Bill Text: CA AB1813 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-19 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB1813 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1813-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1813 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Buchanan
FEBRUARY 21, 2012
An act to amend Section 85086 of the Water Code, relating to the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1813, as amended, Buchanan. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform
Act of 2009.
Existing law, the
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009,
establishes the Delta Stewardship Council as an independent agency of
the state. Existing law The act
requires the State Water Resources Control Board to establish an
effective system of Delta watershed diversion data and public
reporting by December 31, 2010. Existing law
The act requires the board to establish an effective
system of Delta watershed diversion data collection and public
reporting by December 31, 2010. The act requires the board to
develop new flow criteria for the Delta ecosystem, as specified.
Existing law requires the board to submit those
determinations to the council The act subjects the
flow criteria to modification over time based on a science-based
adaptive management program that meets specified criteria .
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change
to those provisions require the system, for certain
diversions, in lieu of requiring reporting, to use data from the
consumptive use index modeling used by the Department of Water
Resources to determine the Net Delta Outflow Index. The bill
would authorize the system to enhance or replace the consumptive use
index modeling with satellite imagery. The bill would require that
the system, to the maximum extent practicable, use consumptive use
data from consumptive use modeling or satellite imagery in lieu of
public reporting .
The bill would require the new flow criteria to ensure that there
is no degradation in water quality in Delta channels and to include
flows into, within, and out of the Delta to replicate conditions when
local and anadromous fish populations were at healthy and
self-sustaining levels. The bill would require the flow criteria to
include specified flows for anadromous fish, as defined.
The bill would subject flow criteria to modification over time
based on measured fish populations in a management program that meets
specified criteria. The bill would restrict to prescribed
circumstances the use of measures other than flow as a substitute for
flow.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 85086 of the Water Code is amended to read:
85086. (a) The board shall establish an effective system of Delta
watershed diversion data collection and public reporting by December
31, 2010. The system, for diversions to the Delta lowlands as
shown on page 4 of the department's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Atlas, dated 1993, and for other diversions to Delta lands of less
than 50 cubic feet per second, in lieu of requiring reporting by
those diverters, shall use data from the consumptive use index
modeling currently used by the department to determine the Net Delta
Outflow Index. The system may enhance or replace consumptive use
index modeling with satellite imagery. The system, to the maximum
extent practicable, shall use consumptive use data from consumptive
use modeling or satellite imagery in lieu of public
reporting of diversions.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an
accelerated process to determine instream flow needs of the Delta for
the purposes of facilitating the planning decisions that are
required to achieve the objectives of the Delta Plan.
(c) (1) For the purpose of informing planning decisions for the
Delta Plan and the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the board
shall , pursuant to the board's its
public trust obligations, shall develop new flow
criteria for the Delta ecosystem necessary to protect public trust
resources. In carrying out this section, the board shall review
existing water quality objectives and use the best available
scientific information. The flow criteria for the Delta ecosystem
shall include the volume, quality, and timing of water necessary for
the Delta ecosystem under different conditions. That flow
criteria shall ensure that there is no degradation in water quality
in Delta channels and shall include flows into, within, and out of
the Delta to replicate conditions when local and anadromous fish
populations were at healthy and self-sustaining levels. For
anadromous fish, the flow criteria shall include, at a minimum, those
flows necessary to sustain the natural production of anadromous fish
on a long -term basis at levels not less than
twice the average levels attained during 1967 to 1991, inclusive. As
used in this subdivision, "anadromous fish" include salmon,
steelhead, striped bass, sturgeon, and American shad that ascend the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and the tributaries of those rivers
and the Delta to reproduce after maturing in the San Francisco Bay
or the Pacific Ocean. The flow criteria shall be developed in a
public process by the board within nine months of the enactment of
this division. The public process shall be in the form of an
informational proceeding conducted pursuant to Article 3 (commencing
with Section 649) of Chapter 1.5 of Division 3 of Title 23 of the
California Code of Regulations, and shall provide an opportunity for
all interested persons to participate. The flow criteria shall not be
considered predecisional with regard to any subsequent board
consideration of a permit, including any permit in connection with a
final BDCP.
(2) Any order approving a change in the point of diversion of the
State Water Project or the federal Central Valley Project from the
southern Delta to a point on the Sacramento River shall include
appropriate Delta flow criteria and shall be informed by the analysis
conducted pursuant to this section. The flow criteria shall be
subject to modification over time based on a science-based
adaptive measured fish populations in a
management program that integrates scientific and monitoring results,
including the contribution of habitat and other conservation
measures, into ongoing Delta water management. Measures other
than flow shall not be substituted for flow unless science-based
measurements of fish populations conclusively show increases in those
fish populations over the levels specified in paragraph (1) that
result from those other measures, so that adjustment in those flows
can be made while still sustaining the required fish population
levels. Any adaptive reduction in flow shall be temporary until
measurement of fish populations conclusively shows the sustainability
of the required fish populations. If sustainability is not
demonstrated within two years from the date of the approval of the
adaptive adjustment, the flows shall be returned to original levels.
(3) Nothing in this section amends or otherwise affects the
application of the board's authority under Part 2 (commencing with
Section 1200) of Division 2 to include terms and conditions in
permits that in its judgment will best develop, conserve, and utilize
in the public interest the water sought to be appropriated.
(d) The board shall enter into an agreement with the State Water
Project contractors and the federal Central Valley Project
contractors, who rely on water exported from the Sacramento River
watershed, or a joint powers authority comprised of those
contractors, for reimbursement of the costs of the analysis conducted
pursuant to this section.
(e) The board shall submit its flow criteria determinations
pursuant to this section to the council for its information within 30
days of completing the determinations.
(f) The council shall not consider any Bay Delta Conservation Plan
before it receives the flow determinations of the board pursuant to
this section.
