BILL NUMBER: SB 615AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Senator Berryhill FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act to add Section 13269.1 to the Water Code, relating to water. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 615, as amended, Berryhill.Groundwater basin adjudication.Waste discharge requirements: waivers: managed wetlands. The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, with certain exceptions, requires a waste discharger to file certain information with the appropriate California regional water quality control board. The act prohibits a waste discharger from taking certain actions relating to the discharge of waste before filing the information with the regional board and also prohibits a waste discharger from taking those actions after filing the report but before the occurrence of certain events. The act requires each regional board to prescribe waste discharge requirements, as specified, that implement relevant water quality control plans. Under the act, the State Water Resources Control Board or a regional board may waive requirements regarding a specific discharge or type of discharge if the state board or regional board determines that the waiver is consistent with any applicable state or regional water quality control plan and is in the public interest. The act requires that the waiver shall not exceed 5 years in duration, but permits the state board or a regional board to renew the waiver. The act requires the waiver to be conditional on specified monitoring requirements but authorizes the state board or a regional board to waive the monitoring requirements for discharges it determines do not pose a significant threat to water quality. This bill would require that managed wetlands be presumed to not pose a significant threat to water quality and would require, with respect to managed wetlands, the state board and regional boards to waive the above-described reporting requirements, regional board prescribed waste discharge requirements, and monitoring requirements of the waiver program, except that the state board or a regional board shall require water quality monitoring of a managed wetland not more than once during the duration of each waiver period unless results of downstream monitoring demonstrate a violation of water quality discharge standards. The bill would limit this monitoring to contaminants that are actually applied by wetland managers to the wetland and contaminants that are known to be naturally present in the wetland environment.Existing law specifies the jurisdiction of the courts. Under existing law, courts may adjudicate rights to produce groundwater and exercise other powers relating to the supervision of a groundwater basin.This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to streamline the process for the adjudication of groundwater rights.Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:noyes . 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) Before European and American settlement, approximately four million acres in California flooded on a seasonal basis, forming wetlands. (b) These wetlands supported migratory birds in the tens of millions, as well as other wetlands-dependent wildlife and fish, including several endangered species. (c) Following reclamation of the wetlands in the past two centuries, less than 10 percent of the historical seasonal wetlands are still in existence. (d) These wetlands consist largely of private lands, federal refuges, and state wildlife areas. (e) Approximately five million migratory waterfowl, traveling on the Pacific Flyway, now winter in California on the remaining wetlands. (f) A variety of other wildlife species, including shorebirds, resident waterfowl, sandhill cranes, giant garter snakes, white-faced ibis, and other wetlands-dependent species, depend on the remaining wetlands for their survival. (g) These species are public trust resources, protected by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, and other state, federal, and international statutes and treaties. (h) Most of the remaining seasonal wetlands are managed to optimize habitat values, with the intent of providing adequate nutrients, nesting cover, and brood water, and other habitat values for migratory waterfowl and other wetlands-dependent species. (i) Managed wetlands have been shown to provide improved habitat values not just for migratory waterfowl and other wetlands-dependent species, but also for salmonids and other fish species that find refuge and nutrition in order to grow strong enough to move on into open waters. (j) Seasonal and managed wetlands can improve the quality of water that is used to flood habitat and then discharged for reuse elsewhere. (k) Water quality regulations should not impose a cost on wetlands, as an important public trust resource, beyond the extent to which wetlands actually contribute to nonpoint source pollution of the waters of the state. SEC. 2. Section 13269.1 is added to the Water Code , to read: 13269.1. (a) As a public trust resource, managed wetlands, whether owned and operated by state, federal, or local agencies, or private landowners, shall be presumed not to pose a significant threat to water quality. In accordance with paragraphs (1) and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 13269, the state board or a regional board shall waive the provisions of subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 13260, subdivision (a) of Section 13263, and subdivision (a) of Section 13264 with respect to managed wetlands. (b) (1) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 13269, unless the results of downstream monitoring of a managed wetland demonstrate a violation of water quality discharge standards, the state board or a regional board shall require water quality monitoring, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 13269, of the managed wetland not more than once during the duration of each waiver period granted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13269. (2) Monitoring pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to contaminants that are actually applied by wetland managers to the managed wetland and contaminants that are known to be naturally present in the wetland environment. Monitoring shall not include contaminants that are present in the managed wetland as a result of third-party activities outside of the managed wetland area.SECTION 1.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to streamline the process for the adjudication of groundwater rights.