California Senate Bill SCR43 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SCR 43AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senators Huff, Cogdill, Harman, and Strickland  (   Coauthor:   Senator   Pavley   )  (Coauthors: Assembly Members Conway, Gilmore, Harkey, Ma, Nestande, Niello,  Portantino,  and Silva) MAY 6, 2009 Relative to California Water Awareness Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 43, as amended, Huff. California Water Awareness Month. This measure would proclaim May 2009 as California Water Awareness Month, and encourage all Californians to participate in a statewide campaign that focuses on educating Californians about the value of water in everyday life. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, California's 37 million residents and its agricultural, industrial, commercial, and recreational industries rely on the availability of water to support beneficial uses of water; and WHEREAS, California's hydrologic and geographic diversity requires the implementation of multiple strategies to ensure adequate, timely supplies of water throughout the state; and WHEREAS, Snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada has historically yielded 18.5 million acre-feet of California's average annual runoff that benefits riparian species and habitat, as well as the state's urban and agricultural users, and yet is a limited resource; and WHEREAS, The Colorado River has historically supplied water to about 20 million water users throughout southern California, but provides uncertain reliability; and WHEREAS, Groundwater reserves provide vital flexibility to water users throughout the state, and must be managed to maintain this flexibility; and WHEREAS, The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a key natural estuary and the pathway through which more than 25 million Californians and 2.5 million acres of productive farmland receive water, is in an ecological crisis that threatens people as well as the environment; and WHEREAS, California is now in its third consecutive year of drought; and WHEREAS, Much of California has a semiarid climate that provides limited precipitation even in wet years, and further urgent action is needed to address water shortages and to protect the people of, and property in, California; and WHEREAS, The first step toward ensuring the availability of water is to understand the sources from which it comes; and WHEREAS, There are many simple actions each Californian can take to conserve water without an appreciable effect on their lives; and  WHEREAS, At least 22 local water agencies throughout the state have already implemented mandatory water conservation measures, and 61 local water agencies have implemented other water conservation programs or restrictions on water deliveries, with many agencies considering additional rationing and water supply reductions in 2009; and  WHEREAS, Many of California's water agencies have acted locally to diversify their water portfolios and to implement water conservation measures to ensure greater reliability of their supplies; and WHEREAS, The circumstances of the severe drought conditions, by reason of their magnitude, are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single county or city and therefore require mutual and regional action; and WHEREAS, The Governor has directed the Department of Water Resources, in partnership with other appropriate agencies, to launch a statewide water conservation campaign calling for all Californians to immediately decrease their water use; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims May 2009 as California Water Awareness Month, and encourages all Californians to participate in a statewide campaign that focuses on educating Californians about the value of water in everyday life; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.