Fast Track Ahead for Emergency Regulations

The State Water Resources Control Board late Tuesday issued the draft framework for forthcoming emergency regulations designed to help the state conserve water in the face of severe drought. Under an executive order issued by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, the Water Board was directed to develop, impose and enforce mandatory water reduction measures aimed at achieving a statewide 25 percent reduction in potable urban water use. The Water Board is moving quickly. Draft emergency regulations will be released April 17. Adoption is scheduled for May 5 or May 6.

The Water Board’s draft regulatory framework provides the concepts that will be used to develop the new emergency regulations. The framework can be found under the “Documents” tab here.

Larger Urban Water Providers: Four Tiers of Required Conservation

The framework places 411 urban water providers into four tiers of required conservation levels. The tier classifications range from 10 percent to 35 percent. Assignments to these “conservation standards” are based on each of the water suppliers’ per capita usage in September 2014. Areas with high per capita use must achieve proportionally greater reductions than those with low use. At the low end, 18 water suppliers must achieve 10 percent potable water savings, while 126 must achieve 20 percent, 132 must achieve 25 percent, and 135 must achieve 35 percent. The Water Board has posted a complete listing of these “urban water suppliers,” which serve more than 3,000 customers or deliver more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually, which can be found with the draft framework under the “Documents” tab here.

Under the proposal, compliance by the 411 urban water suppliers would be assessed for the period of June 2015 through February 2016. Enforcement tools may include warning letters, orders for information, cease and desist orders, and fines of up to $10,000 for each day out of compliance. In addition, the draft framework includes new reporting requirements to assess compliance by commercial, industrial and institutional sector customers and actions taken by urban water suppliers to reduce water usage in these sectors.

Small Water Providers: Mandatory 25 Percent Water Savings

The framework also addresses the 2,600 “small water suppliers” in the state that serve fewer than 3,000 customers or deliver less than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually. The framework proposes that they be uniformly required to achieve a 25 percent potable water savings compared to their 2013 usage. For the first time, these smaller suppliers would have to report their water use and conservation measures to the Water Board in the form of a one-time report due 180 days after the effective date of the new emergency regulations. The same enforcement tools as those used for larger urban suppliers could come into play.

Per last week’s Executive Order, the following measures also will be put into place through the forthcoming emergency regulation process:

• The use of potable water outside newly constructed homes and buildings that is not delivered by drip or micro-spray systems will be prohibited.
• The use of potable water to irrigate ornamental turf on public street medians will be prohibited.

The Water Board also will consider adding requirements for large landscape users such as colleges, golf courses and cemeteries that are not served by the type of water suppliers discussed above to achieve the 25 percent statewide reduction in potable urban water use.

The Water Board seeks feedback on the draft regulatory framework, as well as other ideas for structuring a 25 percent reduction in potable water use. Comments and ideas should be submitted to Jessica Bean at Jessica.Bean@waterboards.ca.gov by April 13. More information about public input can be found in this fact sheet.

It is important that water agencies act quickly and be in-the-know about all the new drought-related measures.