Bond revenues: integrated regional water management: grants.

The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative bond act approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing a safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, and resource protection program. Existing law appropriates $181,971,000 of that bond money to the Department of Water Resources for integrated regional water management activities. Of the $181,971,000 appropriated to the department, existing law allocates $100,000,000 for implementation grants and $39,000,000 for planning grants, local groundwater assistance grants, and CALFED scientific research grants. Of that amount, existing law also requires the department to allocate not less than 10% to address the critical water supply needs of disadvantaged communities and to facilitate the participation of those communities in integrated regional water management planning. This bill would require the department to achieve that 10% statewide allocation by awarding grants for those purposes to disadvantaged communities within a hydrologic region in a total dollar amount that is not less than 10% of the total dollar amount of grants awarded within that region. The bill would require the department to implement the allocation with due diligence, but would require the department to implement that specified regional allocation only to the extent that the implementation does not affect the expeditious allocation of funds, as specified. The department would be required to submit a related report to the Legislature by July 1, 2010.