Today's Law As Amended


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AB-2201 Groundwater sustainability agency: groundwater extraction permit: verification.(2021-2022)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 10726.4 of the Water Code is amended to read:

10726.4.
 (a) A groundwater sustainability agency shall have the following additional authority and may regulate groundwater extraction using that authority:
(1) To impose spacing requirements on new groundwater well construction to minimize well interference and impose reasonable operating regulations on existing groundwater wells to minimize well interference, including requiring extractors to operate on a rotation basis.
(2) To control groundwater extractions by regulating, limiting, or suspending extractions from individual groundwater wells or extractions from groundwater wells in the aggregate, construction of new groundwater wells, enlargement of existing groundwater wells, or reactivation of abandoned groundwater wells, or otherwise establishing groundwater extraction allocations. Those actions shall be consistent with the applicable elements of the city or county general plan, unless there is insufficient sustainable yield in the basin to serve a land use designated in the city or county general plan. A limitation on extractions by a groundwater sustainability agency shall not be construed to be a final determination of rights to extract groundwater from the basin or any portion of the basin.
(3) To authorize temporary and permanent transfers of groundwater extraction allocations within the agency’s boundaries, if the total quantity of groundwater extracted in any water year is consistent with the provisions of the groundwater sustainability plan. The transfer is subject to applicable city and county ordinances.
(4) To establish accounting rules to allow unused groundwater extraction allocations issued by the agency to be carried over from one year to another and voluntarily transferred, if the total quantity of groundwater extracted in any five-year period is consistent with the provisions of the groundwater sustainability plan.
(b) This section does not authorize a groundwater sustainability agency to issue permits for the construction, modification, or abandonment of groundwater wells, except as authorized by a county with authority to issue those permits. A groundwater sustainability agency may request of the county, and the county shall consider, that the county  county shall  forward permit requests for the construction of new groundwater wells, the enlarging of existing groundwater wells, and the reactivation of abandoned groundwater wells to the groundwater sustainability agency before permit approval.

SEC. 2.

 Article 5 (commencing with Section 13807) is added to Chapter 10 of Division 7 of the Water Code, to read:

Article  5. Water Wells
13807.
 (a) In addition to meeting the other requirements of this chapter, a county, city, or any other water well permitting agency shall not approve a permit for a new groundwater well or for alteration of an existing well in a basin subject to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6) and classified as medium or high priority unless all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The county, city, or any other water well permitting agency obtains written verification from a groundwater sustainability agency managing the basin or area of the basin where the well is proposed to be located that groundwater extraction by the proposed well meets both of the following conditions:
(A) The proposed well would not be inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management program established in any applicable groundwater sustainability plan adopted by that groundwater sustainability agency or an alternate plan approved or under review by the department.
(B) The proposed well would not decrease the likelihood of achieving a sustainability goal for the basin covered by such a plan.
(2) (A) The permit applicant has provided the permitting agency a written report prepared by a licensed professional that indicates that the extraction by the proposed well is unlikely to cause well interference.
(B) As used in this paragraph, the following terms have the following meanings:
(i) “Licensed professional” means a professional engineer licensed pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, or a professional geologist licensed pursuant to Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 7800) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.
(ii) “Well interference” means a substantial water level decline in a short time period in a localized area caused by pumping from extraction facilities.
(3) The county, city, or any other water well permitting agency posts the well permit application on its internet website for at least 30 days.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to all of the following:
(1) Permits for wells that will provide less than two acre-feet per year of groundwater for individual domestic users.
(2) Permits for wells that will exclusively provide groundwater to public water supply systems or state small water systems as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) Permits for wells in adjudicated basins identified in Section 10720.8.
(4) Maintenance of a well.
(5) Alterations, replacement, or maintenance to a well pump.
SEC. 3.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.