Drought Orders
Drought Order Reporting
Over 39 million Californians receive drinking water through 2,800 community public water systems. Three consecutive years of drought has led to decreased water in lakes, streams, and domestic wells, affecting people who rely on these resources to maintain their standard of living. Governor Newsom declared a drought state of emergency in October 2021, and the State Water Board Division of Drinking Water has maintained a Drought Watch List in order to identify drinking water systems likely to experience drought impacts.
On July 21, 2022, the Division of Drinking Water issued a Drought Technical Order to more than 200 water systems to help track and prepare for potential water shortages. This Order was replaced with the Drought and Conservation Technical Reporting Order on January 1, 2023, which expanded drought and conservation data reporting to the State to all community water systems and non-transient non-community schools.
Water systems that are experiencing a severe water shortage, or systems that have been identified by the State Water Board or Local Primacy Agency staff to be at-risk of experiencing a severe water shortage may be required to submit drought-related data more frequency to the State to facilitate better coordination of assistance and emergency tracking.
| Report Type | Report Frequency | Reporting Deadlines | Which water systems? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Drought Order Reporting | Monthly | Monthly (7 days after end of month) | Water systems that the Division of Drinking Water determines are experiencing or are at-risk of experiencing a severe water shortage, and which are notified by the Division. |
| Weekly Drought Order Reporting | Weekly | Weekly (7 days after end of week) | Water systems that the Division of Drinking Water determines are experiencing or are at-risk of experiencing a severe water shortage, and which are notified by the Division. |
| Monthly Drought & Conservation Reporting | Monthly | Quarterly (month after quarter end date) | All community water systems and nontransient noncommunity schools that are not conducting Monthly and/or Weekly Drought Order Reporting. |
Water systems that are conducting Weekly Drought Order Reporting must also submit Monthly Drought Order Reports as well. The Monthly Drought Order Reports include data points not collected in the Weekly report that are required for systems to satisfy their annual Electronic Annual Reporting (EAR) requirements.
The technical order requires the applicable water systems to follow these directives:
- Submit required drought reports through the Drought Reporting Portal
- Contact ddw-drought@waterboards.ca.gov with any questions or concerns regarding the applicability, the order, or the monitoring frequency.
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