Today's Law As Amended


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SB-672 South Lake Tahoe Public Utilities District: water meters.(2009-2010)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The South Tahoe Public Utilities District currently has one of the lowest per capita water usages in the State of California.
(b) The district has taken a number of steps to conserve water in its service area including all of the following:
(1) The district has implemented a water conservation rebate program for low-flow toilets, fixtures, dishwashers, tankless water heaters, and front loading washing machines.
(2) The district has a full-time water conservation specialist on staff.
(3) The district employs three full-time “water educators” during the summer months to educate district water customers and enforce the district’s water conservation program.
(4) The district has initiated a “turf buy-back” program that has resulted, to date, in the savings of one million gallons of water annually.
(c) Conserved water from the district does not flow into the California watershed.
(d) Due to grading requirements established by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, water meters may only be installed from May 2 to October 14 each year. This construction window is shorter than those in the rest of California and impacts the district’s ability to meet the current statutory metering deadline.
(e) Meeting the current statutory deadline is cost prohibitive due to a water main improvement project. The water main improvement project is necessary to protect the Tahoe National Forest from fire.
(f) Forest fire is a clear and present danger to the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Angora Fire of 2007 damaged property and the environment.
(g) Waterline retrofit is essential to forest protection and to protect Lake Tahoe’s clarity.
(h) The district has identified over 185,000 lineal feet of waterlines that cannot provide sufficient flows for fire suppression.

SEC. 2.

 Section 527.1 is added to the Water Code, to read:

527.1.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2015, the South Tahoe Public Utilities District may submit to the board, the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, and the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife a report that does all of the following:
(1) Specifies the total number of water meters that the South Tahoe Public Utilities District would be required to install to be in compliance with Section 527, and the total number of connections served by the district.
(2) Specifies the total number of water meters the South Tahoe Public Utilities District has installed before January 1, 2015, and the number of connections that remain to be installed by January 1, 2025.
(3) Describes all funding sources used to fund the installation of water meters in compliance with Section 527.
(4) Estimates revenue that will be available between January 1, 2015, and January 1, 2025, to fund the installation of meters that remain to be installed during that period.
(5) Estimates the number of meters that should be installed during each construction season to meet the January 1, 2025, deadline imposed in Section 527, and estimates the number of meters that can be installed based on the funding estimated in paragraph (4).
(b) (1) If the South Tahoe Public Utilities District submits a report in accordance with subdivision (a), the district may submit, before January 1, 2020, a second report updating the information described in that subdivision, to the board, the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water and the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife.
(2) The South Tahoe Public Utilities District may include in the second report a request to extend the January 1, 2025, deadline for compliance specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 527. If the board finds that the district has demonstrated progress toward installing meters and the available resources or the construction seasons are insufficient to allow the district to meet the deadline, the board shall grant an extension, not to exceed 10 years.
SEC. 3.
 The Legislature finds and declares that this act, which is applicable only to the South Lake Tahoe Public Utilities District, is necessary because of the unique and special water problems in the area included in that district. It is, therefore, hereby declared that a general law within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution cannot be made applicable to the district and the enactment of this special law is necessary for the conservation, development, control, and use of that water for the public good.