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<br />ll~~Jl AmlIDl1UI211 Legns;hnthre Review:
<br />1FIlilJJ~~(Ctnng W~g1~Ifn Waterr
<br />
<br />Of the 184 major water bills tracked 55 have passed and
<br />were signed by the governor(PS), 79 have failed (F) in the leg.
<br />islature or been vetoed--and 50 have been carried over to the
<br />next session, Twenty seven bills dealt with water transfers of
<br />which 10 passed and were signed; 25 with conservation (9
<br />passed and signed); 16 bills dealt with the deftnition and protec.
<br />tion of water rights--rights to appropriate and use effluent
<br />water were a major issue this year for the ftrst time--( 4 passed
<br />and signed); 41 bills dealt with issues related to water quality
<br />(11 passed and signed); 19 with groundwater (8 passed and
<br />signed), 21 with public trust issues (4 passed and signed); and
<br />35 with planning and policy (9 passed and signed), The results,
<br />by issue area are summarized in the WS Legislative Scorecard
<br />(below), The bills that have passed or that have been carried
<br />over are briefly described in the Table on pages 8.9,
<br />Most of the activity was in Calirornia, where 16 bills passed
<br />and 32 were carried.over to next session, This reflects the
<br />gravity and the length of the drought which has lead to bills
<br />requiring more detailed planning, greater use of reclaimed
<br />water, stricter conservation requirements, and funding for
<br />water reclamation and desalination projects, It also reflects the
<br />failure of the state to create a legislative framework under
<br />which water transfers can he conducted, The result is tha~
<br />despite the state's extensive plumbing system, agricultural
<br />water cannot easily be shifted to meet the drought needs of the
<br />cities, While farmers in the Central Valley were selling water
<br />to the state water bank for $125/af, Santa Barbara and its
<br />neighhors were contracting with a private company for desali.
<br />nated water for $1,950/af,
<br />No important water bills were enacted in Kausas,
<br />Oklahoma, O"":lon, or North Dakota, Colorado had an
<br />uncharacteristically unproductive legislative sessioD, only pass.
<br />ing an act estahlishing a water conservation office (HB 1.154:
<br />GrQJ.t),
<br />
<br />WATlEll. Jr!UNSFli:RS (27 bills: lOPS)
<br /> Arizona seems
<br />ws ~:oiIDtiVtl Scorecard frnally to have resolved
<br /> its loug.standing water
<br />Subpct P"-"<d tQikffi C:(I~do"e'/ trausfer conflict.
<br /> V'-'Ol!d UlIlkcl;kd
<br /> Under (SB 1055)
<br />Water transfers 10 13 4 municipalities owning
<br />ConservatifJR 9 8 8
<br />Wata rights 4 9 3 remote water farms
<br />Water qualiLy 11 17 13 must make "volun-
<br />Grouf1dW?ter 8 8 3 tary" payments in lieu
<br />Public trust 4 12 5 of taxes equal to the
<br />Planning/polh:y 'J 12 14
<br /> property taxes that
<br />10t<11 ,\5 79 50 would be due and sev.
<br />
<br />t:-~-_.- ---.
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<br />Published ~y Stratecon, Inc, P,O, Box 963, Claremont, CA 91711
<br />
<br />(714) 621.4793
<br />
<br />, ;\7,If:-'~"',~'n ''"f' 9 A T'DGc "!l' 0.~'!'
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<br />
<br />eral groundwater basins were closed (see "Arizona Rewrites
<br />Groundwater Law" WS July 1991), Calirornla passed (HB lOx:
<br />Costa) that specifies that no temporary water transfers under.
<br />taken before December 31, 1992 will affect water rights and
<br />(SB 9.1-: Bergeson) allowing water suppliers to contract with
<br />customers to reduce water use, The state also now permits
<br />leasing of water for up to 5 years under (AB 1605: Costa), The
<br />state also passed (ACR 31: Roybal.Allard) requesting the
<br />Governor to study the feasibility of a sub. oceanic pipeline to
<br />carry fresh water from Alaska to California, Frnally, (AB 2/190:
<br />Katz) has been carried.over to next year, The bill would allow
<br />any water user to temporarily transfer any water it receives
<br />from water agencies and would alter the terms of review of
<br />transfers by the State Water Resources Control Board (for
<br />detailed provisions, see WIM July/August and September
<br />1991),
<br />Utah passed (SB 102: Finlinson), its version of the inter.
<br />state transfer biIlthat was passed last year in Idaho, Transfer
<br />legislation failed in Colorado (HB 1186: Foster and SB 4:
<br />McCormick) and Oregon (HB 2335, HB 2366, HB 2367 and SB
<br />323: Joint 1merim Committee on Water Policy and HB 2926:
<br />Noms et at,) and has been carried over in Nebraska (LB 730:
<br />Elmer),
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<br />,
<br />
<br />CONSERVATION (25 bills: 9PS)
<br />
<br />Conservation was a major topic in many legislatures,
<br />Efforts have focused on encouraging water recycling (see
<br />"Closing the Loop," this issue) and on mandating the installa.
<br />tion of water conserving plumbing, The more successful the
<br />second type of initiatives, the less water for recycling,
<br />Effluent water used by irrigators in Arizona is now trealed
<br />in the same way as groundwater and surface water with the
<br />passage of (SB 1254: Arzherger), (AB 673: Cortese) has set
<br />California the ambitious goal of recycling 700,000 af/year by
<br />the end of the century, (AB 1237: Katz) which proposed to
<br />prevent potable water from being used for irrigation if other
<br />sources were available was voted down, Thre.e acts passed
<br />requiring the development of water efficiency standards for
<br />plumbing fIxtures, Nevada's (AB 359), Texas' (SB 587) and
<br />Washington's (HB 2026: Fraser er al),
<br />In California the governor vetoed (AB 2 1 11: Polanco) that
<br />would have guaranteed developers of desalination projects
<br />producing at least 3 million gallons per day with connection to
<br />local conveyance and distribution systems, (For provisions, see
<br />WIM, October 1991,) Three other bills for state funding of the
<br />development of reclamation and desalination projects have
<br />been carried over (AB 2206, AB 2112 and 2113),
<br />
<br />continued on page 4 , , ,
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