Your Guide to the Water Shutoff Protection Act
Want to report a water shut off?
Are you experiencing a water shut off situation due to non-payment? Please use the Water Shutoff Form button to submit your complaint to the State Water Resources Control Board for review.
For resources related to other water shut off concerns, please see below.
Related Links
Customer and Community Resources
- Water Shutoff Fact Sheet (FAQ) - Frequently asked questions associated with the Water Shutoff Protection Act.
- Hoja Informativa sobre cortes del servicio residencial de agua - Preguntas frecuentes relacionadas a la Ley de Protección contra cortes del agua
- Find your water system - Use this map tool to help identify a water system's service area based on residential address.
- Concerns about water quality? - Use the CalEPA Form to submit complaints and/or concerns of drinking water quality in your area.
- Public Health & Safety Shut Offs: Water systems occasionally need to shut off water service for repairs or to correct a water safety issue and will issue a public notification to customers. If you or your neighbors are experiencing an unexpected shut off not related to payment issues, your water system will still have the most up-to-date information about when service will resume. Reference the public notice you received, contact your landlord, or find and contact your water system using the map tool linked to above “Find your water system”.
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Legislation & Legal Resources
Legislation
The Water Shutoff Protection Act was established with the passing of Senate Bill (SB) 998 in 2018. In 2023 SB 3 was passed to expand the requirements set forth in the Water Shutoff Protection Act to all community water systems in the state. A community water system is a system that serves at least 15 service connections or regularly serves at least 25 yearlong residents. You can read the full text of the bill below:
Annual Water Shut Off Totals
The Water Shutoff Protection Act requires that water systems report shut off data (specifically related to non-payment) to the Water Boards annually. Water systems submit this data through the Electronic Annual Report (eAR). A compilation of that data can be found via the below links:
Data Coming Soon
Legal Resources
Is your water provider or utility provider violating the law?
- If you feel your water system is violating your rights or the law outside the scope of the Water Shutoff Protection Act, please submit a complaint to the Department of Justice using the following link: Consumer Complaint Against a Business/Company.
- On October 26, 2022, Attorney General Rob Bonta instructed water systems to immediately cease all water shut offs that do not comply with the Act. Water systems that have not yet adopted compliant policies and made them available to the public must do so immediately. Additional information is below:
