SB 1469

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board as a state agency with authority to administer the water resources of the state. Existing law authorizes the board to investigate all streams, stream systems, lakes, or other bodies of water, take testimony relating to the rights to water or the use of water, and ascertain whether water filed upon or attempted to be appropriated is appropriated under the laws of the state. Existing law requires the board to take appropriate actions to prevent waste or the unreasonable use of water. This bill would require the board, by January 1, 2012, to identify all parties, including public and private parties, that benefit from waters originating in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed and whose activities impact the Delta watershed. The bill would also require the board, by that date, to develop a process for determining the degree of responsibility attributable to each of the identified parties for physical and environmental impacts on the Delta. Under existing law, the Department of Water Resources is required to update a coordinated plan for the conservation, development, and utilization of state water resources known as the California Water Plan, on or before December 31, 2003, and every 5 years thereafter, and to include in the plan update a discussion of various strategies, including, but not limited to, those relating to the development of new water storage facilities, water conservation, water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, and water transfers that may be pursued in order to meet the future water needs of the state. This bill would require the department, as a part of its update of the California Water Plan, commencing with the update that is due on or before December 31, 2013, and every 5 years thereafter, to identify the infrastructure needs for the state, by hydrologic region, over the next 30 years, estimate the expected costs of associated environmental mitigation and restoration projects over the next 30 years, propose a policy for assigning funding responsibilities to beneficiaries of water resources investments and a financing strategy for funding responsibilities proposed to be assigned to the state, and identify certain related information.