SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478
SB 758
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No:
Author:
Amended:
Vote:
SB 758
Block (D)
8/17/15
21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/28/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 6/3/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León,
Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso,
Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 9/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation, and Climate Forecasting
Program
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes the Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation and
Climate Forecasting Program at the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in
order to, contingent on appropriation of special fund monies, conduct research
relating to climate forecasting and the causes and impacts that climate change has
on atmospheric rivers.
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Assembly Amendments expand the authorized program to include climate
forecasting.
ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes DWR to manage the state’s water
resources. Within DWR is the Hydrology and Flood Operations Office that is
responsible for directing DWR’s flood and water supply forecasting operations,
hydrology and climatology studies, emergency flood operations, and flood control
project inspections and encroachment permitting. The Office also includes the
California State Climatologist.
This bill:
1) Establishes the Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation and Climate
Forecasting Program.
2) Requires DWR, upon appropriation of special fund moneys, including private
funds, to study climate forecasting and the causes and impacts that climate
change has on atmospheric rivers.
3) Requires DWR to take actions, including through reservoir management, to
increase water supply and reliability of water resources by capturing water
generated by atmospheric rivers.
Comments
What are atmospheric rivers? According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, atmospheric rivers are relatively narrow regions in the atmosphere
that are responsible for most of the horizontal transport of water vapor outside of
the tropics. On the west coast, 30-50% of the annual precipitation on average
comes from a few atmospheric river events.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No
Fiscal Com.:
Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill creates the
following special fund or private fund cost pressures:
1) Approximately $3.5 million for additional sensors to help monitor the formation
of the Sierra Barrier Jet and the dynamics of moisture flow up the Central
Valley and into the Burney Gap (includes operation and maintenance costs of
$500,000 per year).
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2) Approximately $750,000 per year to continue operations of the expanded
extreme precipitation network.
3) Approximately $500,000 to improve predictability of the formation and
strength of atmospheric rivers.
SUPPORT: (Verified 9/4/15)
Bay Area Flood Protection Agencies Association
Orange County Water District
San Diego County Water Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sonoma County Water Agency
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/4/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, “California has the most
variable precipitation annually of any location in the U.S., ranging from severe
drought to major floods. Research has shown that this variability is largely due to
a weather condition known as ‘atmospheric rivers’ (AR). AR are responsible for
30-50% of California’s precipitation and water supply in just a handful of days
each year. Pineapple Express Storms are a common example of AR. Better
forecasting of ARs (from hours, to days, weeks and seasons) has the potential to
enable new levels of both water supply and flood protection through the use of
‘Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations’ (FIRO). A pilot project to test the
feasibility of FIRO is being planned by an expert committee on a vital reservoir on
the Russian River, Lake Mendocino. It is led by researchers at the Center for
Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San Diego
and the Sonoma County Water Agency. This pilot project has the potential to
predict AR patterns to make intelligent water management decisions in order to
both collect additional water supply and protect against floods. Seasonal AR
outlooks are another promising direction that could help water managers and
emergency preparedness officials anticipate and prepare for drought and/or flood.
Developing such outlooks is on the cutting edge of science today and SB 758
ensures the state develops a program to study AR.”
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-0, 9/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Cristina Garcia,
SB 758
Page 4
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,
Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Brough, Gallagher, Gomez, Jones-Sawyer,
Ridley-Thomas, Weber
Prepared by: Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
9/4/15 18:02:48
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