AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2024
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2024
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 29, 2023
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2023
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2023
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2023
SENATE BILL No. 366
Introduced by Senator Caballero
(Coauthors: Senators Ochoa Bogh, Roth, and Seyarto)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Essayli and Blanca Rubio)
February 8, 2023
An act to amend Section 10004.6 of, to repeal Sections 10004.5, 10005, and 10013 of, and to repeal and add Section 10004 of, the Water Code, relating to water.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 366, as amended, Caballero. The California Water Plan: long-term supply targets.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as “The California Water Plan.” Existing law requires the department to include a discussion of various strategies in the plan update, including, b ut not limited to, strate gies relating to the development of new water storage facilities, water conservation, water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, water transfers, and alternative
93 pricing policies that may be pursued in order to meet the future needs of the state. Existing law requires the department to establish an advisory committee to assist the department in updating the plan.
This bill w ould revise and recast certain pro visions regarding The California Water Plan to, among other things, require the department to instead establish a stak eholder advisory committee and to e xpand the membership of the committee to include tribes, labor , and environmental justice interests. The bill would require the department to coordinate with the California Water Commission, the State Water Resources Control Board, other state and federal agencies as appropriate, and the stak eholder advisory committee to de velop a comprehensi ve plan for addressing the state’ s w ater needs and meeting specified long-term water supply targets established by the bill for purposes of The California Water Plan. The bill would require the plan to pro vide recommendations and strategies to ensure enough water supply for all designated beneficial uses. The bill would require the plan to include specified components, including a discussion of various strategies that may be pursued in order to meet the water supply targets, a discussion of agricultural water needs, and an analysis of the costs and benefits of achieving the water supply targets. The bill would require the department to submit to the Le gislature an annual report between updates to the plan that includes progress made to ward meeting the w ater supply targets once established, as specified. The bill would also require the department to conduct public w orkshops to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the plan and to post the preliminary draft of the plan on the department’s internet website.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. The Le gislature finds and declares all of the line 2 following:
line 3 (a) To thrive as a state, California needs a reliable supply of line 4 water for urban, agricultural, and en vironmental uses that is line 5 resilient to climate change.
line 6 (b) California’s e xisting w ater usage is highly reliant on line 7 capturing the snow melt on an annual basis. That water is stored line 8 in lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater basins and is then transported 93 — 2 — SB 366
line 1 around the state for en vironmental, residential, b usiness, and line 2 agricultural use when needed.
line 3 (c) California has the most intricate and elaborate system of line 4 water conveyance in the world.
line 5 (d) Dependent on the extent of drought or flood conditions, the line 6 Department of Water Resources has calculated that the volume of line 7 water used by people in California for agricultural, urban, and line 8 environmental purposes ranges from 60,000,000 acre-feet per year line 9 to 90,000,000 acre-feet per year.
line 10 (e) Per capita w ater use has declined o ver time, thanks to a line 11 conservation ethic encouraged by w ater agencies and other line 12 stakeholders, w ater-saving indoor plumbing fixtures and line 13 appliances, better leak detection, and ef forts to reduce outdoor line 14 water use.
line 15 (f) Water use also has significantly declined in the agricultural line 16 sector thanks to proacti ve steps tak en by irrig ation districts and line 17 farmers, such as installing drip irrigation systems. line 18 (g) California is experiencing significant impacts of a changing line 19 climate on our water supply systems and environment, including line 20 fisheries and ecosystems.
line 21 (h) According to the Department of Water Resources, hotter line 22 and drier weather is estimated to diminish our existing water supply line 23 even further and likely by 10 percent.
line 24 (i) A 10-percent loss could mean the disappearance of about line 25 6,000,000 acre-feet to 9,000,000 acre-feet of water supply. line 26 (j) Many ri vers, lak es, and estuaries are being impacted by line 27 declining w ater quality , including increases in harmful alg al line 28 blooms.
line 29 (k) The California central v alley has a groundw ater overdraft line 30 of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 acre-feet of water.
line 31 (l) Following more than two decades of “megadrought” in the line 32 Colorado Basin, reserv oir levels are so lo w that supply cuts are line 33 likely.
line 34 (m) California’s precipitation is changing from seasonal sno w line 35 in the Sierra to periods of substantial rainf all, including from line 36 atmospheric rivers.
line 37 (n) The shift to drier dry years and wetter wet years mak es it line 38 imperative that the state of California develop comprehensive wet line 39 year strate gies that tak e full adv antage of times of ab undance, line 40 while also ensuring public safety from floods.
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line 1 (o) California is the nation’s agricultural powerhouse, accounting line 2 for 12 percent of agricultural production in 2021, including more line 3 than 70 percent of the nation’s fruits and nuts. line 4 (p) The agricultural sector produces annual re venues of more line 5 than $50 billion, employs more than 420,000 people, and supports line 6 large food and beverage processing industries.
line 7 (q) The Department of Water Resources describes a state wide line 8 capacity in groundw ater basins in the range of 1,000,000,000 line 9 acre-feet or approximately 20 times the total surface water storage line 10 capacity statewide.
line 11 (r) California is the home to cutting-edge job-creating industries, line 12 such as those in Silicon Valley and southern California’s biotech line 13 industry.
line 14 (s) Local and re gional water suppliers are at the forefront of line 15 implementing projects to b uild resilienc y, b ut need additional line 16 support from the state and federal go vernments through funding line 17 and regulatory frameworks that are adapted for the ne w climate line 18 reality.
line 19 (t) It is essential for our economy, environment, and well-being line 20 that California increases the resilience of the state’s water supplies. line 21 (u) The implementation of projects to increase the resilience of line 22 the state’s water supplies can also create good jobs for California line 23 workers.
line 24 (v) Governor Ga vin Ne wsom released “California’ s Water line 25 Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter , Drier Future” in August line 26 2022 that be gan to outline strate gies for increasing California’ s line 27 water supply and streamlining approvals, but California must make line 28 a historic change in the state’s comprehensive water plan and how line 29 water is pro vided for en vironmental, residential, b usiness, and line 30 agricultural uses.
line 31 (w) The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 line 32 establishes a state policy to meet California’s future water needs line 33 through the coequal goals for the Delta of increased water supply line 34 reliability and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem line 35 restoration.
line 36 (x) The State Water Resources Control Board and other line 37 authorities estimate that over one million Californians lack access line 38 to safe and affordable drinking water.
line 39 SEC. 2. Section 10004 of the Water Code is repealed. line 40 SEC. 3. Section 10004 is added to the Water Code, to read:
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line 1 10004. (a) The department shall de velop a comprehensi ve line 2 plan for addressing the state’ s w ater needs and meeting the line 3 long-term w ater supply tar gets established in Section 10004.6, line 4 which shall be kno wn as “The California Water Plan.” The plan line 5 shall provide recommendations and strate gies to ensure enough line 6 water supply for all designated beneficial uses, including, but not line 7 limited to, compliance with Division 35 (commencing with Section line 8 85000).
line 9 (b) The department shall coordinate with the California Water line 10 Commission, the board, other state and federal agencies as line 11 appropriate, and the stak eholder advisory committee outlined in line 12 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (f) to de velop line 13 the plan.
line 14 (c) It is hereby declared that the people of the state ha ve a line 15 primary interest in the orderly and coordinated control, protection, line 16 conservation, development, and utilization of the water resources line 17 of the state by all individuals and entities and that it is the polic y line 18 of the state that The California Water Plan, with an y necessary line 19 amendments, supplements, and additions to the plan, is accepted line 20 as the master plan that guides the orderly and coordinated control, line 21 protection, conservation, development, management, and efficient line 22 utilization of the water resources of the state. line 23 (d) The department shall update The California Water Plan on line 24 or before December 31, 2028, and every five years thereafter. Each line 25 update of the plan shall include the following components:
line 26 (1) (A) A discussion of v arious strategies, including, b ut not line 27 limited to, those relating to the development of new water storage line 28 facilities, w ater conserv ation, groundw ater rechar ge, w ater line 29 recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, conveyance, stormwater line 30 capture, water transfers, compliance with Division 35 (commencing line 31 with Section 85000), and demand management activities that may line 32 be pursued in order to meet the water supply targets developed by line 33 the department and the coequal goals for the Sacramento-San line 34 Joaquin Delta. The department shall also include a discussion of line 35 options to finance projects within the v arious strategies and the line 36 potential for alternative water pricing policies to change current line 37 and projected uses. The department shall include in the plan a line 38 discussion of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each line 39 strategy, how to maximize the strategy for long-term sustainability, line 40 how innovation and research can spur the implementation of each 93 SB 366 — 5 —
line 1 strategy, and an identification of all federal and state permits, line 2 approvals, or entitlements that may be required in order to line 3 implement the various components of the strategy. line 4 (B) In carrying out this chapter, a public water system, irrigation line 5 district, or w astewater service pro vider shall not be required to line 6 implement a specific strategy or project.
line 7 (2) A discussion of environmental needs, including requirements line 8 for instream flows, freshwater flows, and the needs of managed line 9 wetlands to help protect and restore instream designated beneficial line 10 uses and the communities and jobs that depend on a health y line 11 environment. The department’s discussion shall rely on the best line 12 available peer-reviewed scientific information. regulatory instream line 13 flow requirements, nonregulated instream uses, and water needs line 14 by wetlands, pr eserves, r efuges, and other mana ged and line 15 unmanaged natural resource lands.
line 16 (3) A discussion of urban sector w ater needs, including line 17 maintaining tree health, residential and commercial landscapes, line 18 single-family and multif amily housing needs, community open line 19 green spaces, and a world class world-class economy. line 20 (4) A discussion of agricultural w ater needs, including line 21 maintaining a viable and sustainable food supply , restoring line 22 groundwater tables, agricultural water use efficiency, surface water line 23 reliability for irrig ation purposes, and an assessment of line 24 communities that rely directly and indirectly on agricultural line 25 activities for their livelihood.
line 26 (5) An analysis of the costs and benefits of achieving the water line 27 supply tar gets de veloped by the department or established in line 28 statute, including a cost-benefit analysis of various strategies and line 29 projects necessary to meet those supply tar gets. The cost-benefit line 30 analysis shall take into account the w ater needs of the economy, line 31 economy and disadvantaged communities, and the water supplies line 32 required by regulation to protect the environment. The department line 33 shall also consider and incorporate into the analysis, if appropriate, line 34 existing studies or planning documents that quantify the costs and line 35 impacts to the state if it has inadequate w ater supplies to meet line 36 sustainable demands for all sectors.
line 37 (6) A report on the de velopment of re gional and local w ater line 38 projects within each h ydrologic re gion of the state to impro ve line 39 water supplies to meet municipal, agricultural, and environmental 93 — 6 — SB 366
line 1 water needs, meet the water supply targets, and minimize the need line 2 to import water from other hydrologic regions.
line 3 (e) The declaration set forth in subdivision (c) does not constitute line 4 approval for the construction of specific projects or routes for line 5 transfer of water, or for financial assistance, by the state without line 6 further legislative action, nor shall the declaration be construed as line 7 a prohibition of the development of the water resources of the state line 8 by any entity.
line 9 (f) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Go vernment line 10 Code, the department shall report the amendments, supplements, line 11 and additions included in the updates of The California Water line 12 Plan, together with a summary of the department’ s conclusions line 13 and recommendations, to the Le gislature, in compliance with line 14 Section 9795 of the Government Code, in the session in which the line 15 updated plan is issued.
line 16 (2) The department shall submit to the Le gislature an annual line 17 report between updates to the plan that includes progress made line 18 toward meeting the w ater supply tar gets once established. The line 19 Legislature may hold a hearing to re view and accept public line 20 testimony on the report. The report shall include the list of line 21 recommended actions that require le gislative interv ention and line 22 those that can be implemented by the department or other state line 23 agencies. The written report shall be posted on the department’ s line 24 internet website.
line 25 (3) (A) The department, in consultation with the California line 26 Water Commission, shall establish a stak eholder advisory line 27 committee, comprised of representatives of agricultural and urban line 28 water suppliers, local government, business, production agriculture, line 29 and tribes, labor representati ves from b uilding and construction line 30 trades, representatives of environmental justice and environmental line 31 interests, and other interested parties, to provide substantive input line 32 to assist the department in updating The California Water Plan. line 33 The department shall consult with and consider recommendations line 34 from the advisory committee in carrying out this section. The line 35 department shall accept applications for the stakeholder advisory line 36 committee before each update and ensure a balanced representation line 37 of members. The department shall pro vide written notice of line 38 meetings of the advisory committee to an y interested person or line 39 entity that requests the notice. The meetings shall be open to the line 40 public.
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line 1 (B) The department shall seek out and consider all rele vant line 2 information from retail and wholesale water agencies, agriculture, line 3 business, labor, tribes, en vironmental and en vironmental justice line 4 communities, and any other communities potentially impacted by line 5 the plan and from researchers and e xperts on climate science, line 6 climate science solutions, w ater storage, w ater conveyance, and line 7 environmental protection.
line 8 (C) The department may add members to the stak eholder line 9 advisory committee to carry out the purposes of Section 10004.7. line 10 Additional stakeholder advisory committee members may include line 11 those from en vironmental justice sectors, local w ater supply line 12 agencies, and researchers and experts on climate science, climate line 13 science solutions, w ater storage, w ater con veyance, and line 14 environmental protection.
line 15 (4) In preparing any update of The California Water Plan, the line 16 department shall conduct a series of public w orkshops to gi ve line 17 interested parties an opportunity to comment on the plan. The line 18 department shall conduct a portion of these workshops in regions line 19 of the state that have been impacted the most by drought and other line 20 weather extremes, including, but not limited to, communities with line 21 minority populations, communities with low-income populations, line 22 or both.
line 23 (5) The department shall release a preliminary draft of The line 24 California Water Plan, as updated, upon request, to interested line 25 persons and entities throughout the state for their re view and line 26 comments. The department shall provide these persons and entities line 27 an opportunity to present written or oral comments on the line 28 preliminary draft. The department also shall post the preliminary line 29 draft on the department’s internet website. The department shall line 30 consider these comments in the preparation of the final publication line 31 of The California Water Plan, as updated.
line 32 (g) In carrying out this section, the department shall line 33 acknowledge state and federal requirements impacting the urban, line 34 agricultural, and environmental sectors at the time of the update. line 35 (h) Nothing in The California Water Plan shall be construed as line 36 a regulatory requirement.
line 37 SEC. 4. Section 10004.5 of the Water Code is repealed. line 38 SEC. 5. Section 10004.6 of the Water Code is amended to read:
line 39 10004.6. (a) As part of the 2028 update of The California line 40 Water Plan, the department shall conduct a study to determine the 93 — 8 — SB 366
line 1 amount of additional water needed to meet the state’s future water line 2 needs and to establish a long-term w ater supply target for 2050. line 3 The target shall ensure sufficient water for all designated beneficial line 4 uses, recognize the impacts of climate change on the state’s water line 5 resources, support a sustainable economy, agricultural sector, and line 6 environment, and ensure safe drinking water for all Californians. line 7 Californians, and reflect statewide, regional, and local planning line 8 efforts. In establishing the long-term supply target, the department line 9 shall analyze current and future water trends, including identifying line 10 additional water necessary to sustain public trust resources. On or line 11 before December 31, 2027, the department shall release a line 12 preliminary draft of the assumptions and other estimates upon line 13 which the study will be based, to interested persons and entities line 14 throughout the state for their review and comments. The department line 15 shall provide these persons and entities an opportunity to present line 16 written or oral comments on the preliminary draft. The department line 17 shall consider these documents when adopting the final line 18 assumptions and estimates for the study . F or the purpose of line 19 carrying out this subdi vision, the department shall release, at a line 20 minimum, assumptions and other estimates relating to all of the line 21 following:
line 22 (1) Basin h ydrology, including annual rainf all, estimated line 23 unimpaired streamflow, depletions, and consumptive uses. line 24 (2) Groundwater supplies, including estimates of sustainable line 25 yield, supplies necessary to recover overdraft basins, and supplies line 26 lost due to pollution and other groundwater contaminants. line 27 (3) Current and projected land use patterns, including the mix line 28 of residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and undeveloped line 29 lands.
line 30 (4) The supplies needed to meet environmental requirements at line 31 the time of the update, including re gulatory instream flo w line 32 requirements, nonregulated instream uses, requirements and water line 33 needs by wetlands, preserv es, refuges, and other managed and line 34 unmanaged natural resource lands.
line 35 (5) Opportunities for demand management.
line 36 (6) Current and projected population.
line 37 (7) Current and projected water use for all of the following:
line 38 (A) Interior uses in a single-family dwelling. line 39 (B) Exterior uses in a single-family dwelling. line 40 (C) All uses in a multifamily dwelling.
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line 1 (D) Commercial uses.
line 2 (E) Industrial uses.
line 3 (F) Parks and open spaces.
line 4 (G) Agricultural water diversion and use.
line 5 (8) Evapotranspiration rates for major crop types, including line 6 estimates of evaporative losses by irrigation practice and the extent line 7 to which evaporation reduces transpiration.
line 8 (9) Current and projected adoption of urban and agricultural line 9 conservation practices.
line 10 (10) Current and projected supplies of water provided by water line 11 recycling and reuse.
line 12 (11) Current and projected w ater and infrastructure needs of line 13 disadvantaged communities, as defined in Section 79505.5, served line 14 by public water systems, state small water systems, and individual line 15 domestic wells, including, b ut not limited to, access to safe and line 16 affordable drinking water and sanitation, water quality, and water line 17 supply. The department may incorporate by reference the State line 18 Water Resources Control Board’ s Drinking Water Needs line 19 Assessment or other available relevant assessments or reports. line 20 (12) Climate change impacts by re gion and resulting w ater line 21 supply trends, including changes in timing and intensity of line 22 snowmelt runoff.
line 23 (b) The department shall include a discussion of the potential line 24 for alternati ve w ater pricing policies to change current and line 25 projected w ater uses identified pursuant to paragraph (7) of line 26 subdivision (a).
line 27 (c) As part of the 2028 update to the plan, the department shall line 28 include a w ater supply planning interim tar get of 10,000,000 line 29 acre-feet of additional w ater by 2040 which, in addition to line 30 traditional sources of supply , includes w ater that contrib utes to line 31 that supply through conserv ation ef forts, stormw ater capture, line 32 graywater, and recycled water.
line 33 (d) This section does not require or prohibit the department from line 34 updating any data necessary to update The California Water Plan line 35 pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 10004.
line 36 SEC. 6. Section 10005 of the Water Code is repealed. line 37 SEC. 7. Section 10013 of the Water Code is repealed.
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93 — 10 — SB 366