Wednesday, April 6, 2022
CA Women for Ag
The California Legislative Report
GOVERNOR NEWSOM ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE ORDER ON DROUGHT
Following the driest first three months of a year in the state’s recorded history, Governor Newsom is calling on local water suppliers to move to Level 2 of their Water Shortage Contingency Plans, which require locally appropriate actions that will conserve water across all sectors and directing the State Water Resources Control Board to consider a ban on the watering of decorative grass at businesses and institutions.
In an executive order signed this week, the Governor ordered the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to evaluate the adoption of regulations banning irrigation of “non-functional” turf (or grass), such as decorative grass adjacent to large industrial and commercial buildings. The ban would not include residential lawns or grass used for recreation, such as school fields, sports fields, and parks. The Department of Water Resources estimates this ban alone will result in potential water savings of several hundred thousand acre-feet. An acre-foot of water serves the needs of approximately three households for a year.
As the drought persists into the third year and conditions worsen amidst dry, hot weather, today’s order called on the SWRCB to consider requiring urban water suppliers to activate, at a minimum, Level 2 of their customized Water Shortage Contingency Plans. These plans, required by state law, are developed by local water agencies to navigate drought and each plan is customized based on an agency’s unique infrastructure and management. Triggering Level 2 of these plans involves implementing water conservation actions to prepare for a water shortage level of up to 20 percent. For example, in many communities, this would mean reducing the number of days that residents can water outdoors, among other measures.
To further conserve water and strengthen drought resiliency in this critically dry year, the Governor is encouraging suppliers, where appropriate, to consider going above and beyond the Level 2 of their water shortage contingency plans, activating more ambitious measures. The Governor has also ordered state agencies to submit funding proposals to support the state’s short- and long-term drought response, including emergency assistance to communities and households facing drought-related water shortages, facilitating groundwater recharge and wastewater recycling, improvements in water use efficiency, protecting fish and wildlife, and minimizing drought-related economic disruption.
The executive order includes several other provisions that will protect all water users:
- Ensuring Vulnerable Communities Have Drinking Water o Cuts red tape so communities that need access to emergency hauled or bottled water can get it immediately
- Safeguarding Groundwater Supplies o Requires local permitting authorities to coordinate with Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to ensure new proposed wells do not compromise existing wells or infrastructure, as 85 percent of public water systems rely heavily on groundwater during drought o Streamlines permitting for groundwater recharge projects that help to refill aquifers when rains come
- Protecting Vulnerable Fish and Wildlife o Expedites state agency approvals for necessary actions to protect fish and wildlife where drought conditions threaten their health and survival
- Preventing Illegal Water Diversions o Directs the Water Board to expand site inspections to determine whether illegal diversions are occurring.
A copy of the executive order can be found HERE
STATE, FEDERAL AGENCIES ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT WITH LOCAL WATER SUPPLIERS TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF RIVERS AND LANDSCAPES
State, federal, and local water leaders announced a broad agreement this week on measures to provide additional water flows and new habitats to help improve conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta watershed.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed outline terms for a transformational eight-year program that would provide substantial new flows for the environment to help recover salmon and other native fish, create new and restored habitats for fish and wildlife, and provide significant funding for environmental improvements and water purchases. It also outlines a governance and habitat monitoring framework with clear metrics and goals to allow state, federal, and local partners to analyze progress, manage adaptively and decide whether the program should be continued, modified, or ended after eight years.
The state has been actively working with local water agencies since 2016 to develop enforceable agreements to provide additional river flows and new habitats to help change the trajectory of declining native fish species. Following the release of a framework document in February 2020, state agencies have continued to work with local water agencies to refine elements of agreements that would enable adaptive, holistic management and deliver environmental improvements more quickly than a regulatory proceeding that would likely be contentious.
The State Water Resources Control Board is required to update its Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan to protect native fish, wildlife, and other “beneficial uses” of water, including municipal, domestic, and agricultural water supplies.
The MOU signed seeks to meet those objectives through an integrated program that includes habitat creation, new flows for the environment above existing regulatory requirements, funding for environmental improvements and water purchases, and a new, collaborative science program for monitoring and adaptive management.
Habitat creation would range from targeted improvements in tributaries to large landscape-level restoration in the Sacramento Valley. Improvements include the creation of spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and smelt, completion of high-priority fish screen projects, restoration and reactivation of flood plains, projects to address predation, and fish passage improvements. Local water agency managers signing the MOU have committed to bring the terms of the MOU to their boards of directors for their endorsement and to work to settle litigation over endangered species protections in the Delta.
Signatories to the agreement also committed to finalizing the following elements:
- Up to 824,000 acre-feet of additional flow to and through the Delta in the ecologically important window of January through June. Target flow volumes vary depending upon how wet or dry a year is, and flows made available under the agreement will be above current regulatory conditions.
- 20,000 acres of additional floodplain habitat
- 20,000 acres of rice cropland inundated in ways to improve the generation of microscopic plants and animals that provide fish food
- Over 5,000 acres of additional tidal wetlands and associated floodplain
- Nearly 3,300 acres of additional spawning, and instream and floodplain juvenile rearing habitat
- A new state multi-disciplinary restoration unit to accelerate permitting and implementation of habitat projects
- Annual reports informing adaptive management and describing the status and trend of native fish populations and whether commitments by voluntary agreement parties are being met
- Triennial reports and public workshops in years three and six of the agreement to analyze progress
- A “red,” “yellow,” or “green” decision by state water quality regulators in year eight to determine if the voluntary agreements are achieving ecological objectives and should be continued, modified, or ended.
Water agencies in the Bay-Delta watershed that do not sign onto the approach outlined in the MOU would need to comply with regulatory requirements established by the State Water Board. Implementation of the agreements outlined in the MOU is estimated to cost $2.6 billion, to be shared by water users and the state and federal governments. Water agencies will self-assess fees to support the implementation of the voluntary agreements. Water users and the state will make flows available through a combination of reduced diversions, year-by-year purchases of water, long-term or permanent purchase of water, and voluntary fallowing of agricultural or pasture lands.
POLITICAL NOTES
Concern is mounting on Capitol Hill around the viability of Garcetti’s India ambassadorship nomination. As the Senate considered making Garcetti emissary to the world’s biggest democracy, the consternation was initially confined to the GOP: Republican Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley both placed holds on Garcetti’s nomination this month over allegations that Garcetti knew of sexual misconduct in his office (something he has denied), including by former top aide Rick Jacobs (which Jacobs has denied). Grassley said on Tuesday that a GOP investigation would delay a vote until late April at the earliest.
Attorney General Rob Bonta is denying challenger and Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert a monopoly on law enforcement union support, with the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association backing Bonta for a full term. The organization — whose membership includes California Department of Justice agents who ultimately answer to Bonta — previously donated money to both Bonta’s predecessor, former AG Xavier Becerra, to Schubert’s DA bids and to former LADA Jackie Lacey, who lost to progressive DA George Gascón.
Source: California Women for Agriculture
