AB 345: Habitat restoration: flood control: advance payments.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Water Resources to make examinations of lands subject to inundation and overflow by floodwaters and of the waters causing the inundation or overflow and to make plans and estimates of the cost of works to regulate and control the floodwaters. Existing law also vests in the department charge of all expenditures unless otherwise provided by law for all public works relating to general river and harbor improvements, including reclamation and drainage of lands. Existing law authorizes the department to cooperate and contract with any agency of the state or of the United States in order to carry out its powers and purposes.

Existing law establishes the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and authorizes the board to engage in various flood control activities along the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin River, their tributaries, and related areas.

This bill would authorize the department or the board to provide advance payments, as defined, to local agencies for projects that restore habitat for threatened and endangered species under state or federal law or improve flood protection, as provided. The bill would prohibit the amount of funds advanced by the department or the board to the local agency at any one time from exceeding 25% of the entire amount authorized to be provided under the funding agreement. The bill would require the project proponent to demonstrate a need for an advance payment and that the project proponent is sufficiently qualified to manage the project and the projects finances. The bill would require the funds to be spent within 6 months and would require the recipient to provide an accountability report to the department or the board on a quarterly basis, as specified.