GRA Annual Legislative Symposium and Lobby Day - April 28, 2010

UPCOMING EVENT

Groundwater Resources Association of California
In cooperation with the
California Groundwater Coalition
Presents

GRA ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE SYMPOSIUM AND LOBBY DAY
April 28, 2010

Hotel Venue: The Citizen Hotel, 926 J Street, Sacramento
(PLEASE NOTE — Emails sent before 4/9/10 listed the wrong hotel.)

California Groundwater:
Looking Back & Marching Ahead

Register For This Event - http://www.grac.org/legreg

PROGRAM AGENDA:

8:00 — Registration, Networking and Continental Breakfast

8:30 — Welcome

GRAC President, Bill Pipes
CGC President, Ken Manning
Moderator, Chris Frahm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

8:45 — Speaker of the Assembly, John Perez (D-Los Angeles)(Invited)
Meeting the Challenges of California 2010

9:00 — Mark Cowin, Director, Department of Water Resources

Recently appointed to be California’s Director of Water Resources, Mark Cowin brings to the job extensive knowledge about groundwater issues affecting state and local agencies. Director Cowin will talk about the recently released draft of the California Water Plan, the importance of groundwater generally and funding opportunities under current and future bond measures. He will also share his view of the challenges which lie ahead for California water and how the Department of Water Resources will grapple with them.

9:15 — Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica), Chairwoman
Senate Natural Resources Committee

A strong advocate for the environment, Senator Pavley has introduced SB 918, a measure that would require the State Department of Public Health to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable water reuse for groundwater recharge; develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse; and would require the department to investigate the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse and to provide a final report on that investigation to the Legislature by December 31, 2016. Chairwoman Pavley will share with our members how this bill fits into planning for California’s future water supply reliability, and, how we can bridge water quality and public perception gaps in order to get there.

9:30 — Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Fresno)

After years of work advocating for a legislative water bond measure to help ensure investment in California’s water supply and delivery system, Senator Cogdill returns triumphant this year to share with our members how it got done, and, what lies ahead as the water bond now faces a disgruntled electorate. The proposed water bond has more funding for groundwater than any prior bond measure. Senator Cogdill will talk about the water bond campaign and, what GRA and CGC members can do to help ensure the passage of the water bond.

9:45 — Assembly Member Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana)

Assembly Member Solorio of Orange County Chairs the Assembly’s Select Committee on Regional Approaches to Addressing the State’s Water Crisis. Assembly Member Solorio will brief our members on the Committee’s activities and future plans to address water supply reliability in Southern California. Assembly Member Solorio will also talk about his bill, AB 1834, which provides landowners the authority to install rainwater recapture systems to landscaping or to recharge groundwater and discuss the role that stormwater can play in helping to meet Southern California’s future water supply needs.

10:00 Break — PLEASE BE BACK IN YOUR SEAT IN TIME FOR THE NEXT SPEAKER

10:15 — Proposed Regulation of California Groundwater – The Next Installment

Catherine Freeman, Legislative Analyst Office
Russ McGlothlin, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst, NRDC (Invited)
Robb Whitaker, General Manager, Water Replenishment District of So CA

Catherine Freeman
The LAO has recently released a report entitled, LIQUID ASSETS: IMPROVING MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE’S GROUNDWATER RESOURCES (REPORT), that builds upon the LAO’s previous 2008 publication, CALIFORNIA’S WATER: AN LAO PRIMER, in which the LAO provided an overview of California’s water system and related legislative policy considerations, including issues related to groundwater. The LAO states that the focus and primary goal of the Report is to outline ways that groundwater management could be improved from a statewide perspective in a way that builds on recent legislative efforts to address this subject area and, to the extent possible, maintain local control over day-to-day management of groundwater systems. In the LAO’s view, reevaluating how groundwater is managed is necessary if it is to achieve it’s full potential as a reliable source of water. The Report also presents the Legislature with a series of actions that would be phased in over a period of time to address current and emerging groundwater management issues.

Russ McGlothlin
Mr. McGlothlin is a Shareholder in the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and a member of its Water & Public Lands and Renewable Energy Practice Groups. His experience includes a broad range of water use issues in California and the western United States, including water right permitting, adjudication of groundwater rights, conjunctive water use, water transfers, water quality, recycled water projects, and environmental matters, including CEQA and ESA compliance.

Barry Nelson (Invited)
Mr. Nelson is a senior policy analyst in NRDC's San Francisco office and has been active on California water issues for two decades. Prior to coming to NRDC, Mr. Nelson was the Executive Director of Save the Bay in Oakland, California, and chaired the successful campaign for passage of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. He is involved with a wide range of issues including ecosystem restoration and water management through the CALFED Bay-Delta program.

Robb Whitaker
Mr. Whitaker is the General Manager of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, which serves the nearly four million residents and 43 cities of Southern Los Angeles County. Mr. Whitaker has helped spearhead a successful proposed resolution of decades-old disputes in this region to ensure strong, cooperative local management of the region’s precious groundwater resources. Mr. Whitaker will talk about the benefits of local water storage and conjunctive management programs, and, identify how the state helped the region get there.

This year’s panel will have to work hard to beat last year’s “debate” between attorneys Scott Slater (Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck) and Tony Rossman (Rossman and Moore) (but we think they can deliver).

11:00 — Assembly Member Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), Vice Chairwoman, Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife

Assembly Member Fuller is Vice-Chairwoman of the Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. She is a member of the State Allocation Board, the Assembly Committees on Agriculture, Utilities and Commerce, and Budget Subcommittee on Education and Finance. Assembly Member Fuller is the author of AB 2336 which requires the Delta Stewardship Council in the process of developing the Delta Plan to consider the impacts of fish predation and make suggestions for remedies.

11:15 — Kamyar Guivetchi, P.E., Manager, Statewide Integrated Water Management

Integrated Water Management is a core planning principal of the California Water Plan, the importance of which has grown significantly as ties to eligibility for statewide funding have increased. Mr. Guivetchi will update our members on the latest developments in this IRWM program; this is your opportunity to let DWR know what works – and what doesn’t work – in IRWM program implementation.

11:45 — BREAK BEFORE LUNCH

12:00 — Luncheon Program

DUE TO ASSEMBLY MEMBER HUFFMAN’S SCHEDULE, HIS REMARKS WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 12:00 AND CONCLUDE BY 12:30. PLEASE BE IN YOUR SEATS BY 12:00.

Keynote Speaker – Assembly Member Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) Chairman, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee

Assembly Member Huffman is a former member of the Marin Municipal Water District Board and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Assembly Member Huffman showed his “mettle” last year, playing a key role in the passage of the comprehensive water bill package that included groundwater monitoring. A strong proponent of groundwater and integrated regional water management planning, Assembly Member Huffman will update our members on what he sees happening – and, what he thinks should happen next – in the California water world. Assembly Member Huffman will also talk about two key bills he has authored, AB 2304, sponsored by GRA (TBD) and CGC, to protect prime recharge areas in California; and, AB 2092 which would task the Delta Stewardship Council to develop a long term financing plan and report back to the Legislature for approval by January 1, 2013.

Overview of Pending Legislation – Duncan McFetridge, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Federal Update – Tim Parker, GRA Legislative Committee Chairman

1:30 — Special Workshop – Groundwater Monitoring Implementation
Mary Scruggs, Supervising Engineering Geologist, Department of Water Resources

This special workshop will kick off with a report by Mary Scruggs, updating our members about the requirements of SB 6 and the process and timeline by which DWR is proceeding to develop the regulations for its enforcement. This workshop session will be your opportunity to talk to the Administration first-hand to share your comments, concerns and questions with regard to implementation of groundwater monitoring under SB 6.

2:30pm — Walk to the Capitol

3:00pm — AFTERNOON MEETINGS*

3:00pm — Assembly Member Anna Cabellero (D-Salinas)

3:15pm — Senator Lois Wolk (D-Linden)

3:30pm — Senator Huff (R-Glendora)

3:45pm — Assembly Member Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego)

4:00pm — Assembly Member Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista)

4:15pm — Maziar Movassaghi, Director Department of Toxic Substances and Control

Historically viewed as “regulators,” Maziar Movassaghi is seeking to reinvent DTSC to become more proactive and part of the planning solution to address California’s water supply problems. Director Movassaghi will share with our members the “fresh face” he wants to put on the DTSC.

4:30 pm — Kip Lipper, Senior Consultant to the President Pro Tempore

*All meetings according to member availability and subject to change

5:00 — Cocktail Reception
Chops Restaurant (Across the street from the Capitol)
1117 11th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814-380

SYMPOSIUM LOCATION: The Symposium will be at the Citizen Hotel, 926 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Legislative visits will be at the State Capitol.

Register online at http://www.grac.org/legreg

Questions? Call Duncan McFetridge at (916) 441-1232. or (916) 717-4950.