Bill Text: CA SB659 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 659

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

Bill Title: California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 624, Statutes of 2023. [SB659 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB659-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly July 12, 2023

Amended IN Assembly June 30, 2023

Amended IN Senate May 18, 2023

Amended IN Senate April 12, 2023

Amended IN Senate March 20, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 659

Introduced by Senator Ashby
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Schiavo)

February 16, 2023

An act to amend Sections 10004 and 10005.1 of, and to add Section 10004.7 to, the Water Code, relating to groundwater.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 659, as amended, Ashby. California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023.

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as “The California Water Plan.” Existing law requires the department to establish an advisory committee, composed of representatives of agricultural and urban water suppliers, local government, business, production agriculture, and environmental interests, and other interested parties, to assist the department in the updating of the California Water Plan. Existing law requires the department to include a discussion of various strategies in the plan update, including, but not limited to, strategies relating to the development of new water storage facilities, water conservation, water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, water transfers, and alternative pricing policies that may be pursued in order to meet the future needs of the state. Existing law requires the department, or at the department’s request, the California Water Commission, to conduct a series of hearings with interested persons, organizations, local, state, and federal agencies, and representatives of the diverse geographical areas and interests of the state.

This bill would establish the California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023 to, among other things, require the department to develop a groundwater recharge action plan by January 1, 2026, as specified, that provides actionable recommendations that result in the ability to create additional groundwater recharge capacity. The bill would require the department to consult with the State Water Resources Control Board, the 9 regional water quality control boards, and the advisory committee, which may be enlarged as provided, in carrying out these provisions. The bill would require the groundwater recharge action plan to identify and make recommendations on immediate opportunities and potential long-term solutions to increase the state’s groundwater supply, as specified. The bill would require specified actions with regard to the groundwater recharge action plan, including, among other things, requiring the department to include it as part of the 2028 update to the California Water Plan and to update the groundwater recharge action plan at the same time that it prepares updates to the California Water Plan. The bill would require the department to establish a target for additional groundwater recharge capacity creation, to be used for planning purposes only, and to determine the target with consideration for other beneficial or environmental uses of water and water goals. The bill would require the department and the water boards, upon an appropriation or further action by the Legislature, to implement the recommendations identified in the groundwater recharge action plan that result in new infrastructure and institutional mechanisms in place that provide for the ability to create additional groundwater recharge capacity.

This bill would require a portion of the hearings related to the California Water Plan to be in regions of the state that have been impacted the most by drought, including, but not limited to, communities with minority populations, communities with low-income populations, agricultural communities, and water disparate communities.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) California’s water usage is highly reliant on capturing the snow melt from the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Region on an annual basis. That water is stored in lakes and reservoirs and is then transported throughout the state for environmental, residential, commercial, and agricultural use when needed.

(b) In California’s coastal watersheds, groundwater is a significant contributor to streamflows that support coastal communities and ecosystems.

(d) The State Water Project and the Central Valley Project are of ~~transcendent~~ critical importance to statewide water ~~supply.~~ supply and provide water for approximately 30,000,000 people and nearly 4,000,000 acres of agricultural land.

~~(e)The State Water Project and the Central Valley Project provide water for approximately 30,000,000 people and nearly 4,000,000 acres of agricultural land.~~
~~(f)~~

(e) Most California cities and farms as we know them today would not exist without the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project.

~~(g)~~

(f) Climate change is resulting in a snowpack that is no longer reliable. Instead, California is experiencing infrequent storm events and long periods of drought. California’s precipitation is changing from seasonal snow in the Sierra Nevada Region to periods of substantial rainfall, like those from atmospheric rivers.

~~(h)~~

(g) Climate change is a serious threat to the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, and by extension, to our statewide water supply. These systems ~~will~~ are projected to lose 10 percent of their water supplies by 2040. This ~~constitutes~~ would constitute a loss of 6,000,000 to 9,000,000 acre-feet of water annually, ~~or the~~ equivalent of to the amount of water used to irrigate approximately 20 percent of all agricultural land in the state, or that is used by all of the residents, businesses, schools, parks, and sports fields in the state.

~~(i)As of 2023, one~~

(h) One necessary solution that can meet the scale of the problem is groundwater recharge.

~~(j)~~

(i) The Department of Water Resources describes a statewide capacity in groundwater basins in the range of 1,000,000,000 acre-feet, or approximately 20 times the total surface water storage capacity statewide.

~~(k)~~

(j) According to the Department of Water Resources, there is the potential for over 13,000,000 acre-feet of groundwater recharge in any given wet year, ~~with~~ and more than 2,500,000 acre-feet of the currently available existing infrastructure ~~that could currently be available, but that~~ is underutilized.

~~(l)~~

(k) Groundwater recharge has the greatest capacity to meet the scale of this challenge and is also the lowest cost option per acre-foot.

~~(m)~~

(l) Groundwater recharge can be environmentally friendly. Its utilization can provide benefits, including, but not limited to, water supply, flood control, and improved environmental conditions for rivers, wetlands, and ~~habitat.~~ habitats. For example, in a recent analysis of a central valley river, it was estimated that full implementation of groundwater recharge projects could simultaneously address 63 percent of water supply shortages and provide a 65-percent reduction in flood risk. Additionally, other groundwater recharge projects would prioritize storage in reservoirs, minimizing demand for surface water in dry conditions when that water is most valuable for environmental flows.

~~(n)~~

(m) California must make a historic change in how water is provided for environmental, residential, commercial, and agricultural use when needed. Enhancing the ability to recharge groundwater is essential for current and future water management that is consistent with present-day values of equity and environmental stewardship. As the lowest cost option to meet the scale of water supply needs, groundwater recharge can best balance equity challenges faced between affordability and access.

~~(o)~~

(n) California must prioritize significantly increasing the recharge of groundwater by 2035 in order to avoid the severe impacts on water supplies coming by 2040.

SEC. 3.

Section 10004 of the Water Code is amended to read:

10004.

(a) The plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and utilization of the water resources of the state which is set forth and described in Bulletin No. 1 of the State Water Resources Control Board entitled “Water Resources of California,” Bulletin No. 2 of the State Water Resources Control Board entitled, “Water Utilization and Requirements of California,” and Bulletin No. 3 of the department entitled, “The California Water Plan,” with any necessary amendments, supplements, and additions to the plan, shall be known as “The California Water Plan.”

(b) (1) The department shall update The California Water Plan on or before December 31, 2003, and every five years thereafter. The department shall report the amendments, supplements, and additions included in the updates of The California Water Plan, together with a summary of the department’s conclusions and recommendations, to the Legislature in the session in which the updated plan is issued.

(2) (A) The department shall establish an advisory committee, comprised of representatives of agricultural and urban water suppliers, local government, business, production agriculture, and environmental interests, and other interested parties, to assist the department in the updating of The California Water Plan. The department shall consult with the advisory committee in carrying out this section. The department shall provide written notice of meetings of the advisory committee to any interested person or entity that request the notice. The meetings shall be open to the public.

(B) The department, commencing on January 1, 2024, for purposes of Section 10004.7, may add members to the advisory committee to carry out the purposes of that section. Additional advisory committee members may include those from environmental justice sectors, local water supply agencies, and researchers and experts on climate science, climate science solutions, water storage, water conveyance, and environmental protection.

(3) The department shall release a preliminary draft of The California Water Plan, as updated, upon request, to interested persons and entities throughout the state for their review and comments. The department shall provide these persons and entities an opportunity to present written or oral comments on the preliminary draft. The department shall consider these comments in the preparation of the final publication of The California Water Plan, as updated.

SEC. 4.

Section 10004.7 is added to the Water Code, to read:

10004.7.

(a) (1) By January 1, 2026, the department shall, utilizing Bulletin 118, as defined in Section 10721, develop a groundwater recharge action plan. The groundwater recharge action plan shall provide actionable recommendations that result in the ability to create additional groundwater recharge capacity in order to increase the state’s groundwater supply without reducing the amount of water available for environmental purposes or any other purposes allowed under existing state law.

(2) The department shall consult with the state board, the nine regional water quality control boards, and the advisory committee established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004 in carrying out this section.

(3) The groundwater recharge action plan shall identify and make recommendations on immediate opportunities and potential long-term solutions to increase the state’s groundwater supply, with a priority on multibenefit projects.

(4) The department shall evaluate the total potential economic and noneconomic costs and benefits of implementing the recommendations of the groundwater recharge action plan.

(5) The plan shall include best practices identified by the department, including, but not limited to, both of the following:

(A) Analysis regarding where groundwater recharge will be effective and protective of access to safe drinking water consistent with Section 106.3.

(B) Mapping that identifies areas where recharge is unlikely to degrade groundwater quality based on consideration of the quality and composition of the source water, the qualities of the soil upon which recharge will occur, and the proximity to drinking water wells.

(b) The department shall include the groundwater recharge action plan as a part of the 2028 update to The California Water Plan. Commencing with the 2033 update, the department, as a part of updating The California Water Plan every five years pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10004, shall update the groundwater recharge action plan.

(c)The department, the state board, and the regional boards shall implement, upon an appropriation or other further action by the Legislature, the recommendations identified in the groundwater recharge action plan that result in new infrastructure and institutional mechanisms in place that provide for the ability to create additional groundwater recharge capacity.
~~(d)~~

(c) The department shall establish a target for additional groundwater recharge capacity creation, to be used for planning purposes only. The target shall be determined with consideration for other beneficial or environmental uses of water and water goals.

~~(e)~~

(d) Nothing in this section shall do any of the following:

(1) Limit or reduce the existing surface storage of water.

(2) Affect or change any water right.

(3) Prioritize any one use of water over another use, define what is to be considered a beneficial use of water, or in any way influence how the increased supply of groundwater under this part shall be used.

~~(f)~~

(e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Groundwater recharge” means actions to increase the amount of raw, treated, or recycled water in the groundwater basins through human-controlled means, including, but not limited to, use of aquifer storage and recovery wells, injection wells, surface spreading basins, field flooding, stormwater capture, flood managed basins, and in-lieu recharge.

(2) “Groundwater supply” means water that at any point in time is being stored underground that is available for human use and environmental protection to sustain the state’s future.

SEC. 5.

Section 10005.1 of the Water Code is amended to read:

10005.1.

(a) The department or, at the department’s request, the California Water Commission, shall conduct a series of hearings with interested persons, organizations, local, state, and federal agencies, and representatives of the diverse geographical areas and interests of the state.

(b) The department, commencing on January 1, 2024, for purposes of Section 10004.7, shall conduct a portion of the hearings in regions of the state that have been impacted the most by drought, including, but not limited to, communities with minority populations, communities with low-income populations, agricultural communities, and water disparate communities.