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DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BILL ANALYSIS AB 1806

Analyst/Principal Date Program Budget Manager Date

(0622) K. DaRosa Karen Finn

Department Deputy Director Date

Governor's Office: By: Date: Position Approved

Position Disapproved

BILL ANALYSIS Form DF-43 (Rev 03/95 Buff)

RES :AB-1806-20080730060628PM-AB01806.rtf 0/0/00 0:00 AM

AMENDMENT DATE: July 1, 2008 BILL NUMBER: AB 1806

POSITION: Neutral, note concerns AUTHOR: L. Wolk

BILL SUMMARY: Fish: Rescue or Relocation: Emergency Plans

Existing law requires petitions to the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) for changes in water rights to consider the impact on fish and wildlife. This bill would require the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to develop guidelines for an emergency contingency plan to protect fishery resources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The Water Board would be required to reopen water rights permits and impose new conditions to provide mitigation for adverse impacts on Delta fishery resources arising from water exports.

FISCAL SUMMARY

According to the DFG, this bill would require one limited-term environmental scientist position at a cost of about $100,000 annually to develop protocols and guidelines for an emergency contingency plan to protect fishery resources. The DFG has stated that they would carry out this effort using existing resources.

The Water Board reports that the requirement to reopen and reevaluate water right permits would result in $1.65 million in costs over a period of five years. However, these efforts are already part of the Water Boards current plans as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and therefore should not necessitate additional funds.

While no additional funding is currently identified relating to the bill’s implementation, this bill would authorize the Water Board to incorporate any future associated costs in the calculation of water right fees.

COMMENTS

The Department of Finance (Finance) is neutral on this bill but notes concerns that many of the bill’s requirements are already required by the CEQA and therefore the bill may be unnecessary. Additionally, the Water Board currently has plans to conduct a comprehensive review of the Delta and amend the water right permits for the State Water Project (SWP) and the Central Valley Project (CVP) as needed.

  A levee break in January 2006 flooded Prospect Island in the Delta. By November 2007 the levee had been repaired, and the Bureau had started pumping out the water. This resulted in the death of thousands of fish that had been introduced to the island due to the levee break. Once the issue had been discovered, the Bureau stopped pumping water out of the island in an attempt to save the remaining fish. This bill would attempt to avoid a similar situation in the future by:

  Requiring the DFG to develop protocols and guidelines for emergency contingency plans, and requiring the plans to include provisions for volunteers, coordination with local governments, and public comment.

  Requiring the Water Board to reopen water right permits and impose conditions on the CVP and the SWP that provide for mitigation of the direct and indirect adverse impacts on Delta fishery resources resulting from the operation of water export facilities.

Finance notes that the CEQA requires an entity to fully mitigate the negative environmental impacts of its actions and the California Endangered Species Act requires an entity to obtain a permit from the DFG to take endangered species. As such, a number of the provisions of the bill are already required by state law.