Water

Goal

Encourage responsible water quality goals and water development policies to meet the increasing demand for reliable water supplies.

Issue Summaries

Groundwater Management

Position: The CalChamber supports legislation to improve implementation of SGMA, while opposing legislation that would undermine core goals of SGMA, including, but not limited to, preserving local authority and groundwater rights. The CalChamber also supports policies that facilitate groundwater recharge and groundwater banking projects.

Groundwater Management

Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta Watershed

Position: The CalChamber supports the Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes because it will provide more certainty to communities, farms and businesses that depend on a reliable water supply. The CalChamber will continue to encourage the State Water Board to incorporate this alternative into the updated Bay-Delta plan.

Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta Watershed

Water Infrastructure

Position: The CalChamber will continue to support construction of Sites Reservoir and the Delta Conveyance proposal promoting construction of one tunnel to convey water through the Delta.

The CalChamber also supports legislation that seeks to streamline the permitting process for water supply and flood risk reduction projects. Addressing unnecessary delays in the permitting process for critical infrastructure projects will reduce costs borne by ratepayers and better ensure California builds at the pace and scale needed to address climate change.

Water Infrastructure

Protecting Vital Public Works Projects by opposing an initiative rejected by voters in 2016 that would have delayed or stopped vitally needed infrastructure projects all over the state—including water reliability projects, road safety and bridge repairs, university and college buildings—as well as impeded the state’s ability to make emergency repairs after a natural disaster (Proposition 53).

Promoting Availability and Security of California Water Supplies

• Supported landmark federal legislation in 2016 containing much-needed funding for water projects and allowing water regulators to make the best use of water to benefit all parts of the state (S. 612).

Improving Management of California Water Supply

• Supported follow-up legislation in 2015 to the landmark 2014 groundwater management law to improve judicial proceedings in comprehensive adjudications of groundwater rights without changing the law or existing water rights.
• In 2015, stopped misguided proposals to increase the excise tax on water use, publicize a business’ water and energy use and require labeling of agricultural products irrigated with cleaned wastewater from oil fields (SB 789, AB 1520, ABX2 14).

Investing in Water Supply Reliability

• Supported voter-approved Proposition 1 in 2014, providing funding for needed water storage projects, enabling the state to save in wet years for the inevitable droughts.

• Preserved ability for voters to consider a legislative and bond package putting the state on a pathway to long-term water supply reliability and ensuring a safe drinking water supply (AB 1265). Instrumental in developing that package in 2009 (SBX7 1, SBX7 2, SBX7 6, SBX7 7, SBX7 8).