Bill > H757

This bill aims to establish science-based streamflow standards to protect natural aquatic life and water resources. It amends existing laws to define the "Division" as the division of fisheries and wildlife and requires the department to adopt regulations for restoring and maintaining stream flows, water levels, and hydrologic regimes, which are protective of natural aquatic life and balance competing water uses. These regulations must incorporate criteria and goals set by the division of fisheries and wildlife, which will establish specific aquatic habitat criteria based on scientific evidence to protect the natural hydrological cycle and its variations, considering site-specific attributes of water sources and watersheds. The division will also define goals to support aquatic health, meaning native, naturally diverse communities of aquatic-dependent flora and fauna, and assess existing aquatic habitat conditions across the commonwealth, with all criteria and goals to be adopted within one year of the bill's enactment. Furthermore, the bill mandates that all feasible means be taken to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of water withdrawals on the natural environment, with mitigation efforts prioritized upstream within the same sub-basin or basin, and allows for agreements with third parties, like the Department of Fish and Game, to implement mitigation.