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110 Part i california Water The value of coordination is spurring the expansion of new forms of formal and informal cooperation. Joint powers authorities are becoming a popular mechanism to allow agencies to conduct joint investments and operations in areas such as watershed and groundwater basin management.41 The past 15 years also have seen the rise of groups engaged in groundwater management plan- ning and regional water planning, encouraged in part by the availability of state bond funds for these activities (Chapter 6).42 In addition, state laws (Senate Bill [SB] 610 and SB 221, passed in 2001) now require local land use authorities to coordinate with water utilities before approving large urban development projects (more than 500 units) to ensure that long-term supplies will be available (Hanak 2005b, 2010). As part of the 2007 flood legislation, local governments in the Central Valley will soon be required to incorporate flood risk considerations in their general plans and establish community protection goals (AB 162). This progress notwithstanding, more systematic efforts will be needed to coordinate and integrate water management activities at the basin and watershed scale to effectively address growing water supply, flood, water quality, and ecosystem management challenges (Chapters 5, 6, 8). State and Federal Roles in a Decentralized System Although day-to-day management of California water is highly decentralized, federal and state authorities from all three branches of government set the overall policy framework and regulatory context for local entities. Congress and the state legislature are the ultimate policymakers, but a range of federal and state agencies have considerable regulatory authority over water policy, planning, and operations. The judicial branch’s role in resolving legal disputes makes it a critical arbiter of many controversial issues. Legislatures Congress and the California legislature have been responsible for numerous large and small water policy decisions and directives. As described in Chapter 1, the federal Flood Control Act of 1928 brought major changes to flood manage- ment policy, and state legislative and congressional approval of the Central Valley Project in the 1930s and the State Water Project in 1959 set the stage for the 41. Examples include the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (watershed management, including the operation of a brine line) (Chapter 6), the Sacramento Regional Water Authority (groundwater management within the Sacramento area) (www.rwah2o.org/rwa/), and the Orange County’s Groundwater Replenishment System, noted above. 42. Hanak (2003) provides information on multiagency groundwater management planning entities formed under Assembly Bill (AB) 3030, adopted in 1992.