Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the San Diego River Conservancy to, among other purposes, acquire and manage public lands within the San Diego River area, and to provide recreational opportunities, open space, wildlife habitat and species restoration and protection, wetland protection and restoration, protection of historical and cultural resources, and protection, maintenance, and improvements of the quality of the waters in the San Diego River and its watershed, its tributaries, and historic flumes emanating from the river for all beneficial uses, lands for educational uses within the area, and natural floodwater conveyance.
Existing law requires the conservancy to establish the Tijuana River Watershed Advisory Panel, as specified, and requires the panel to prepare a strategic plan with specified information relating
to the Tijuana River watershed.
This bill would require the conservancy conservancy, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, to work with the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the California Environmental Protection Agency to create, as prescribed, a binational watershed management plan for the Tijuana River Valley that contains certain information, as specified. The bill would require the conservancy, while preparing the plan, to seek relevant information and advice by conducting appropriate public outreach and establishing and consulting an advisory body that includes the appropriate and relevant state agencies, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations and the federal government. The bill would authorize the Tijuana River
Watershed Advisory Panel to use the plan to satisfy or further an existing requirement that the panel prepare a strategic plan for the Tijuana River watershed.