An act to add Article 4.8 (commencing with Section 53759.5) to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 12405, 12410, and 12415 Section 10730 of the Water Code, relating to water.
AB 2728 amends the Open and Transparent Water Data Act to expand the state’s integrated water data platform and clarify the purposes of data integration. The bill specifies that improving management of California’s water resources includes improving the efficacy of management actions, and it directs the Department of Water Resources (DWR), working with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to continue building and maintaining a statewide platform that consolidates water and ecological data from state, federal, local, and academic sources.
The bill also requires DWR to make additional information available on the platform by August 1, 2027, including specified state and federal agency data such as hatchery production, release, and escapement information. It updates the platform’s minimum data requirements to include standardized integration of datasets on reservoir operations, groundwater, water rights, water quality, streamflow, Central Valley Project operations, fish abundance and distribution, and water transfers and exchanges, including details such as volume, price, delivery method, and the identities of buyers and sellers. The bill further states legislative intent to enact subsequent legislation related to water delivery infrastructure.
AB 2728 would amend Sections 12405, 12410, and 12415 of the Water Code, strengthening and expanding the Open and Transparent Water Data Act’s requirements for the statewide integrated water data platform. It would place additional obligations on DWR to incorporate more agency datasets, improve metadata and standardized formats, and make more detailed information about water transfers and fish hatchery-related data available to the public. The bill does not create a new appropriation or local program mandate, but it would affect state agencies that collect, manage, or publish water and ecological data, as well as parties involved in water transfers and exchanges.
The available vote history suggests broad support for the bill. It passed the relevant committee 13-0 and was ordered to the Consent Calendar, which typically indicates little opposition and a relatively noncontroversial measure. The bill’s focus on transparency, data coordination, and improved water management appears to have been received positively by legislators.
There is little evidence of significant contention in the available materials. The main policy choices are the scope and timing of expanded data-sharing requirements, especially the inclusion of detailed water transfer information and additional hatchery production, release, and escapement data by 2027. Any concerns would likely center on administrative workload, data availability, interagency coordination, and the handling of market-sensitive water transfer information, but no explicit opposition or debate is reflected in the provided record.