California Senate Natural Resources Committee debates drought relief, mountain-lion hazing pilot and several land, trails and public-safety bills; multiple out‑

The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a busy day heard detailed presentations and sometimes heated testimony on a range of bills that touched wildfire and drought response, wildlife management, coastal and waterfront land use, trails funding, off‑highway electric motorcycles, pipeline safety and bioenergy. Committee members signaled broad interest in finding locally tailored approaches while urging further technical fixes and consensus-building before final votes.

Sen. Susan T. Alvarado Gill (presenting SB 746) described a two‑track drought relief grant program for urban and small communities that would let the Department of Water Resources award funds for interim and emergency drought relief, and for water system and fire‑suppression upgrades. “This bill establishes two targeted programs, the urban water community drought relief program and the small community drought relief program,” Alvarado Gill said, adding the grants could cover hauled water, tanks, new wells, rehabilitation of existing systems and conservation projects. The author framed the bill as addressing not only drought but “fire prevention, resilience, and protecting lives and livelihoods.”

The committee then spent its longest discussion on SB 818, introduced by Sen. Alvarado Gill as “Kalen and Wyatt’s law,” a narrowly focused pilot for El Dorado County to allow the Department of Fish and Wildlife to register and permit trained, licensed houndsmen to use nonlethal “tree and free” hazing methods for mountain lions deemed a threat to public safety, livestock or domestic animals. The author said the measure is not a hunting bill: “This is not an open season to hunt mountain lions. This is a call of action to our government both local and state,” she told the committee, asking it to allow local experts and agencies to design permitting criteria.

Supporters, including family members of Talon and Wyatt Brooks, El Dorado County Agricultural Commissioner Leanne Mila, the El Dorado County sheriff and numerous residents and local organizations testified in favor, saying the county has seen unusual daytime mountain‑lion activity, numerous depredation permits and a recent fatality. Mila said the county has recorded unusually high losses of pets and livestock and described instances of mountain lions near schools and recreation corridors. “We haze mountain lions…and this will give us another tool,” she said of…