AB2453 - Will This Be The New Model For Local Management Of Groundwater In California?
Presented on Thursday, December 17, 2015
John Diodati, Public Works, County of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires local agencies to sustainably manage groundwater resources, which will profoundly affect numerous basins. Some California basins have adequate existing local agencies capable of this task; others do not. Stakeholders in the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin (Paso Basin) – a 600,000 acre basin in Central California – worked with Assemblyman Achadjian to introduce AB2453, a bill which created the opportunity to form California’s first hybrid water district. The intent was to have a board of directors that reflected the unique demographics of the basin. Instead of a basin comprised solely of agricultural interests, the Paso basin has a diverse mix of rural residential, commercial wineries, irrigated agriculture (vineyards, deciduous fruit, forage crops & vegetables) and livestock.
Traditional water districts board of directors are elected by landowners on a weighted ‘one acre-one vote’ methodology. AB2453 modifies this practice by instituting a hybrid nine member board reflective of the various land uses in the Paso Basin. Three members have to be registered voters living within the district boundary, and would be elected by registered voters living within the district boundary. The remaining six seats would be filled by landowners, but broken further into three categories of small (<40 acres), medium (40 – 400 acres) and large (>400 acres) landowners. These members would be elected by an acreage vote, similar to traditional water districts.
Creation of the water district is subject to a formation vote by landowners and funding approval under Proposition 218. The application to form the district is currently under review by the Local Agency Formation Commission, with the landowner formation vote and Proposition 218 funding approval tentatively scheduled for March 2016. If formed, will AB2453 be the new model for other basins seeking local control of groundwater management under SGMA?
John Diodati
Public Works, County of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA
John Diodati is the Department Administrator for the County of San Luis Obispo Public Works Department. He works on project development for numerous water resource projects, most recently as a team member of a $187M coastal recycled wastewater facility, with no ocean outfall and 100% beneficial reuse. John’s current assignment is Project Manager of the Paso Robles groundwater basin water district formation, a nearly 500,000 acre basin in California subject to the State’s new groundwater legislation. John has a degree in agriculture and MBA, both from Cal Poly State University.
