Water Boards COVID-19 Updates
The State Water Boards continue to work under the direction of California Governor Gavin Newsom during the coronavirus public health crisis to assure the state’s commitment to public health and safety.
These are extraordinary times and the environmental protection work of the State Water Boards and Division of Drinking Water remains essential during this crisis. We are sensitive to the impact the COVID-19 response and economic downturn is having and will have on most segments of society. We will continue to use judgment and flexibility as circumstances present themselves.
Toward that end, we have provided guidance to the regulated community, local and regional jurisdictions, as well as the state population.
Below are links to important guidance to regulated industry and the general public.
Table of Contents
Guidance
Public Health Guidance for Citizens
- Report the interruption of drinking water service
- California Water and Wastewater Arrearage Payment Program
- California’s Recycled Water and Treated Wastewater Is Safe from the COVID-19 Virus (4/21/20)
- Governor Issues Water Shutoff Order and Takes Steps to Maintain Delivery of Critical Water Services During COVID-19 Crisis (4/2/20)
- Comunicado de Prensa en Español - El Gobernador Emite Orden Contra Cierre del Agua y Toma Medidas Para Mantener Servicios Críticos Durante COVID-19
- Guidance for Residential Water Customers and Water Systems During COVID-19 State of Emergency (04/02/20)
- Compliance with Water Board Requirements During the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency (03/20/20)
- Reminder About California’s Drinking Water Systems - State-Required Treatment Process Removes Viruses, Including COVID-19 (03/19/20)
- Information for Sanitation and Wastewater Workers on COVID-19
- The Water Environment Federation’s “The Water Professional’s Guide to COVID-19”
Sewershed Surveillance for COVID-19
Monitoring municipal wastewater and sludge for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, along with clinical data on infections and virus shedding rates can provide valuable information to inform COVID-19 epidemiology and the State’s and local health officials’ response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) variants of concern can be identified in wastewater samples 1-2 weeks prior to being detected in clinical samples from the same area, making wastewater surveillance useful for detecting and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 at the population scale.
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, local jurisdictions, and academia, has been collecting and processing data from wastewater surveillance efforts since December 2020. The data collected by the State Water Board is submitted to the California Department of Public Health and subsequently submitted to the National Sewershed Surveillance System (NWSS), a national public health tool used to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples collected across the country.
More information is available at the Water Board’s Sewershed Surveillance for COVID-19 webpage.
State and Regional Board Contacts and Remote Meeting Pages
State Water Board Organizations
State Water Board's Remote Meeting Page
- Division of Drinking Water: contact your District Office or Local Primacy Agency To find your Drinking Water Field Office
Visit our map to find your coverage area - Division of Water Rights
- Diversion located within the Legal Delta or Suisun Marsh - Kristi.Matal@waterboards.ca.gov
- Diversion located outside the Legal Delta or Suisun Marsh - DWR@waterboards.ca.gov
- Administrative Hearings Office - Alan.Lilly@waterboards.ca.gov
- Division of Administrative Services, Fees - David.Ceccarelli@waterboards.ca.gov
- Division of Water Quality and Underground Storage Tank Regulator - DWQ@waterboards.ca.gov
- Office of Information Management and Analysis Sewershed Surveillance for COVID-19 - Greg.Gearheart@waterboards.ca.gov@waterboards.ca.gov
- Division of Financial Assistance - Christine.Gordon@waterboards.ca.gov
- Office of Public Affairs
