Wolk climate change bill passes key committee

Bill updates state’s planning for water infrastructure and conveyance system

SACRAMENTO—The Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee today approved legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) that would require the state to include the projected effects of climate change in its water plans.

Wolk’s Assembly Bill 224 would require that the projected effects of climate change on California’s future water supply be considered in plans for the state’s future water supply needs. 

“The world’s top scientific minds have shown us that climate change is already affecting our water supply. California has seen more frequent, serious floods, and a higher average elevation of snowfall in the Sierra,” said Wolk. “All evidence indicates that not too far in the future climate change will alter our water patterns. If we are to keep up with these changes, we must begin adapting our water infrastructure now.  But the first step in adaptation is planning, with the best information available.”

Specifically, AB 224 requires DWR to identify the available climate change information, and the State Water Resources Control Board to study alternatives for creating new water supplies and incorporate climate change information in its water quality planning.  The bill also requires local water suppliers to consider the information identified by DWR in preparing urban water management plans, agricultural water management plans, and integrated regional water management plans.

Among those testifying in support of AB 224 was Robert Wilkinson, a water expert who has advised the California Energy Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on climate change research.

“The additional information and planning used in accounting for what we do know about climate change, and what we are learning about climate change, and also the energy inputs into these systems, is going to be very important to our ability to analyze options to inform public policy,” said Wilkinson, the director of the Water Policy Program at University of California at Santa Barbara Graduate School of Science and Management.

AB 224 will next be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. The bill is sponsored by the Sonoma County Water Agency, Marin Municipal Water District, and Planning and Conservation League, and is supported by the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club California.