 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 506, Statutes of 2016. [AB1755 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1755-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1755	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 13, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 11, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 5, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 1, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dodd

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2016

   An act to add Part 4.9 (commencing with Section 12400) to Division
6 of the Water Code, relating to water data.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1755, as amended, Dodd. The Open and Transparent Water Data
Act.
   Existing law imposes on the Department of Water Resources various
duties with respect to water in the state. Under existing law, the
State Water Resources Control Board administers a water rights
program pursuant to which the state board grants permits and licenses
to appropriate water. Existing law regulates water transfers and
authorizes a permittee or licensee to change the point of diversion,
place of use, or purpose of use due to a transfer or exchange of
water or water rights if certain conditions are met.
   This bill would enact the Open and Transparent Water Data Act. The
act would require the department, by January 1, 2018, to create,
operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform
that, among  other  things, would integrate existing water
and ecological data information from multiple databases and provide
data on completed water transfers and exchanges.
   The act would require the department, the state board, and the
Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop protocols for data
sharing, documentation, quality control, public access, and promotion
of open-source platforms and decision support tools related to water
data and to submit to the Legislature a report on those protocols.
The act would  specify that   require  a
recipient of state funds for research or projects relating to the
improvement of water data  shall   to 
adhere to those protocols or be ineligible for state funding.
   The act would create the Water Data Administration Fund. The act
would specify that moneys in the fund would be available, upon
appropriation, to the department, the state board,  and
  or  the Department of Fish and Wildlife for the
improvement of water data  and   or  for
certain other purposes of the act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Part 4.9 (commencing with Section 12400) is added to
Division 6 of the Water Code, to read:

      PART 4.9.  The Open and Transparent Water Data Act


      CHAPTER 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS


   12400.  This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the Open
and Transparent Water Data Act.
   12401.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) The recent drought reveals that California needs to integrate
existing water and ecological data into an authoritative open-access
platform to help water managers operate California's water system
more effectively and help water users make informed decisions based
on water availability and allocation.
   (b) State and federal leadership, increased awareness by business,
governmental, and nongovernmental organizations through open and
transparent access to data, and improved technology and availability
of open-source platforms create a unique opportunity that California
should seize upon to integrate and increase access to existing water
data.
   (c) California is working to increase access to water data
collected by state agencies. The state board is piloting a project to
make water quality datasets available online through an open data
portal. The portal creates an opportunity to foster collaboration
among state agencies, share and integrate existing datasets, improve
state agency operations through data-driven decisionmaking, and
improve transparency and accountability.
   (d) State agencies should promote openness and interoperability of
water data. Making information accessible, discoverable, and usable
by the public can foster entrepreneurship, innovation, and scientific
discovery.
   (e) Water data and research that is gathered using state funds
should be made publicly accessible. State delegation of data
management to contractors should not result in the public losing
access to its own information.
   (f) The availability of open-source tools makes it easier to
access and explore water and ecological data and could facilitate the
creation of an online integrated water data platform without the
need to create an expensive new centralized database.
   12402.  Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this part:
   (a) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources.
   (b) "Metadata" means data that describes data.
   (c) "Platform" means the statewide integrated water data platform
described in Section 12415.
   (d) "State board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
      CHAPTER 2.  STATEWIDE WATER DATA INTEGRATION



      Article 1.  General Provisions


   12405.  The department, the state board, and the Department of
Fish and Wildlife shall coordinate and integrate existing water and
ecological data from local, state, and federal agencies. The purposes
for integrating water and ecological data are to provide adequate
information to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
(Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720)), improve the management
of the state's water resources, and bring greater transparency to
water transfers and the market.
   12406.  (a) The department, the state board, and the Department of
Fish and Wildlife shall develop protocols for data sharing,
documentation, quality control, public access, and promotion of
open-source platforms and decision support tools related to water
data. The agencies shall develop and submit to the Legislature, in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code and before the
establishment of a statewide integrated water data platform pursuant
to Section 12410, a report describing these protocols. The report
shall be developed in collaboration with relevant federal agencies
and interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to,
technology and open data experts and water data users.
   (b) Grant recipients for research or projects relating to the
improvement of water data that receive state funds shall adhere to
the protocols developed by state agencies pursuant to subdivision (a)
for data sharing, transparency, documentation, and quality control.
   (c) A researcher or grant recipient that does not comply with
subdivision (b) is not eligible for state funding until the
researcher or grant recipient complies with those requirements.

      Article 2.  Statewide Integrated Water Data Platform Creation


   12410.  (a) The department shall create, operate, and maintain a
statewide integrated water data platform in accordance with Section
12415 by January 1, 2018.
   (b) The department may partner with an existing nonprofit
organization,  or  with a new nonprofit organization
that the department creates, organized under paragraph (3) of
subsection (c) of Section 501 of Title 26 of the United States Code,
or  may partner  with another state  agency,
  agency  to create, operate,  and
maintain   or maintain, or any combination thereof,
 the platform.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may enter into
an agreement with an existing nonprofit organization,  or
 with a new nonprofit organization that the department
creates, organized under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section
501 of Title 26 of the United States Code,  or with another state
agency  for that nonprofit organization  or state agency
 to create, operate,  and maintain   or
maintain, or any combination thereof,  the platform.
   (d) A nonprofit organization that participates in creating,
operating, or maintaining the platform may receive public funds,
court-ordered mitigation funds, or other funds to assist in carrying
out the responsibilities for integrating and managing existing water
and ecological data as described in Section 12415.

      Article 3.  Statewide Integrated Water Data Platform Features


   12415.  The statewide integrated water data platform created
pursuant to Section 12410 shall, at a minimum, do all of the
following:
   (a) Integrate existing water and ecological data information from
multiple autonomous databases managed by federal, state, and local
agencies and academia using consistent and standardized formats.
   (b) Integrate, at a minimum, the following datasets:
   (1) The department's information on State Water Project reservoir
operations, groundwater use, and groundwater levels through
California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM), urban
water use, and land use.
   (2) The state board's data on water rights, water diversions, and
water quality through California Environmental Data Exchange Network
(CEDEN).
   (3) The Department of Fish and Wildlife's information on fish
abundance and distribution.
   (4) The United States Geological Survey's streamflow conditions
information through the National Water Information System.
   (5) The United States Bureau of Reclamation's federal Central
Valley Project operations information.
   (6) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service's, United States
Forest Service's, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Fisheries' fish abundance information.
   (c) Provide data on completed water transfers and exchanges,
including publicly available or voluntarily provided data on the
volume, price, and delivery method, identity of the buyers and
sellers, and the water right associated with the transfer or
exchange.
   (d) Provide clear and careful documentation of data quality and
data formats through metadata.
   (e) Adhere to data protocols developed by state agencies pursuant
to Section 12406.
   (f) Be able to receive both spatial and time series data from
various sources.
   (g) Enable custom dashboards, visualizations, graphing, and
analysis.
      CHAPTER 3.  WATER DATA ADMINISTRATION FUND


   12420.  The Water Data Administration Fund is hereby created. All
moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation, to the
department, the state board, or the Department of Fish and Wildlife
for the improvement of water data, for entering into an agreement
with, or establishing, a nonprofit organization pursuant to Section
12410, or creating, operating, or maintaining the statewide
integrated water data platform described in Section 12415, including
the cost to verify data, and modernizing water information databases.

   12421.  (a) (1) The department, the state board, or the Department
of Fish and Wildlife may enter into an agreement to accept funds or
services from any person, educational institution, government entity,
corporation or other business entity, or organization for the
maintenance, development, improvement, or enhancement of a designated
agencies' data, decision support tools, or information technology
projects. Under the direction of the respective agency, the funds or
services received shall supplement, but not replace, existing
resources for the maintenance, development, improvement, or
enhancement of designated agency data, decision support tools, or
information technology systems. The respective agency and the
sponsoring or donating person, entity, government, or organization
shall specify in the agreement the level of service that is to be
performed.
   (b) Funds received pursuant to this section shall be deposited in
the Water Data Administration Fund created pursuant to Section 12420.