California Senate Bill SB1168 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1168AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2014 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley FEBRUARY 20, 2014 An act  to amend Sections 10752 and 10753.7 of, and  to add Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) to Division 6 of, the Water Code, relating to groundwater. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1168, as amended, Pavley. Groundwater management. Existing law authorizes local agencies, as defined, to adopt and implement a groundwater management plan. Existing law requires a groundwater management plan to contain specified components and requires a local agency seeking state funds administered by the Department of Water Resources for groundwater projects or groundwater quality projects to do certain things, including, but not limited to, prepare and implement a groundwater management plan that includes basin management objectives for the groundwater basin.  This bill also would require a local agency to determine sustainable yield for a groundwater basin in coordination with other applicable local agencies whose service areas overlie the groundwater basin.  This bill would enact the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and would state as the intent of the Legislature that, among other things, all groundwater basins and subbasins shall be managed sustainably by local entities pursuant to an adopted sustainable groundwater management plan. This bill would authorize unspecified entities to develop a sustainable groundwater management plan, defined as a document that describes the activities intended to be included in a groundwater management program, to be developed and adopted to encompass an entire basin or subbasin in an unspecified manner, and according to an unspecified schedule. This bill would authorize, under unspecified conditions, the state to take action to cause a sustainable groundwater management plan to be developed, adopted, and implemented. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) is added to Division 6 of the Water Code, to read: PART 2.74. Sustainable Groundwater Management CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS 10720. This part may be known, and may be cited, as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. 10721. In enacting this part, it is the intent of the Legislature that all of the following occur: (a) All groundwater basins and subbasins shall be managed sustainably by local entities pursuant to an adopted sustainable groundwater management plan. (b) Attention to develop, adopt, and implement a sustainable groundwater management plan shall be directed first to high and medium priority groundwater basins and subbasins. (c) Upon a finding of compelling state interest, the state shall have recourse to cause a sustainable groundwater management plan to be developed, adopted, and implemented where local interests either cannot or will not do so themselves. 10722. This part applies to all groundwater basins and subbasins in the state. CHAPTER 2. DEFINITIONS 10725. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this part: (a) "Groundwater" means all water beneath the surface of the earth within the zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water that flows in known and definite channels. (b) "Groundwater basin" means any basin or subbasin identified in the department's Bulletin No. 118, dated September 1975, and any amendments to that bulletin, but does not include a basin in which the average well yield, excluding domestic supply wells that supply water to a single-unit dwelling, is less than 100 gallons per minute. (c) "Groundwater extraction facility" means a device or method for the extraction of groundwater within a groundwater basin. (d) "Groundwater recharge" means the augmentation of groundwater, by natural or artificial means, with surface water or recycled water. (e) "Local groundwater management entity" means _____. (f) "Recharge area" means the area that supplies water to an aquifer in a groundwater basin and includes multiple wellhead protection areas. (g) "Sustainable groundwater management" means the management of a groundwater basin to provide for multiple long-term benefits without resulting in or aggravating conditions that cause significant economic, social, or environmental impacts such as long-term overdraft, land subsidence, ecosystem degradation, depletions from surface water bodies, and water quality degradation, in order to protect the resource for future generations. (h) "Sustainable groundwater management plan" or "plan" means a document that describes the activities intended to be included in a groundwater management program. (i) "Sustainable groundwater management program" or "program" means a coordinated and ongoing activity undertaken for the benefit of a groundwater basin, or a portion of a groundwater basin, pursuant to a groundwater management plan adopted pursuant to this part. (j) "Watermaster" means a watermaster appointed by a court or pursuant to other provisions of law. (k) "Wellhead protection area" means the surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well or well field that supplies a public water system through which contaminants are reasonably likely to migrate toward the water well or well field. CHAPTER 3. SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT PLANS 10730. A plan shall be developed and adopted according to the following schedule: (a) ____. 10731. The process for developing and adopting a plan shall include the following: (a) ____. 10732. A plan shall include the following: (a) _____. 10733. A plan shall encompass an entire basin or subbasin. 10734. Upon adoption of a plan, a copy of the plan shall be provided to the following: (a) _____. CHAPTER 4. LOCAL GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ENTITIES 10735. A plan may be developed by the following new or existing entities: (a) _____. 10736. In addition to any other powers an agency designated as a local groundwater management entity may be granted by law, a local groundwater management entity shall have and may exercise the following powers: (a) _____. 10737. A local groundwater management entity may enforce the provisions of a plan as follows: (a) _____. CHAPTER 5. FINANCING 10740. ______. CHAPTER 6. ENFORCEMENT 10745. Under the following conditions, the state may take action to cause a sustainable groundwater management plan to be developed, adopted, and implemented. (a) _____. All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in the Senate, April 10, 2014. (JR11)