In light of the critical water reliability issues facing the state, CSDA co-signed a letter with the California Municipal Utilities Association and the Community Water Center urging the Newsom Administration and legislative leaders to provide significant investments in the 2022-2023 State budget for water projects that can help ensure a sustainable water system. With a discretionary budget surplus of nearly $50 billion, the opportunity to take bold action is now. Among the suggested priorities are water affordability, dam safety, access to safe drinking water, groundwater management, recycled water and more. View the letter in its entirety here.
To address the continuing drought with more immediate actions, at its May 24 meeting, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) approved an Emergency Drought Regulation based on Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order #N-7-22 of March 28. The order mandates the following actions:
- All watering of non-functional turf with potable water in commercial, institutional and industrial (CII) settings will be banned. CII users include “…homeowners’ associations, common interest developments, community service organizations, and other similar entities but does not include the residences of these entities’ members or separate interests.” Non-functional turf is defined as “…turf that is solely ornamental and not regularly used for human recreational purposes or for civic or community events. Non-functional turf does not include sports fields and turf that is regularly used for human recreational purposes or for civic or community events.”
- All urban water suppliers are required to submit a preliminary annual water supply and demand assessment to the Department of Water Resources by 6/1/22, followed by a final assessment by 7/1/22.
- By June 10, 2022, all urban water suppliers must implement all demand reduction actions outlined in Level 2 of their Water Shortage Contingency Plans (WSCP). For agencies without a WSCP, the SWRCB prescribes a number of mandatory actions to be taken. The baseline year for measuring demand reduction will be 2020.
Many water suppliers and stakeholders commented at the meeting, with a number noting that their agencies have made significant investments in drought-resilient water supplies and that customer usage has steadily decreased.
SWRCB staff indicated the expectation that water suppliers communicate to their commercial, industrial and institutional (CII) customers about the ban, and also affirmed local agencies’ authority to enforce the regulation at their discretion.
Based on stakeholder feedback, the SWRCB Board altered the draft regulation of May 13 in a few areas. The text of the adopted regulation can be found here. It is anticipated to go into effect the week of June 6 and last for one year, unless extended by the state.
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