Legislation Restoring Fairness to California Water Management One Step Closer to Becoming Law From the Office of Assemblyman Adam Gray: Assembly Bill 313, introduced by Assemblyman Adam C. Gray (D-Merced) to provide solutions for California’s broken water management structure, cleared an important hurdle Tuesday. AB 313 was approved by the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife at its regular hearing. Committee members voted 13-0 to send the bill onto the next step. “It’s time to bring some fairness back to the equation for California’s water rights holders,” said Gray. “Time and again, we’ve seen state agencies act with unchecked power, with little accountability to the communities they’re supposed to serve. The current system isn’t just inadequate – it’s imbalanced. This bill begins a critically necessary reform of the state’s water management, removing inherent biases and conflicts of interest.” AB 313 proposes to restructure water rights hearings, creating a new Water Rights Division in the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). Currently, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) exercises quasi-judicial authority to hold water rights hearings. The SWRCB writes regulations, initiates enforcement actions, and conducts hearings in which Board staff act as prosecutors and the SWRCB itself acts as the judge and jury. “The end result of the current system is like the State Water Board asking the State Water Board if it agrees with itself,” Gray said. “There’s a reason there are umpires in baseball: we need a neutral party to enforce water rights so everybody gets a fair shot.” Under the legislation’s newly-created Water Rights Division, administrative law judges would preside over water rights matters. The new Division would conduct hearings and make a recommendation to the Executive Director of the SWRCB that the Executive Director can accept, reject or modify. The change ensures objectivity, while still allowing state water agency experts to give input. At Tuesday’s Committee hearing, Assemblyman Gray was joined by Rick Gilmore, general manager of Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID). BBID provided technical support in crafting AB 313, which was amended after its original introduction in February. After hearing testimony, the Committee voted in favor of sending the bill to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, which will consider the bill in the coming weeks. “These changes won’t fix all that ails California water management, but we have to start somewhere – and the time is now,” Gray said. More information is available at www.asmdc.org/gray. Ocean Protection Council Adopts Resolution Incorporating Latest Sea-Level Rise Projections From the Natural Resources Agency: Today, the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) adopted a resolution acknowledging a recent science report as a foundational piece for updating the State’s Sea-Level Rise Guidance and directing staff at the Ocean Protection Council to begin the policy update, which will help state and local agencies incorporate sea-level rise into their decision-making. The report was written by a Working Group of the OPC’s Science Advisory Team, in coordination with Ocean Science Trust and summarizes the latest in sea-level rise science and projections, including the potential impacts on California from rapid ice loss from the Antarctic ice sheet. The report includes new information on the expected sea-level changes that will occur based on different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. For example, with very successful mitigation efforts, the report states that there is a 67 percent probability that the Bay Area will experience sea-level rise between 1.0 foot and 2.4 feet by 2100. However, if no significant mitigation efforts are taken, that range increases to 1.6 to 3.4 feet….