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Committee advances bill to fund watershed analyses to speed groundwater recharge permits
Summary
AB 2521 was moved to appropriations after the author said the bill would direct CCST to produce watershed-wide water-availability analyses that applicants could use to reduce costly permit data requirements (estimated at roughly $50,000 per application). Some members raised concerns about water-rights impacts for the San Joaquin Valley.
The committee advanced AB 2521 as amended to the Appropriations Committee. The bill directs the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) to complete watershed-wide water-availability analyses intended to provide baseline data that water-right applicants could use in recharge permitting applications.
The author said the change aims to lower the data and analytical costs—estimated in testimony at about $50,000 per application—by providing publicly available analyses applicants may draw upon. "This bill will alleviate this need by calling for the completion of a watershed wide water availability analysis by the California Council of Science and Technology," the author said.
Committee members supported the goal of expanding groundwater recharge but pressed for protections to ensure the study would not weaken existing water rights or leave some regions behind. Assemblymember Alaniz said she had real concerns for her district in the San Joaquin Valley and said she could not support the bill "due today" without additional assurances and continued work with stakeholders.
The author said the bill does not preclude applicants from providing additional, project-specific information and that CCST work could include periodic updates and stakeholder input to make the baseline robust for sensitive projects. The clerk recorded the committee motion as "due passed to appropriations." During later roll call the clerk summarized the committee’s tally for AB 2521 as eight to zero with some members not voting; the committee adjourned thereafter.
