Bill Text: CA AJR36 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Overflow water: beneficial use.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AJR36 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AJR36-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AJR 36	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 27, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member  Brough   Mathis


                        APRIL 20, 2016

   Relative to overflow water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 36, as amended,  Brough   Mathis  .
Overflow water: beneficial use.
   This measure would declare that overflow water from reservoirs
that are a part of the federal Central Valley Project should be
redirected to put the water to the most beneficial use and released
in the central valley and that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
pumping facilities should be put into operation to divert water from
being wastefully sent out to the Pacific Ocean and instead sent to
areas where the water is critically needed.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The State of California has been experiencing a historic
drought, lasting five years; and
   WHEREAS, During this state-declared drought, California has not
seen a full water allocation from the federal government; and
   WHEREAS, On April 1, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown announced
California's first mandatory statewide water restrictions, requesting
a 25-percent decrease in urban water use from 2013 levels; and
   WHEREAS, California is the world's fifth largest supplier of food,
as it grows 43 percent of the nation's fruit, nuts, and vegetables
and more than 90 percent of the nation's almonds, grapes, and
broccoli. With the current drought conditions,  California 
farmers' ability to grow crops has been severely affected. In 2014,
California farmers were forced to fallow more than 500,000 acres. The
central valley is one of the state's most important economic
regions, and with the continuance of drought conditions, the economy
and agricultural production will continue to suffer; and
   WHEREAS, Although the El Niño-fueled storms have improved the
water levels in some of the state's largest reservoirs, the state's
drought persists; and
   WHEREAS, Under current federal law, the federal Bureau of
Reclamation requires a dam to release water when the dam reaches a
capacity of 60 percent; that water is known as overflow water.
However, there is no guarantee that the reservoirs will reach those
water levels again; and
   WHEREAS, On March 18, 2016, pursuant to the federal Bureau of
Reclamation's requirements, Shasta Lake Reservoir, a keystone
reservoir of the federal Central Valley Project and California's
biggest reservoir that serves California growers, released water at a
rate of 20,000 cubic feet per second, a significant increase from
the normal rate of 5,000 cubic feet per second. This was the quickest
rate the bureau has released water into the upper Sacramento River
since 2011; and
   WHEREAS, Overflow water that is released from the reservoirs and
into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ultimately ends up in the
ocean; and
   WHEREAS, There are more efficient uses of this overflow water; and

   WHEREAS, More than 23 million Californians and millions of acres
of farmland rely on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for all or part
of their water supply, and countless species count on the delta for
their habitat. Releasing water into the ocean that can otherwise be
used in a more efficient and beneficial manner results in damage to
the farms and species; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the State of California declares that the
overflow water from reservoirs that are a part of the federal Central
Valley Project, including, but not limited to, Shasta and Folsom
Lake Reservoirs, should be redirected to put the water to beneficial
use and released in the central valley; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumping facilities
should be put into operation to divert the water from being
wastefully sent out to the Pacific Ocean and instead sent to areas,
such as the central valley and southern California, where the water
is critically needed; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.