The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The San Diego Rivers Watershed Consortium Program will establish advisory panels for the designated watersheds of the Otay River, the Sweetwater River, and part of the Tijuana River in southern San Diego County.

(b) The San Diego region is home to one of the fastest growing populations in the nation, which is expected to grow from its current 3,300,000 people to 4,000,000 people by 2050.

(c) Residents in the southern region of San Diego County do not all have direct access to green space and public lands. Park poor communities are highly concentrated south of the San Diego River watershed. One benefit of living in the San Diego region is year-round access to the outdoors and the ability to improve the health and well-being of the general public by improving public access to public lands.

(d) The watersheds of the Otay River, Sweetwater River, and Tijuana River are extraordinary natural resources of statewide significance that have been subject to intense development and are in need of conservation, restoration, protection, including protection of sensitive species, improved water quality, and improved overall health of the ecosystems of the individual watersheds.

(e) The establishment of the program will enable the state to bring together multiple stakeholders to assess the needs of each watershed’s ecosystem and collaborate on watershedwide programs that conserve, restore, and protect natural, historical and cultural resources, wildlife, water quality, and natural floodwater conveyance, and that enhance the overall health of each watershed for beneficial uses, including public enjoyment of recreation and education.

(f) The state has an interest in working with organizations to protect, enhance, and restore the natural, historical, cultural, educational, and recreational resources in rivers and watersheds located in the southern region of the County of San Diego.

(g) The intent of the program is to protect and preserve the health of the watershed for each river within the consortium including streams, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and the diverse natural habitats that are home to plants and animals and that provide educational and recreational opportunities for the public to steward the region’s globally unique and diverse plants and wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 738, Sec. 4. (SB 1367) Effective January 1, 2019.)