BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:Title
Adopt Recommended Positions on State Legislation: AB 2895 (Arambula) Water Rights Process for Temporary Water Transfers, and Other Legislation Which May Require Urgent Consideration for a Position by the Board.
End
RECOMMENDATION:Recommendation
Adopt a position of "Oppose Unless Amended" on: AB 2895 (Arambula) Water Rights Process for Temporary Water Transfers.
Body
SUMMARY:
AB 2895 (Arambula) Water Rights Process for Temporary Water Transfers (A-04/27/22)
Position Recommendation: Oppose Unless Amended
Priority Recommendation: 2
As amended April 27, 2022, AB 2895 aims to facilitate the State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) processing of temporary change petitions for short-term water transfers of one year or less. The bill would make changes to the current transfer petition process for post-1914 water rights under Water Code Section 1726, including: 1) requiring documentation of "consultation" with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW); 2) eliminating the requirement that notice of the transfer petition be published in a newspaper; and 3) extending several deadlines by a few days and potentially slowing down the review of transfer petitions, i.e., extending deadlines from 10 days to 15 days, as well as extending the State Water Board decision deadline from 35 days to 55 days.
AB 2895 also creates a new voluntary expedited petition process by adding Water Code Section 1727. Under this section, a petitioner may provide "pre-notice" of its intent to do a water transfer that year by January 31, specifying how the transfer water will be provided, e.g., groundwater substitution, crop idling, reservoir reoperation, etc., but not any buyer information. The State Water Board then will conduct an expedited review of the transfer petition later filed by the petitioner. The State Water Board also would provide notice to others about the proposed transfer through its website and an email su...
Click here for full text