(a) (1) On or before December 1, 2007, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the purposes of establishing the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, which shall be administered by the state board.

(2) As used in this section, “monitoring council” means the California Water Quality Monitoring Council established pursuant to this section.

(3) The monitoring council may include representatives from state entities and nonstate entities. The representatives from nonstate entities may include, but need not be limited to, representatives from federal and local government, institutions of higher education, the regulated community, citizen monitoring groups, and other interested parties.

(4) The monitoring council shall review existing water quality monitoring, assessment, and reporting efforts, and shall recommend specific actions and funding needs necessary to coordinate and enhance those efforts.

(5) (A) The recommendations shall be prepared for the ultimate development of a cost-effective, coordinated, integrated, and comprehensive statewide network for collecting and disseminating water quality information and ongoing assessments of the health of the state’s waters and the effectiveness of programs to protect and improve the quality of those waters.

(B) For purposes of developing recommendations pursuant to this section, the monitoring council shall initially focus on the water quality monitoring efforts of state agencies, including, but not limited to, the state board, the regional boards, the department, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Department of Pesticide Regulation.

(C) In developing the recommendations, the monitoring council shall seek to build upon existing programs, rather than create new programs.

(6) Among other things, the memorandum of understanding shall describe the means by which the monitoring council shall formulate recommendations to accomplish both of the following:

(A) Reduce redundancies, inefficiencies, and inadequacies in existing water quality monitoring and data management programs in order to improve the effective delivery of sound, comprehensive water quality information to the public and decisionmakers.

(B) Ensure that water quality improvement projects financed by the state provide specific information necessary to track project effectiveness with regard to achieving clean water and healthy ecosystems.

(b) The monitoring council shall report, on or before December 1, 2008, to the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency with regard to its recommendations for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of existing water quality data collection and dissemination, and for ensuring that collected data are maintained and available for use by decisionmakers and the public. The monitoring council shall consult with the United States Environmental Protection Agency in preparing these recommendations. The monitoring council’s recommendations, and any responses submitted by the California Environmental Protection Agency or the Natural Resources Agency to those recommendations, shall be made available to decisionmakers and the public by means of the Internet.

(c) The monitoring council shall undertake and complete, on or before April 1, 2008, a survey of its members to develop an inventory of their existing water quality monitoring and data collection efforts statewide and shall make that information available to the public.

(d) All state agencies, including institutions of higher education to the extent permitted by law, that collect water quality data or information shall cooperate with the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency in achieving the goals of the monitoring council as described in this section.

(e) In accordance with the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) and implementing guidance, the state board shall develop, in coordination with the monitoring council, all of the following:

(1) A comprehensive monitoring program strategy that utilizes and expands upon the state’s existing statewide, regional, and other monitoring capabilities and describes how the state will develop an integrated monitoring program that will serve all of the state’s water quality monitoring needs and address all of the state’s waters over time. The strategy shall include a timeline not to exceed 10 years to complete implementation. The strategy shall be comprehensive in scope and identify specific technical, integration, and resource needs, and shall recommend solutions for those needs so that the strategy may be implemented within the 10-year timeframe.

(2) Agreement, including agreement on a schedule, with regard to the comprehensive monitoring of statewide water quality protection indicators that provide a basic minimum understanding of the health of the state’s waters. Indicators already developed pursuant to environmental protection indicators for statewide initiatives shall be given high priority as core indicators for purposes of the network described in subdivision (a).

(3) Quality management plans and quality assurance plans that ensure the validity and utility of the data collected.

(4) Methodology for compiling, analyzing, and integrating readily available information, to the maximum extent feasible, including, but not limited to, data acquired from discharge reports, volunteer monitoring groups, local, state, and federal agencies, and recipients of state-funded or federally funded water quality improvement or restoration projects.

(5) An accessible and user-friendly electronic data system with timely data entry and ready public access via the Internet. To the maximum extent possible, the geographic location of the areas monitored shall be included in the data system.

(6) Production of timely and complete water quality reports and lists that are required under Sections 303(d), 305(b), 314, and 319 of the federal Clean Water Act and Section 406 of the federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000, that include all available information from discharge reports, volunteer monitoring groups, and local, state, and federal agencies.

(7) An update of the state board’s surface water ambient monitoring program needs assessment in light of the benefits of increased coordination and integration of information from other agencies and information sources. This update shall include identification of current and future resource needs required to fully implement the coordinated, comprehensive monitoring network, including, but not limited to, funding, staff, training, laboratory and other resources, and projected improvements in the network.

(f) The state board shall identify the full costs of implementation of the comprehensive monitoring program strategy developed pursuant to subdivision (e), and shall identify proposed sources of funding for the implementation of the strategy, including federal funds that may be expended for this purpose. Fees collected pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 13260 may be used as a funding source for implementation of the strategy to the extent that the funding is consistent with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 13260.

(g) Data, summary information, and reports prepared pursuant to this section shall be made available to appropriate public agencies and the public by means of the Internet.

(h) (1) Commencing December 1, 2008, the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a triennial audit of the effectiveness of the monitoring program strategy developed pursuant to subdivision (e). The audit shall include, but need not be limited to, an assessment of the following matters:

(A) The extent to which the strategy has been implemented.

(B) The effectiveness of the monitoring and assessment program and the monitoring council with regard to both of the following:

(i) Tracking improvements in water quality.

(ii) Evaluating the overall effectiveness of programs administered by the state board or a regional board and of state and federally funded water quality improvement projects.

(2) The Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency shall consult with the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency in preparing the audit, consistent with the memorandum of understanding entered into pursuant to subdivision (a).

(i) The state board shall prioritize the use of federal funding that may be applied to monitoring, including, but not limited to, funding under Section 106 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, for the purpose of implementing this section.

(j) The state board shall not use more than 5 percent of the funds made available to implement this section for the administrative costs of any contracts entered into for the purpose of implementing this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 673, Sec. 25. (AB 1531) Effective January 1, 2016.)