Water: plans.

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update, every 5 years, the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as The California Water Plan. Existing law requires the department to include a discussion of various strategies in the plan, including, but not limited to, strategies relating to the development of new water storage facilities, water conservation, water recycling, desalination, conjunctive use, water transfers, and alternative pricing policies that may be pursued in order to meet the future needs of the state. This bill would require the department to partner with the Regional Water Authority, water suppliers in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Placer counties, and other interested agencies to develop a plan for investing in water supplies and other facilities in order to contribute to the reliability of water supplies for the Sacramento region's communities and environmental resources while also generating statewide benefits. The bill would require the plan to address certain matters, and would require the department to submit the plan to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2017. To the extent this bill would impose new duties on local officials, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.