Bills on Transfers, Water Rights Advance

ACWA-opposed legislation on water transfers, water rights and indemnity provisions cleared policy committees on June 29.

AB 2776 (Huffman), which would impose unnecessary and costly restrictions on voluntary water transfers, passed the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a 5-4 vote. The bill includes language nearly identical to AB 2049 (Arambula), which failed passage on the Assembly floor on June 2 and again on June 3. The language was amended into AB 2776 the day of the June 29 hearing.

As amended, the bill would limit voluntary water transfers even if the parties agree the transfers are beneficial to the state. It would apply to any long-term water transfer of 20 years or more. AB 2776 now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 565 (Pavley), which would provide for increased penalties for failing to report water diversions and uses and give the State Water Resources Control Board new authorities and to prosecute unauthorized diversions and uses, cleared the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on a 7-6 vote. Amendments to the bill were circulated just 24 hours before the June 29 hearing, leaving stakeholders little time to analyze the proposed changes.

SB 565 includes provisions that failed passage last year in the face of widespread opposition. The provisions are inconsistent with language enacted last year as part of the comprehensive water package.

The bill is opposed by a coalition of water agencies, business groups, and agricultural organizations. It will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 972 (Wolk), which would affect indemnity provisions between public agencies and design professionals, passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 9-1 vote. ACWA removed its opposition to the bill with the adoption of author’s amendments in committee that reference the duty of design professionals to defend as an element of contractual indemnity. Further amendments are expected as the bill moves to the Assembly floor.

Meanwhile, an ACWA-opposed bill that would have prohibited officials from serving on multiple public agency boards under certain conditions failed passage in the Senate Local Government Committee on a 1-4 vote. AB 1955 (De La Torre) would have potentially affected dual service on joint powers authorities and the agencies that created those authorities. Current law already prohibits dual service in offices in which there is a possibility of significant conflict of duties.