Delta Plan: financing.

Existing law, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, establishes the Delta Stewardship Council as an independent agency of the state. The council is required, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop, adopt, and commence implementation of a comprehensive management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta Plan) , meeting specified requirements. This bill would require the council to develop a long-term finance plan to pay for the costs of implementing the Delta Plan by January 1, 2013. The bill would prohibit the council from adopting new fees for these purposes unless authorized by statute. The bill would authorize the council, before adopting and collecting long-term revenue sources, to seek to obtain early funding contributions from entities that may benefit from implementation of the Delta Plan and to track those contributions to provide credit against future funding requirements.