BILL NUMBER: AB 25INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gilmore DECEMBER 1, 2008 An act to relating to water. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 25, as introduced, Gilmore. Surface water storage. Existing law, the California Bay-Delta Authority Act, establishes in the Resources Agency the California Bay-Delta Authority. The act requires the authority and the implementing agencies to carry out programs, projects, and activities necessary to implement the Bay-Delta Program, defined to mean those projects, programs, commitments, and other actions that address the goals and objectives of the CALFED Bay-Delta Programmatic Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000, or as it may be amended. Pursuant to the act, the Department of Water Resources and the United States Bureau of Reclamation are the implementing agencies for the water supply reliability, storage, and conveyance elements of the program. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the department complete, by the earliest possible date, the necessary environmental documentation for the surface water storage projects identified in the Programmatic Record of Decision in order to expedite the construction of vitally needed surface water storage. 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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Safeguarding existing and creating new supplies of water for California's homes, businesses, and farms is an essential responsibility of government and critical to maintaining California's strong economy and protecting the quality of life for Californians. (b) While water conservation measures and using recycled water are both useful tools to increase the efficiency with which we use our existing water supplies, we must use all of the tools in our portfolio to increase our ability to capture water during wet seasons for use in dry seasons. (c) Recent court decisions limiting the amount of water that may be pumped from the Delta to destinations in the central valley and southern California, have had a devastating impact on the agricultural industry of the state and contribute to potential water rationing in urban areas. To offset these impacts, the state has no choice but to increase its investment in water storage facilities and water delivery infrastructure. (d) Surface storage facilities are valuable water management tools that not only provide flood protection, but also allow the state to capture water in wet years and store it for use in dry years, in keeping with Department of Water Resources projections of continued loss of natural snowpack. (e) The surface storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision have the added benefit of being able to supply water for environmental purposes, which will help offset the urban and agricultural water supply losses caused by the environmental diversion mandates. (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Water Resources complete the necessary environmental documentation for the surface storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Programmatic Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000, by the earliest possible date, in order to expedite the construction of vitally needed surface water storage for California.