Legislative Updates
Current Legislation
2024
The following legislative priorities for the new legislative session supports the District’s mission and incorporates its overall water supply reliability and water quality objectives.
Top Legislative Priorities for 2024
- Continue active support for the California Water For All (SB 366/Caballero) legislation, educating legislators on the comprehensive, long-term water supply solutions that will transform water management in the state.
- Continue support for imported water supply resiliency and reliability, including progress on the Delta Conveyance Project, Sites Reservoir Project, Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (Voluntary Agreements), and development of near-term and post-2026 Colorado River operating guidelines.
- Conserve existing water supplies and prepare for climate change by supporting demand management and water use efficiency, long-term non-functional turf conversion, and a federal tax exemption for water conservation rebates.
- Advance Pure Water Southern California and other water recycling projects and long-term supply reliability improvements.
- Support funding for regional conveyance improvements to ensure the region’s water storage is equitably accessible to all member agencies.
- Protect drinking water quality and ensure access to safe and reliable drinking water for all Californians, including upholding the polluter pays principle and ensuring the continued cleanup of sites along the Colorado River.
- Support adaptive management for ecosystem restoration in the Bay-Delta and Colorado River watersheds that takes into consideration evolving climate conditions, risk analyses, and best available science.
- Improve water affordability throughout the region at both the individual and water system level without burdening existing ratepayers.
- Consider support for MWD-sponsored administrative/legislative actions to amend the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act to eliminate the sunset date to allow Metropolitan to continue operating under its existing master reclamation plan.
- Provide ongoing briefings at Miramar for our local state/federal legislators and prospective future representatives as legislative offices term out and/or retirements take place
2024 Legislative Policy Principles
The following Legislative Policy Principles are intended to guide and inform the district’s engagement on state and federal legislative and regulatory activities. These principles address key strategic areas of policy that promote the district’s mission to supplement and enhance local water supplies to meet our region’s needs in a reliable and cost-effective manner.
- Drought Response – Investments in additional conservation and local supplies are necessary as drought conditions continue to be a threat, coupled with the perpetual impacts of climate change.
- Drinking Water – TVMWD provides the east San Gabirel Valley region with high-quality, reliable drinking water in an economically responsible way that surpasses all federal and state drinking water regulations.
- Regional Water Resource Management – Promote collaboration with member agencies to plan for future water supply needs and the challenges ahead in a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible manner. This involves protecting imported water supplies and quality, supporting local resource development, advancing water use efficiency, and supporting ecosystem protection and restoration.
- Imported Water Supply – TVMWD provides imported water supplies to its member agencies from two primary sources, the Colorado River via the Colorado Aqueduct (MWD) and the State Water Project through the Miramar water treatment system.
- Sustainability, Resiliency, and Innovation – TVMWD supports policies and funding that encourage sustainable practices that improve water and power system resilience and adapt to a rapidly changing environmental landscape. TVMWD strives to fulfill the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations in an environmentally and economically responsible way.
- Infrastructure – TVMWD has a strategic priority to invest in key capital projects in our region to enable long-term, reliable water deliveries, as identified in the Capital Investment Plan.
- System Resiliency – Changes in the climate and accompanying weather extremes are potential challenges facing TVMWD. The district needs to be prepared to respond rapidly to natural disasters and security threats. Resiliency ensures the water supply and delivery system is strong, can return to service quickly, and is prepared to address future challenges.
AB 2449 (Rubio, B) - Enhancing Public Access Through Teleconferencing
Background
Signed by the Governor in September 2022, AB 2449 will eliminate the previously existing concept of teleconference locations and will revise notice requirements to allow for greater public participation in teleconference meetings of local agencies. The bill does not require teleconferencing, rather, it modernizes existing Brown Act law to ensure greater public participation in meetings of the legislative bodies of local agencies who choose to utilize teleconferencing.
AB 2449 requires that a quorum of the governing body be physically present at a clearly identified meeting location for all public meetings. Governing board members participating remotely, under specified guidelines, will not be required to post their remote location to the public. The bill also improves and enhances public access to local agency meetings, consistent with the digital age, by allowing broader access through the teleconferencing options on a consistent, ongoing basis outside of a declared emergency – particularly after the broader AB 361 statute expires on February 28, 2023.