Bill Text: CA SB1469 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Groundwater sustainability agencies.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [SB1469 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB1469-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1469	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Stone

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Section 10723 of the Water Code, relating to
groundwater.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1469, as introduced, Stone. Groundwater sustainability
agencies.
   Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires
all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins
by the Department of Water Resources that are designated as basins
subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a
groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater
sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires all other
groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins to
be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated
groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as
specified. The act authorizes any local agency or combination of
local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a
groundwater sustainability agency for that basin, as prescribed.
   This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 10723 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   10723.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), any local
agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin
may decide to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that
basin.
   (b) Before deciding to become a groundwater sustainability agency,
and after publication of notice pursuant to Section 6066 of the
Government Code, the local agency or agencies shall hold a public
hearing in the county or counties overlying the basin.
   (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the following
agencies created by statute to manage groundwater shall be deemed the
exclusive local agencies within their respective statutory
boundaries with powers to comply with this part:
   (A) Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District,
Zone 7.
   (B) Alameda County Water District.
   (C) Desert Water Agency.
   (D) Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency.
   (E) Honey Lake Valley Groundwater Management District.
   (F) Long Valley Groundwater Management District.
   (G) Mendocino City Community Services District.
   (H) Mono County Tri-Valley Groundwater Management District.
   (I) Monterey Peninsula Water Management District.
   (J) Ojai Groundwater Management Agency.
   (K) Orange County Water District.
   (L) Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.
   (M) Santa Clara Valley Water District.
   (N) Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District.
   (O) Willow Creek Groundwater Management Agency.
   (2) An agency identified in this subdivision may opt out of being
the exclusive groundwater management agency within its statutory
boundaries by sending a notice to the department, which shall be
posted on the department's Internet Web site within 15 days of
receipt. If an agency identified in paragraph (1) opts out of being
the exclusive groundwater management agency, any other local agency
or combination of local agencies operating within the statutory
boundaries of the agency that has opted out may notify the department
pursuant to Section 10723.8 of its decision to be the groundwater
sustainability agency.
   (3) A local agency listed in paragraph (1) may comply with this
part by meeting the requirements of Section 10733.6 or opting to
become a groundwater sustainability agency pursuant to this section.
A local agency with authority to implement a basin-specific
management plan pursuant to its principal act shall not exercise any
 authorities   authority  granted in this
part in a manner inconsistent with any prohibitions or limitations in
its principal act unless the governing board of the local agency
makes a finding that the agency is unable to sustainably manage the
basin without the prohibited authority.
   (d) The decision of a local agency or combination of agencies to
become a groundwater sustainability agency shall take effect as
provided in Section 10723.8.