6 Things to Know About Making Conservation a California Way of Life!
Making Conservation a California Way of Life, the regulatory framework proposed by the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) staff establishes efficiency goals for Urban Retail Water Suppliers. The overall intent of the regulation is to reduce urban water use by more than 400-thousand-acre feet (AF) by 2030. This framework began with the 2018 passing of Assembly Bill 1668 and Senate Bill 606, which directed the State Water Board to adopt efficiency standards and performance measures. This is part of the state’s all-of-the-above strategy to expand storage, develop new water supplies, and promote efficient water use as outlined in California’s Water Supply Strategy released in 2022.
On October 4, the State Water Board held a Public Hearing to receive comments on the proposed regulation text. Written comments are due by October 17, 2023. To help make sense of the regulations, here are some key clarifications:
1. Who does this apply to?
Individual households or businesses will not be held to annual “urban water use objectives.” These regulations apply to Urban Retail Water Suppliers, with the flexibility to meet their water use objectives in a way that works best for them.
2. Does each standards-based budget need to be met?
Urban retail suppliers would need to meet the overall objective, not each individual budget. The one exception is the budget for water loss, which was set separately with Senate Bill 555.
3. What are applicable variances?
Variances are an additional volume of water that an urban retail water supplier may request to add to its urban water use objective for a unique use that has a material effect on their urban water use objective, such as dust control, seasonal population, evaporative cooling, and fire suppression.
4. How does the bonus incentive work?
If an urban retail water supplier delivers water from a groundwater basin, reservoir, or other source that is augmented by potable reuse water, the supplier may add an extra bonus incentive of up to 15% of the sum of the budgets (not to be confused with 15% of the facility’s production).
5. When will this take effect?
Each urban retail water supplier shall calculate and comply with its urban water use objective no later than January 1, 2025, and every January 1 thereafter. The water use objective is based on the supplier’s water use conditions for the previous state fiscal year.
6. How can MWDOC help?
MWDOC will continue to provide water use efficiency program implementation and grant acquisition to assist agencies with compliance. Key programs include Water Loss Control and the Dedicated Irrigation Meter Landscape Area Measurement.