Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intent yesterday to postpone the $11.14 billion water bond until the November 2012 ballot, citing a need to focus on budget issues this year.

Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said they would seek to introduce a bill this week to move a public vote on the bond measure from November of this year to November 2012. A bill to delay the bond would require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature.

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.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced June 28 it will award nearly $6.9 million for a habitat restoration project to restore populations of threatened and endangered fish along Battle Creek in Northern California.

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) is seeking ACWA members’ participation in an online survey to gauge the cost impacts associated with potentially revised nitrate and nitrite standards.

The Environment and Public Works Committee marked up a number of water and oil cleanup bills today, including S. 3539, the “San Francisco Bay Restoration Act.” The legislation authorizes a 50% cost-share grant program through the EPA’s National Estuary Program for the San Francisco Bay.

The Science Advisory Panel for Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in Recycled Water issued its final report to the State Water Resources Control Board on June 25. The panel met four times from 2009 to 2010 and was tasked with addressing five questions raised by the State’s Recycled Water Policy. 

The panel makes four recommendations in the report, including that the SWRCB:

Two bills sponsored by ACWA were unanimously approved in their respective committees yesterday.

California’s largest statewide water conservation program, Save Our Water, unveiled a new online advertising campaign today. The Web ads are based on the public education program’s summer campaign, Real People, Real Savings, and feature everyday Californians who are saving water inside and outside their homes. 

The three online ads are:

Online registration opened today for workshops to be held in August throughout the state to discuss the draft SBX7 6 Groundwater Elevation Monitoring Program. These six workshops, hosted by ACWA and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will offer attendees the opportunities to learn about the program, volunteer criteria, ask questions, and provide public input while the provisions are in draft form.

ACWA is seeking legislative proposals from its member agencies for the second year of the 2011-2012 legislative session.

The deadline to submit proposals is Friday, Sept. 9. The association’s State Legislative Committee will hear presentations and consider proposals at its meeting on Oct. 21 in Sacramento.

Agencies submitting legislative proposals for ACWA to sponsor or support in 2011-2012 should:

As the election season heats up, Federal water issues are increasingly present in the pages of the Federal Register rather than in the halls of Congress.  Regulatory agencies are moving forward with a number of federal water issues that affect ACWA members.  Attached is a summary of federal issues to watch and how to find more information.

In a June 17 press release, the EPA announced plans to propose a revision to the 1989 Total Coliform Rule, “to achieve greater public health protection against waterborne pathogens in the distribution systems of public water systems.”

ACWA, along with a number of other water advocacy organizations in Washington, D.C., wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate on June 22 urging the inclusion of water infrastructure adaptation language in climate change and energy legislation.

“Communities are on the front lines when it comes to climate change,” the letter says, “Rising temperatures will cause more frequent and extreme storms and drought, declining snowpack, more intense heat waves, and a number of other impacts.

On June 22, top Republican leaders on the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Small Business Committees wrote to their Democratic counterparts and the Chairman of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee requesting hearings and public input opportunities on legislation that seeks to redefine waters of the U.S. The Republican leaders, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), and Sam Graves (R-Mo.), want hearings on the legislation before it reaches the House Floor.

On June 24, the EPA held a two-hour public meeting via webcast to discuss various aspects of the Draft NPDES Pesticides General Permit (PGP).  The draft PGP was published on June 4 and the EPA is accepting public comments on its content through July 19.