California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 6 - Delta Stewardship Council › Chapter 2 - Consistency with Regulatory Policies Contained in the Delta Plan › Article 4 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Appendix 2B - Transparency in Water Contracting: Water from the CVP

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
Public Law 97-293
Title II, Reclamation Reform Act of
					 1982
Section
					 226: Public
					 Participation
SEC.
					 226: Public
					 Participation
Section
					 9 of the Reclamation Project Act
					 of 1939 (43 U.S.C.
					 485h) is amended by adding at the end the
					 following new subsection:
"(f) No less than sixty days before entering into or
					 amending any repayment contract or any contract for the delivery of irrigation
					 water (except any contract for the delivery of surplus or interim irrigation
					 water whose duration is for one year or less) the Secretary shall --
"(1) publish notice of the proposed contract or amendment
					 in newspapers of general circulation in the affected area and shall make
					 reasonable efforts to otherwise notify interested parties which may be affected
					 by such contract or amendment, together with information indicating to whom
					 comments or inquiries concerning the proposed actions can be addressed;
					 and
"(2) provide an opportunity for submission of written data,
					 views and arguments, and shall consider all substantive comments so
					 received."
Title 34,
					 Public Law
					 102-575
Central Valley Project Improvement Act
Section
					 3405.
Water Transfers, Improved Water Management and
					 Conservation
The Law
Section
					 3405. Water Transfers, Improved
					 Water Management & Conservation
(a) Water Transfers. In order to assist California urban
					 areas, agricultural water users, and others in meeting their future water
					 needs, subject to the conditions and requirements of this subsection, all
					 individuals or districts who receive Central Valley Project water under water
					 service or repayment contracts, water rights settlement contracts or exchange
					 contracts entered into prior to or after the date of enactment of this title
					 are authorized to transfer all or a portion of the water subject to such
					 contract to any other California water user or water agency, State or Federal
					 agency, Indian Tribe, or private non-profit organization for project purposes
					 or any purpose recognized as beneficial under applicable State law. Except as
					 provided herein, the terms of such transfers shall be set by mutual agreement
					 between the transferee and the transferor.
(1) Conditions for Transfers. All transfers to Central
					 Valley Project water authorized by this subsection shall be subject to review
					 and approval by the Secretary under the conditions specified in this
					 subsection. Transfers involving more than 20 percent of the Central Valley
					 Project water subject to long-term contract within any contracting district or
					 agency shall also be subject to review and approval by such district or agency
					 under the conditions specified in this subsection:
(A) No transfer to combination of transfers authorized by
					 this subsection shall exceed, in any year, the average annual quantity of water
					 under contract actually delivered to the contracting district or agency during
					 the last three years of normal water delivery prior to the date of enactment of
					 this title.
(B) All water under the contract which is transferred under
					 authority of this subsection to any district or agency which is not a Central
					 Valley Project contractor at the time of enactment of this title shall, if used
					 for irrigation purposes, be repaid at the greater of the full-cost or cost of
					 service rates, or, if the water is used for municipal and industrial purposes,
					 at the greater of the cost of service or municipal and industrial rates.
(C) No transfers authorized by this subsection shall be
					 approved unless the transfer is between a willing buyer and a willing seller
					 under such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon.
(D) No transfer authorized by this subsection shall be
					 approved unless the transfer is consistent with State law, including but not
					 limited to provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.
(E) All transfers authorized by this subsection shall be
					 deemed a beneficial use of water by the transferor for the purposes of section
					 8 of the Act of June 17, 1902, 32
					 Stat. 390, 43 U.S.C.
					 372.
(F) All transfers entered into pursuant to this subsection
					 for uses outside the Central Valley Project service area shall be subject to a
					 right of first refusal on the same terms and conditions by entities within the
					 Central Valley Project service area. The right of first refusal must be
					 exercised within ninety days from the date that notice is provided of the
					 proposed transfer. Should an entity exercise the right of first refusal, it
					 must compensate the transferee who had negotiated the agreement upon which the
					 right of first refusal is being exercised for that entity's total costs
					 associated with the development and negotiation of the transfer.
(G) No transfer authorized by this subsection shall he
					 considered by the Secretary as conferring supplemental or additional benefits
					 on Central Valley Project water contractors as provided in
					 section
					 203 of
					 Public Law
					 97-293(43 U.S.C.
					 390(cc)).
(H) The Secretary shall not approve a transfer authorized
					 by this subsection unless the Secretary has determined, consistent with
					 paragraph 3405(a)(2) of this title, that the transfer will not violate the
					 provisions of this title or other Federal law and will have no significant
					 adverse effect on the Secretary's ability to deliver water pursuant to the
					 Secretary's Central Valley Project contractual obligations or fish and wildlife
					 obligations under this title because of limitations in conveyance or pumping
					 capacity.
(I) The water subject to any transfer undertaken pursuant
					 to this subsection shall be limited to water that would have been consumptively
					 used or irretrievably lost to beneficial use during the year or years of the
					 transfer.
(J) The Secretary shall not approve a transfer authorized
					 by this subsection unless the Secretary determines, consistent with paragraph
					 3405(a)(2) of this title, that such transfer will have no significant long-term
					 adverse impact on groundwater conditions in the transferor's service
					 area.
(K) The Secretary shall not approve a transfer unless the
					 Secretary determines, consistent with paragraph 3405(a)(2) of this title, that
					 such transfer will have no unreasonable impact on the water supply, operations,
					 or financial conditions of the transferor's contracting district or agency or
					 its water users.
(L) The Secretary shall not approve a transfer if the
					 Secretary determines, consistent with paragraph 3405(a)(2) of this title, that
					 such transfer would result in a significant reduction in the quantity or
					 decrease in the quality of water supplies currently used for fish and wildlife
					 purposes, unless the Secretary determines pursuant to finding setting forth the
					 basis for such determination that such adverse effects would be more than
					 offset by the benefits of the proposed transfer. In the event of such a
					 determination, the Secretary shall develop and implement alternative measures
					 and mitigation activities as integral and concurrent elements of any such
					 transfer to provide fish and wildlife benefits substantially equivalent to
					 those lost as a consequence of such transfer.
(M) Transfers between Central Valley Project contractors
					 within countries, watersheds, or other areas of origin, as those terms are
					 utilized under California law, shall be deemed to meet the conditions set forth
					 in subparagraphs (A) and (I) of this paragraph.
(2) Review and Approval of Transfers. All transfers subject
					 to review and approval under this subsection shall be reviewed and approved in
					 a manner consistent with the following:
(A) Decisions on water transfers subject to review by a
					 contracting district or agency or by the Secretary shall be rendered within
					 ninety days of receiving a written transfer proposal from the transferee or
					 transferor. Such written proposal should provide all information reasonably
					 necessary to determine whether the transfer complies with the terms and
					 conditions of this subsection.
(B) All transfers subject to review by a contracting
					 district or agency shall be reviewed in a public process similar to that
					 provided for in section
					 226 of
					 Pub. L.
					 97-293.
(C) The contracting district or agency or the Secretary
					 shall approve all transfers subject to review and approval by such entity if
					 such transfers are consistent with the terms and conditions of this subsection.
					 To disapprove a transfer, the contracting district or agency or the Secretary
					 shall inform the transferee and transferor, in writing, why the transfer does
					 not comply with the terms and conditions of this subsection and what
					 alternatives, if any, could be included so that the transfer would reasonably
					 comply with the requirements of this subsection.
(D) If the contracting district or agency or the Secretary
					 fails to approve or disapprove a proposed transfer within ninety days of
					 receiving a complete written proposal from the transferee or transferor, then
					 the transfer shall be deemed approved.
(3) Transfers executed after September 30, 1999 shall only
					 be governed by the provisions of subparagraphs 3405(a)(1)(A) -(C), (E), (G),
					 (H), (I), (L), and (M) of this title, and by State law.
(f) Increased Revenues. All revenues received by the
					 Secretary as a result of the increased repayment rates applicable to water
					 transferred from irrigation use to municipal and industrial use under
					 subsection
					 3405(a) of this
					 section, and all increased revenues received by the Secretary as a result of
					 the increased water prices established under subsection
					 3405(d) of this
					 section, shall be covered to the Restoration Fund.
Section
					 3407(d)(2)(a).
					 Restoration Fund
(d) Adjustment and Assessment of Mitigation and Restoration
					 Payments.
(1) In assessing the annual payments to carry out
					 subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall, prior to each fiscal year,
					 estimate the amount that could be collected in each fiscal year pursuant to
					 subparagraphs 2(A) and (B) of this subsection. The Secretary shall decrease all
					 such payments on a proportionate basis from amounts contained in the estimate
					 so that an aggregate amount is collected pursuant to the requirements of
					 paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(2) The Secretary shall assess and collect the following
					 mitigation and restoration payments, to be covered to the Restoration Fund,
					 subject to the requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection:
(A) The Secretary shall require Central Valley Project
					 water and power contractors to make such additional annual payments as are
					 necessary to yield, together with all other receipts, the amount required under
					 paragraph (c)(2) of this subsection; Provided, That such additional payments
					 shall not exceed $30,000,000 (October 1992 price levels) on a three-year
					 rolling average basis; Provided further, That such additional annual payments
					 shall be allocated so as not to exceed $6.00 per acre-foot (October 1992 price
					 levels) for agricultural water sold and delivered by the Central Valley
					 Project, and $12.00 per acre-foot (October 1992 price levels) for municipal and
					 industrial water sold and delivered by the Central Valley Project;
Provided further, that the charge imposed on agricultural
					 water shall be reduced, if necessary, to an amount within the probable ability
					 of the water users to pay as determined and adjusted by the Secretary no less
					 than every five years, taking into account the benefits resulting from
					 implementation of this title; Provided further, That the Secretary shall impose
					 an additional annual charge of $25.00 per acre-foot (October 1992 price levels)
					 for Central Valley Project water sold or transferred to any State or local
					 agency or other entity which has not previously been a Central Valley Project
					 customer and which contracts with the Secretary or any other individual or
					 district receiving Central Valley Project water to purchase or otherwise
					 transfer any such water for its own use for municipal and industrial purposes,
					 to be deposited in the Restoration Fund; And Provided further, That upon the
					 completion of the fish, wildlife, and habitat mitigation and restoration
					 actions mandated under section
					 3406 of this title, the Secretary
					 shall reduce the sums described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section to
					 $35,000,000 per year (October 1992 price levels) and shall reduce the annual
					 mitigation and restoration payment ceiling established under this subsection to
					 $15,000,000 (October 1992 price levels) on a three-year rolling average basis.
					 The amount of the mitigation and restoration payment made by Central Valley
					 Project water and power users, taking into account all funds collected under
					 this title, shall, to the greatest degree practicable, be assessed in the same
					 proportion, measured over a ten-year rolling average, as water and power users'
					 respective allocations for repayment of the Central Valley Project.
For additional information, please contact CVPIA Program
					 Manager (916) 978-5190 February 4, 2011
1. New
					 appendix filed 8-7-2013; operative 9-1-2013 pursuant to Government Code section
					 11343.4(b)(3)
					 (Register 2013, No. 32).