Drinking water: consolidation and extension of service: at-risk water systems.

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various responsibilities and duties. The act authorizes the state board to contract with, or provide a grant to, an administrator to provide administrative, technical, operational, legal, or managerial services, or any combination of those services, to a designated water system to assist with the provision of an adequate supply of affordable, safe drinking water. The act authorizes the state board to order consolidation with, or extension of service from, a receiving water system if a public water system or state small water system serving a disadvantaged community consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water or if a disadvantaged community is substantially reliant on domestic wells that consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The act requires the state board, no later than July 1, 2020, to develop and adopt a policy that provides a process by which members of a disadvantaged community may petition the state board to consider ordering consolidation. This bill would authorize the state board to order consolidation between a receiving water system and an at-risk water system, as defined, upon receipt of a petition that substantially conforms to the above-referenced policy adopted by the state board and that is either approved by the water system's governing body or signed by at least 30% of the households served by the water system. For purposes of that provision, the bill would authorize the state board to contract with a technical assistance provider or appoint an administrator to provide information to a community regarding the petition process, to assist with the preparation of a petition, or to evaluate whether a water system is an at-risk water system.