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Measure SB 746
Authors Alvarado-Gil  
Subject Water: Urban Water Community Drought Relief program: Small Community Drought Relief program: high fire hazard and very high fire hazard severity zones.
Relating To relating to water.
Title An act to add Sections 13198.5 and 13198.51 to the Water Code, relating to water.
Last Action Dt 2025-04-21
State Amended Senate
Status In Committee Process
Active? Y
Vote Required Majority
Appropriation No
Fiscal Committee Yes
Local Program No
Substantive Changes None
Urgency No
Tax Levy No
Leginfo Link Bill
Actions
2025-05-23     May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
2025-05-16     Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-05     May 5 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-04-25     Set for hearing May 5.
2025-04-23     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0. Page 840.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-21     From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.
2025-04-04     Set for hearing April 22.
2025-03-12     Referred to Com. on N.R. & W.
2025-02-24     From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.
2025-02-24     Read first time.
2025-02-21     Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
Keywords
Tags
Versions
Amended Senate     2025-04-21
Introduced     2025-02-21
Last Version Text
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		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Senator Alvarado-Gil</ns0:AuthorText>
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		<ns0:Title> An act to add Sections 13198.5 and 13198.51 to the Water Code, relating to water.</ns0:Title>
		<ns0:RelatingClause>water</ns0:RelatingClause>
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			<ns0:Subject>Water: Urban Water Community Drought Relief program: Small Community Drought Relief program: high fire hazard and very high fire hazard severity zones.</ns0:Subject>
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			<html:p>Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal, as provided.</html:p>
			<html:p>Existing law authorizes specified state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources, subject to an appropriation, to make grants and direct expenditures for interim or immediate relief in response to conditions arising from a drought scenario to address immediate impacts on human health and safety or on fish and wildlife resources or to provide water to
			 persons or communities that lose or are threatened with the loss or contamination of water supplies.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would establish in the department the Urban Water Community Drought Relief program and the Small Community Drought Relief program to provide grants for similar interim or immediate drought relief. These programs, upon a specified appropriation, would authorize funding for benefits in addition to drought relief, including, among other projects, projects that reduce the risk of wildfire for entire neighborhoods and communities through water delivery system improvements for fire suppression purposes in high fire hazard severity zone communities or very high fire hazard severity zone communities, as designated by the State Fire Marshal or by a local agency.</html:p>
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		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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			<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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				<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
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					(a)
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					California’s rural landscapes and communities have been ground zero for large-scale environmental and economic devastation during the past decades by virtue of the Angora, Caldor, Camp, August Complex, Dixie, Palisades, Eaton, and Hughes Fires.
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					(b)
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					Aging infrastructures combined with insufficient resources to prepare for adequate wildfire response has left many rural communities at high risk for future unchecked fire activity.
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					(c)
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					Postfire costs associated with
				the destruction inflicted upon communities, such as Grizzly Flats, Paradise, Greenville, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and the County of Los Angeles, have been estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
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					(d)
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					While California is taking the necessary actions to mitigate the intensity and frequency of fire in the rural parts of the state, local governments need state support for necessary investments to prepare for fire.
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				Section 13198.5 is added to the 
				<ns0:DocName>Water Code</ns0:DocName>
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								(a)
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								There is hereby established in the department the Urban Water Community Drought Relief program to provide grants for interim or immediate drought relief to secure the future of California’s water supply to address immediate impacts on human health and safety, to protect fish and wildlife resources, and to provide water to urban communities that lose or are threatened with the loss or contamination of water supplies.
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								(b)
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								A project funded by this program shall benefit a community supplied by an urban water supplier, as defined in Section 10617.
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								(c)
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								The program, upon appropriation for these purposes after the
						operative date of this section, may fund projects that provide benefits in addition to drought relief, including, but not limited to, all of the following projects:
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								(1)
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								Projects that reduce the risk of wildfire for entire neighborhoods and communities through water delivery system improvements for fire suppression purposes in high fire hazard severity zone communities or very high fire hazard severity zone communities, as designated by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code or by a local agency pursuant to Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 51175) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
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								(2)
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								Projects that provide water deliveries such as hauled water, temporary
						community water tanks, bottled water, or water vending machines.
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								(3)
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								Projects that construct infrastructure such as emergency water interties, drilling or rehabilitating new wells, or the installation of permanent water infrastructure.
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								(4)
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								Projects that rescue, protect, and relocate fish and wildlife.
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								(5)
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								Projects that support water conservation activities, including, but not limited to, education, fixture replacement incentives and rebate programs, and turf replacement with drought tolerant landscaping.
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								(6)
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								Projects to repair, replace, restore, or rehabilitate facilities that convey source water to a
						water treatment plant to preserve water supply availability for water distribution systems.
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				Section 13198.51 is added to the 
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				, to read:
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								(a)
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								There is hereby established in the department the Small Community Drought Relief program to provide grants for interim or immediate drought relief to address impacts on human health and safety and impacts on fish and wildlife resources, and to provide water to persons or small or rural communities that lose or are threatened with the loss or contamination of water supplies.
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								(b)
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								A project funded by this program shall benefit a community not supplied by an urban water supplier, as defined in Section 10617.
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								(c)
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								The program, upon appropriation for its purposes after the operative date of this
						section, may fund projects that provide benefits in addition to drought relief, including, but not limited to, all of the following projects:
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							<html:p>
								(1)
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								Projects that reduce the risk of wildfire for entire neighborhoods and communities through water delivery system improvements for fire suppression purposes in high fire hazard severity zone communities or very high fire hazard severity zone communities, as designated by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code or by a local agency pursuant to Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 51175) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(2)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Projects that provide water deliveries such as hauled water, temporary community water
						tanks, bottled water, or water vending machines.
							</html:p>
							<html:p>
								(3)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Projects that construct infrastructure such as emergency water interties, drilling or rehabilitating new wells, or the installation of permanent water infrastructure.
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							<html:p>
								(4)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Projects that rescue, protect, and relocate fish and wildlife.
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Last Version Text Digest Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal, as provided. Existing law authorizes specified state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources, subject to an appropriation, to make grants and direct expenditures for interim or immediate relief in response to conditions arising from a drought scenario to address immediate impacts on human health and safety or on fish and wildlife resources or to provide water to persons or communities that lose or are threatened with the loss or contamination of water supplies. This bill would establish in the department the Urban Water Community Drought Relief program and the Small Community Drought Relief program to provide grants for similar interim or immediate drought relief. These programs, upon a specified appropriation, would authorize funding for benefits in addition to drought relief, including, among other projects, projects that reduce the risk of wildfire for entire neighborhoods and communities through water delivery system improvements for fire suppression purposes in high fire hazard severity zone communities or very high fire hazard severity zone communities, as designated by the State Fire Marshal or by a local agency.