Regulation Rulemaking on Urban Water Supplier Monthly Water Conservation Report
The State Water Board adopted a drought emergency water conservation regulation in July 2014. The regulation required the state’s larger urban water suppliers (those with more than 3,000 connections or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually) to provide the Board monthly water conservation and production reports. The Board required the monthly reports until the emergency regulation expired in November 2017; since then, most urban suppliers reported voluntarily. In May 2018, Governor Brown signed into law water efficiency legislation (Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668). This legislation created water use efficiency standards and authorized the State Water Board to require monthly water production, water use, or water conservation reports on a non-emergency basis.
The reports include information on residential water use, total potable water production, measures implemented to conserve water and improve efficiency, and local enforcement actions. The proposed regulation would require monthly reporting of key elements and additional information during water shortages. The regulation on Monthly Urban Water Conservation Reporting was adopted by the State Water Board at its regularly scheduled April 21, 2020 Board Meeting. It was subsequently approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The regulation will become effective on October 1, 2020.
Documents
Notice of Public Webinar: Urban Water Supplier Reporting
- Notice of Public Webinar (September 4, 2020)
The webinar will be conducted through Microsoft Teams (direct link is included in the Notice of Public Webinar) on September 22, 2020 at 1:00pm (PDT). - Webinar Agenda (September 4, 2020)
The webinar will be conducted through Microsoft Teams (direct link is included in the Notice of Public Webinar) on September 22, 2020 at 1:00pm (PDT)
Adopted Regulatory Documents
Board Meeting Agenda Items
- Agenda Item, Draft Resolution, and Proposed Text of Regulation (April 21, 2020)
Notice of Proposed Regulatory Action
- Second Revised Notice (Revised December 17, 2019)
- First Revised Notice (Revised Nov 14, 2019)
- Original Notice (October 31, 2019)
Written comments must be received on or before Friday, January 31, 2020.
Proposed Text of Regulation - See underlined text starting with Article 2, Reporting on page 6. The first section of this document shows existing regulatory language that is being moved without changes to a new location as part of a code cleanup effort. New text is underlined as required by the Office of Administrative Law. (PDF contains Strikeout and/or Underlined text - visit our Accessibility page for additional information.)
- Revised proposed text of the regulation (Revised December 17, 2019)
- Original proposed text (October 31, 2019)
Initial Statement of Reason (IsoR)
- Revised IsoR (Revised December 17, 2019)
- Original IsoR (October 31, 2019)
Process
With the passage of the 2018 water efficiency legislation, State Water Board staff met with stakeholders from January to July 2019 to consider changes to the monthly reporting process. This meeting for all stakeholders covered a draft proposal to require urban water suppliers to submit monthly monitoring reports on potable water production, use and conservation. State Water Board staff presented information on the proposal and solicited input from participants.
How to be informed of the process
To be notified about the process to adopt regulations and opportunities for public comment, sign up for the “Water Conservation Regulations” email distribution list.
Contact
Paola Gonzalez, (916) 322-8417, Paola.Gonzalez@Waterboards.ca.gov
