California Council on Science and Technology: water availability study: Central Valley.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact impact on future water diversion permits is uncertain and not explicitly stated in the official source material.

Water Study in Central Valley

AB-2521 requires the Department of Water Resources to select two watersheds within or draining into the Central Valley for a water availability study by January 1, 2028.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Department of Water Resources to choose two watersheds in or near the Central Valley for a water availability study.
• Requests the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) to conduct this comprehensive study with help from other departments.
• The study must look at daily flow rates in rivers, streams, and creeks over the past 30 years if data is available.

Who It Names or Affects

• Department of Water Resources
• California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)
• State Water Resources Control Board

Terms To Know

watershed

An area where water drains into a common outlet, like a river.

best available science

The most accurate and reliable scientific information used to make decisions.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill needs funding from the Legislature to be carried out.
• It is not clear which specific watersheds will be chosen for the study.

Official Summary Text

AB 2521, as amended, Papan.
Sustainable groundwater management.
California Council on Science and Technology: water availability study: Central Valley.
Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources within the Natural Resources Agency and vests it with various powers and duties related to water. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer a water rights program pursuant to which the board grants and revokes permits and licenses to appropriate water. Existing law authorizes any person who has an urgent need to divert and use water to apply for, and authorizes the board to issue, a conditional, temporary permit, as prescribed.
Existing law finds and declares that the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) was organized as a nonprofit corporation at the request of the Legislature for the specific purpose of offering expert advice to the state government on
public policy issues significantly related to science and technology.
This bill would, on or before January 1, 2028, require the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to select 2 watersheds that are within, or drain into, the Central Valley to conduct a watershedwide water availability study. The bill would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, request CCST to, in consultation with the Department of Water Resources and the board, undertake and complete a comprehensive study of water availability in the selected watersheds. The bill would require the study to, among other things, determine daily flow rates in rivers, streams, and creeks in the watersheds over the past 30 years to the extent data is available. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature for the water availability study to serve as the water availability analysis for
future applications to the board for standard or temporary permits for diversion of water to underground storage in the selected watersheds.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Central Valley.
Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of the act.
This bill would add the defined term “best available science” for purposes of the act.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF