Amended  IN  Senate  July 12, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 18, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 923

Introduced by Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan

February 14, 2023

An act to add Section 9604 to the Water Code, relating to water.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 923, as amended, Bauer-Kahan. Flood plain restoration projects: Central Valley: study.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Water Resources to make examinations of lands subject to inundation and overflow by floodwaters and of the waters causing the inundation or overflow and to make plans and estimates of the cost of works to regulate and control the floodwaters.
Existing law, the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008, requires the department to prepare, and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, a state agency, to adopt, a plan identified as the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan.
This bill would require the board, in coordination with the department, to identify priority flood plain restoration or floodway expansion projects where increased flows due to climate change are likely to overwhelm existing flood protection infrastructure, as specified. The bill would require the department and the board to conduct broad stakeholder outreach to identify priority projects and would require that those projects provide at least 2 of 4 specified public benefits. The bill would require the board, upon the appropriation of funds for this purpose, to begin preconstruction activities, including acquisition of land, easements, or rights of way, to expedite the priority projects identified.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 9604 is added to the Water Code, to read:

9604.
 (a) The board, in coordination with the department, shall identify priority flood plain restoration or floodway expansion projects where increased flows due to climate change are likely to overwhelm existing flood protection infrastructure. Projects shall be consistent with the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan developed pursuant to Section 9612 and provide at least two of the following public benefits in priority order:
(1) Increased flood protection for disadvantaged communities, as defined in Section 79505.5.
(2) Groundwater recharge.
(3) Ecosystem restoration.
(4) Recreation.
(b) The department and the board shall conduct broad stakeholder outreach to identify priority projects. This outreach shall include, but not be limited to, cities, counties, local flood control agencies, nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, landowners, and academia. Upon the appropriation of funds for this purpose, the board shall begin preconstruction activities, including acquisition of land, easements, or rights of way, to expedite priority projects identified pursuant to subdivision (a).