Department of Water Resources: aerial snow survey.

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to gather and correlate information and data pertinent to an annual forecast of seasonal water crop, including the making of snow surveys, either independently or in cooperation with any person or any county, state, federal, or other agency. Existing law also 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. This bill would require, to the extent an appropriation is made for these purposes, the department's California snow survey program to conduct aerial surveys of the snowpack and conduct supporting forecasts of runoff volume and timing for the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range and the Klamath-Trinity Mountains, including areas that drain or supply water to major reservoirs and lakes. The bill would require the department to conduct the surveys and forecasts up to 10 times per year and to analyze and make publicly available any summaries and underlying data, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2029, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2030.