An Analysis of the California Water Bond: AB 1331 and the Existing Bond Compared

The aquapocalypse deadline is upon us (though the legislature can override this key date for getting a replacement water bond passed and signed by the governor).  The governor wants a $6 billion water bond and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has put his weight behind Senator Wolk’s $10.5 billion proposal, but AB 1331 has made farthest along in the legislative process.

AB 1331 (Rendon) would replace the current water bond with one for $8.2 billion—up from $8 million thanks to a recent amendment—but the lower price tag is not the only difference.  In short, it has been refocused—so a side-by-side comparison was not an easy task. While most of the major substance is retained, AB 1331 has fewer funding categories, changes in the wording of chapter headings, and a shift in the order of the chapters.

The early chapters are largely form rather than substance and changed little, if any.  Though the general provisions in both (Chapter 4) prohibit the use of funding for Delta conveyance facilities.

Allocations begin in Chapter 5, and that is where the difference is most noticeable (see table).

Comparison of AB 1331 and Existing California Water Bond

 

AB 1331 ($8.2 billion)

Existing California Water Bond ($11.14 billion)

Chapter 5 Clean and Safe Drinking Water ($1 Billion)

  • $400 million to the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Small Community Grant Fund
  • $100 million to the Emergency Clean Water Grant Fund
  • $400 million for grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements
  • $100 million for grants and loans for treatment or remediation activities to prevent or reduce groundwater contamination
Drought Relief ($455 Million)

  • $190 million to be appropriated by the legislature for local and regional projects that reduce the impact of drought conditions, including conservation and efficiency, water recycling, groundwater cleanup, local or regional conveyance, local or regional projects to improve water supply reliability or local or regional surface water storage projects (includes $100 million for local and regional water projects in San Diego County)
  • $90 million to be appropriated by the legislature to disadvantaged communities
  • $75 million for grants for small community wastewater treatment projects
  • $80 million to be deposited to the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (includes $8 million grant to the City of Maywood for water infrastructure upgrades and $20 million for water quality and public health projects on the New River)
Chapter 6 Protecting Rivers, Lakes, Streams, Coastal Waters, and Watersheds ($1.5 Billion)

  • $750 million for appropriation to regional conservancies, with a specified amount to each conservancy
  • $500 million for the state to meet its obligations under certain agreements or compacts (the Klamath Restoration Agreement or Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement; the QSA (including restoration of the Salton Sea); San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement; CVPIA; or Tahoe Regional Compact
  • $250 million for a competitive program to fund multibenefit watershed and urban rivers enhancement projects
Water Supply Reliability ($1.05 Billion)

  • $1 billion to be awarded as grants for projects included in adopted regional water management plans, with a specified amount for each hydrologic region (with redefinition of the some of the regions)
  • $50 million for interregional projects, including $10 million to UC Sierra Nevada Research Institute for climate change
  • Authorizes appropriation of an additional $350 million to DWR for expenditures and grants for interregional connectivity projects
Chapter 7 Climate Change and Drought Preparedness for Regional Water Reliability ($2 Billion)

  • $1 billion to be awarded as grants, with a specified amount for each hydrologic region (with redefinition of the some of the regions)
  • $250 million for direct expenditures, grants and loans for water conservation and water use efficiency plans, including $100 million for on-farm water use efficiency
  • $500 million for grants and low-interest loans for water recycling and advanced treatment technology projects
  • $250 million for grants and loans for stormwater capture and reuse
Delta Sustainability ($2.25 Billion*)

  • $750 million for expenditures and grants to Delta counties and cities for levees, economic sustainability, drinking water quality improvements, fish and wildlife habitat, and other public benefit projects
  • $50 million for matching grants to improve wastewater treatment systems upstream of the Delta
  • $250 million for local assistance for economic impact of loss of productive agricultural lands to Delta habitat and ecosystem restoration
  • $1.5 billion for Delta ecosystem protection and enhancement
Chapter 8 Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Sustainability
($1.2 Billion)

  • $600 million direct expenditures, grants and loans for Delta ecosystem protection, restoration and enhancement
  • $400 million for direct expenditures, grants and loans to maintain or improve Delta levees
  • $200 million to be appropriated to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Conservancy or the Delta Protection Commission to “promote the economic sustainability and well-being of Delta residents”
Statewide Water System Operation Improvement
($3 Billion)

  • $ 3 billion continuously appropriated to the California Water Commission for storage projects that improve the operation of the state water system
  • Requires funds to be awarded using a competitive process that ranks projects according to the magnitude of the public benefits provided
  • Eligible projects include CALFED surface storage, groundwater storage, conjunctive use and reservoir reoperation, and local or region surface storage
Chapter 9 Water Storage for Climate Change ($2.5 Billion)

  • Funds are to appropriated for expenditures, competitive grants and loans for projects that expand the state’s water storage capacity, including $25 million for feasibility studies for additional storage projects not identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program ROD
Conservation and Watershed Protection ($1.785 Billion)

  • $250 million to the State Coastal Conservancy for projects in coastal counties and coastal watersheds—including $40 million for grants in San Diego County (for which $20 million goes to the San Diego River Conservancy); $40 million for the Santa Ana River Parkway and $20 million for the Bolsa Chica Wetlands
  • $100 million to the Wildlife Conservation Board for direct expenditure and grants to acquire water rights and convey water to benefit migratory birds on wildlife refuges
  • $215 million to the Wildlife Conservation Board for direct expenditure and grants to protect or restore watershed lands, rivers or stream that support threatened or endangered species—including $25 million to the San Joaquin River Conservancy for river parkway projects and $20 million to reduce habitat fragmentation in Ventura County
  • $420 million to certain regional conservancies for specified purposes (in specified amounts to each conservancy)
  •  $20 million to the Department of Conservation for the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act
  •  $50 million to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for the California River Parkways Act, of which $20 million may be transferred to the Urban Streams Restoration Program
  • $100 million for Salton Sea restoration
  • $10 million to the Natural Resources Agency for planning and watershed protections to address climate change impacts
  • $30 million to the Department of Parks and Recreation for watershed education facilities—including $20 million for capital improvements to watershed education centers that serve large urban areas
  • $10 million to the California Waterfowl Preservation Account
  • $100 million to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for direct expenditures or grants for fuel treatment and reforestation projects that protect watersheds
  • $250 million for Klamath River dam removal
  • $20 million to Siskiyou County for economic development
  • $50 million to California State University for CSU Water Resources and Policy Initiatives research and education
  • $50 million to the State Coastal Conservancy for projects under the California Ocean Protection Act
  • $60 million to the Natural Resources Agency to improve salmonid passage in the Sacramento River watershed
  • $50 million to the Wildlife Conservation Board to capitalize an advanced public infrastructure revolving fund mitigation program to improve the effectiveness of infrastructure mitigation (not to be used to subsidize or decrease any mitigation obligation)
Chapter 10 Fiscal Provisions

  • Specifies the standards for issuing bonds
Groundwater Protection and Water Quality ($1 Billion)

  • $1 billion for expenditures, grants and loans for projects that prevent or reduce groundwater contamination, including $100 million for remediation projects meeting specified criteria and $100 million for urgent action benefitting disadvantaged communities
Chapter 11   Water Recycling Program ($1 Billion)

  • $1 billion for grants and loans for water recycling and advanced treatment technology projects—includes $50 million to restore water supply reliability in areas with groundwater contamination and $250 million for water conservation and water use efficiency plans, projects and programs

 

Chapter 12   Fiscal Provisions

  • Specifies the standards for issuing bonds

 *While calculations show that the itemized authorizations total to $2.55 billion, the language of the measure says $2.25 billion.

Just eyeballing the table reveals one of the most striking differences:  the level of “earmarks” in the existing water bond (note all of the itemized allocations) and the lack of them in AB 1331.

Written by Marta Weismann