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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 05062008 - C.36 s:A Contra Costan TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS County rq cuun� FROM: TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, Chair Supervisor Mary N. Piepho DATE: April 21 , 2008 SUBJECT: Report on Water-related Legislation SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION ACCEPT Report from the Transportation, Water & Infrastructure Committee on water-related legislation and ADOPT the following positions.on these bills; AB 2503 (Wolk) Delta Protection Commission - SUPPORT AB 2504 (DeSaulnier) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; tourism & marketing plan- SUPPORT AB 2913 (Salas) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; strategic plan - OPPOSE SB 27 (Simitian) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security & Environmental Improvement Act of 2008 - OPPOSE SB 1102 (Machado) CA Bay-Delta Authority Act - WATCH SB 1108 (Machado) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Program - WATCH SB XX 1 (Perata) Water Quality, Flood Control, Water Storage, & Wildlife Preservation - WATCH FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact to the County from the abovementioned action. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR x RECOMM ATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): f Sue isor Ga I „ Uilkema, Chai a iso Mar N. Pie ho ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED ASEC MMENDED Y R VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE JUNANIMOUS (ABSENT QA) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT: _ ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. . Contact: Roberta Goulart (925) 335-12.26) ATTESTED cc: Community Development Department (CDD) JOHN CULLEN, CLERK OF County Administrator's Office (CAO) THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY , DEPUTY BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS On April 21, 2008 the Transportation, Water & Infrastructure Committee considered water- related legislation, and recommends positions on relevant bills, as follows; AB 2503 - Wolk; Delta Protection Commission - SUPPORT The Delta Protection Commission is comprised of 23 members, 3 of whom are appointed by the Governor. The Commission oversees a Long Term Management Plan for the delta (primarily focusing on agriculture preservation, resource management and recreation). The bill would authorize some members of the Commission to appoint alternates to represent them at the meetings, subject to the member's appointing power. The bill would allow the Governor to appoint three alternates as well. This bill would directly benefit Contra Costa County by allowing an alternate to attend meetings in place of the designated Board member, as necessary. AB 2504 — DeSaulnier: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: tourism and marketing plan — SUPPORT The Delta protection Act of 1992 created the Delta Protection Commission (DPC). The bill would require the DPC to develop and adopt a marketing plan for the delta that would promote agriculture, ecotourism, recreation, educational outreach, economic development, and cultural and historical activities. The DPC would establish a technical advisory committee and a stakeholder group to review the plan and to make recommendations. This legislation is consistent with a number of planning efforts moving forward for the delta. AB 2913 — Salas (Bass & DeLeon), Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; strategic plan — OPPOSE Current law provides for the CA Bay-Delta Authority Act; this Act requires a strategic plan to be prepared by the Secretary of Resources, and the Secretary of Business, Transportation & Housing, which defines a sustainably managed delta for water supply, recommends institutional changes, and a strategic financing plan. This bill would redefine water supply to include an adequate and reliable water supply for users of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project(exporters). This bill would recommendations for institutional change to give preference to existing ones rather than new, and would seek to streamline regulatory burdens. Finally the bill seeks to refine finance provisions by providing that project beneficiaries pay a `reasonable' fair share of capitol costs and that (other) reliable sources of funding be identified for strategic plan implementation. Written and co-sponsored by southern California legislators, this bill appears to be attempting to limit the south's responsibility in maintaining the delta and in paying for facilities and mitigation from which they clearly are the primary beneficiaries. - SB 27 -- Simitian; Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Clean Drinking Water, Water Supply Security and Environmental Improvement Act of 2008 — OPPOSE This bill would authorize a November 2008 bond measure in the amount of $4 billion. Among other things, the bill would establish a Delta Water & Land Use Authority to primarily oversee preservation of the delta ecosystem and the delivery of a reliable state water supply. This Authority would assume the powers to finance, construct, own and operate (isolated water transfer) facilities. The Authority would have authority over DWR, and the CALFED Bay-Delta Authority, and CALFED would cease to exist once the new Authority meets. The Authority could issue bonds to finance construction of the facilities, and could impose a fee for use of the facilities. Other limited fees could also be imposed, to mitigate impacts on the ecosystem. The bill would also establish a Delta Watershed Conservancy within the CA Coastal Commission to implement programs to restore and enhance the ecosystem. The Delta Water & Land Use Authority would have authority over this Conservancy, and also over the Delta Protection Commission. 2 This bill supports construction of a peripheral canal using public funds, in addition to a number of other problematic provisions. SB 1102 — Machado, Steinberg; CA Bay-Delta Authority Act—WATCH The bill would repeal the CALFED Bay-Delta Authority Act, (and subsequently the Authority)and would require the Secretary of the Resources Agency to assume all duties. SB 1108 — Machado; Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Program - WATCH The bill would establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Program, to be administered by the state Coastal Conservancy, to restore, protect and enhance the unique attributes of the delta. The bill would require some re-balancing of the state Conservancy body, to include representation in the delta, as well as the existing areas (coastal CA, San Francisco Bay). The bill would also create a delta account in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund. The Delta Vision and .other ongoing planning processes within the Delta are evaluating conservancy-type options, as well as a myriad of other alternatives. It is not clear that a Coastal Conservancy-type approach may necessarily be the most effective, or the most accepted by in- delta residents and businesses. SB XX 1 — Perata, Machado, Steinberg —Water Quality, flood control, water storage, and wildlife preservation - WATCH The bill would appropriate $610,890,000 from Propositions 84 and 1 E to make funds available for a broad variety of programs, including emergency preparedness, stormwater management, i drinking water system improvements, groundwater cleanup, relocating water intakes, levee failure response, levee failure reduction, protection of delta islands, surface storage, water and flood management re-operation, studies to reduce water & ecosystem conflicts, etc. 3