California Assembly Bill AB1585 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1585AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 8, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo (Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella) (Coauthor: Senator Monning) JANUARY 6, 2016 An act relating to water resources, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1585, as amended, Alejo. Monterey County Water Resources Agency: Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio. Existing law establishes the Monterey County Water Resources Agency as a flood control and water agency within the County of Monterey. Existing law authorizes the agency to award a design-build contract for the combined design and construction of a project to connect Lake San Antonio, located in the County of Monterey, and Lake Nacimiento, located in the County of San Luis Obispo, with an underground tunnel or pipeline for the purpose of maximizing water storage, supply, and groundwater recharge. This bill would appropriate  $25,000,000   $10,000,000  from  an unspecified source   the General Fund  to  the Department of Water Resources and would require the department to grant the $10,000,000 to  the agency for the purpose of constructing a water conveyance tunnel between Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio and spillway modifications at Lake San Antonio, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Monterey County Water Resources Agency. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares as follows: (a) Over the past four years, California has grappled with one of the worst ongoing droughts in the state's history. (b) The state is riddled with water supply and water quality challenges posed by the relentless drought and is now facing weather forecasts of one of the most powerful El Nio storms ever recorded. (c) A major flood event in California has the potential to devastate communities and regional agriculture-based economies and seriously impact the state's economy. (d) In  the County of  Monterey  County  alone, agriculture generates  eight billion one hundred twenty million dollars ($8,120,000,000)     $8,120,000,000  into the local economy and supports more than 53,500 jobs. An additional 20,352 jobs are created as an indirect result of the industry. (e) The Monterey County Water Resources Agency manages Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio, two reservoirs that supply water for consumption and groundwater recharge and provide flood management, prevention of saltwater intrusion, and recreation in the Salinas Valley. (f) Lake Nacimiento's watershed fills its reservoir nearly three times faster than Lake San Antonio's watershed fills its reservoir, often causing water in Lake Nacimiento to exceed safe capacity and overflow from the spillway into the Salinas River, even when Lake San Antonio still has available storage capacity. (g) The Monterey County Water Resources Agency is planning to improve this situation and maximize the water supply availability and flood control benefits for Zone 2C by doing both of the following: (1) By constructing a tunnel or pipeline between Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio that has the potential to reduce water overflow events by 60 percent. (2) By constructing spillway modifications at Lake San Antonio to manage flood control and increase storage by approximately 60,000 acre-feet. (h) These two projects will mitigate the impact of the drought and improve the economic viability of the Salinas Valley, the environmental sustainability of the region, and agricultural production. (i) The Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio region scores 40 percent to 50 percent as a disadvantaged community under CalEnviroScreen. (j) Given the Salinas Valley's economic contribution to the state' s agricultural economy and the stress the El Nio storms will put on the region, the Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio areas are considered distressed communities and therefore are a priority for state funding. SEC. 2.  Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000)   Ten million dollars ($10,000,000)  from  ____   the General Fund  is hereby appropriated to  the Department of Water Resources, who shall grant the ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to  the Monterey County Water Resources Agency for the purpose of constructing, in accordance with the design-build process authorized by Section 11.1 of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency Act (Chapter 1159 of the Statutes of 1990, as amended by Chapter 865 of the Statutes of 2014), both of the following in order to maximize water storage, water supply, flood management, and groundwater recharge at  the lakes,   Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio,  within the Salinas River groundwater basin, and the Salinas Valley: (a) A water conveyance tunnel between Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio. (b) Spillway modifications at Lake San Antonio to increase storage by approximately 60,000 acre-feet. SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the emergency circumstances of the ongoing drought and the benefits these projects involving Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio, managed by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, will provide to the region. SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to responsibly store water during California's prolonged drought, to protect the Salinas Valley from flooding, and to protect water supply, water quality, distressed communities, and urban and rural property and structures during a historic El Nio weather pattern, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.