RCRC and CSAC have jointly expressed opposition to Senate Bill 552, authored by Senator Bob Hertzberg (D -Van Nuys), which, among other provisions, would require a county to establish a drought task force to help respond to failures of small community water systems. Due to concerns expressed by RCRC and CSAC, the bill was amended in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on April 26th to allow counties to comply with this provision with an alternative process to a task force if that process facilitates drought and water shortage preparedness. The amendments also deem a county in compliance with the task force provision if a county already has a task force in place by the time of the bill’s enactment on January 1, 2022. The bill additionally requires counties to develop plans that include interim and long-term solutions to drought and water shortage risks. The April 26th amendments also provide that these plans may be standalone or integrated into an existing planning document. Previously, the bill would have required counties to develop these plans as part of their general planning process.
On June 17th, SB 552 was further amended at the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife to include new provisions pertaining to well permit applications. RCRC and CSAC renewed their concern through a letter in opposition to the Assembly amendments. These new amendments would require a county to update its well permit application to include a checkbox or another input method to determine if the reason for the well permit application is due to a dry well, or due to a well that is actively failing or at risk of failing due to drought and water shortage, and report to the department and any groundwater sustainability agencies within its jurisdiction a summary of information on well permits, including the number and locations of both dry wells and wells that are actively failing or at risk of failing due to drought and water shortage.
RCRC and CSAC have opposed the bill on the basis that these new amendments place an administrative and fiscal burden on counties, and potentially asks counties to make determinations on the reasons for well failure that are outside its jurisdiction. The letter of opposition further states than the Department of Water Resources has already established a program and website for reporting and providing information on dry wells, and that counties do not have the staff or financial resources to collect, analyze, and report this information on their individual county websites. RCRC continues to advocate that the bill be revised to align with existing state programs and resources, and that counties not be held responsible for making well status determinations, nor be required to expend their own time and resources on data compilation, analysis, and website reporting on new well permit applications.
SB 552 was passed by the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife on June 17th, and will next be heard at the Assembly Committee on Local Government on June 30th. RCRC and CSAC’s letter of opposition is available here. For more information, contact Sidd Nag, RCRC Legislative Advocate, by email or call (916) 447-4806.