Water bill referred for review

Committee on Local Government and Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife examine SB 634

Committee members in the state legislature tasked with scrutinizing issues affecting water and those affecting government are now slated to review a bill which calls for the creation of one new all-encompassing water district for the SCV.

The Santa Clarita Valley Water District Act – SB 634 – which was approved by the Senate on May 31 and, a day later, read in the Assembly, was referred Thursday to two committees for review: the Committee on Local Government and the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife.

The referral is considered typical and relatively procedural.

On Thursday, eleven members of the Assembly Rules Committee looked at the history of the bill to see what areas of concern would warrant it being reviewed by one committee over another, according to legislative staffers in Sacramento.

Since the bill deals with water it surprises few to see it’s been assigned to the Committee of Water, Parks and Wildlife, one legislative worker said.

And, since local government would likely have a concern over how water is distributed it makes sense to many that the Committee of Local Government would review it.

For more than a year, officials with the Castaic Lake Water Agency – SCV’s water wholesaler – and the Newhall County Water District – one of its four local water retailers – have been hammering out details of a merger, eliciting input from the public at four public meetings.

In December, both the CLWA and NCWD signed a settlement agreement calling for legislation to be drafted and submitted.

In February, SB 634 was introduced to create one new all-encompassing water agency that would manage and distribute water throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. jholt@signalscv.com 661-287-5527

on Twitter @jamesarthurholt