Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1979

Introduced by Assembly Member Bigelow

February 16, 2016

An act to amend Section begin delete 10610 end delete begin insert 10631 end insert of the Water Code, relating to water management.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1979, as amended, Bigelow. Urban water management begin delete plans. end delete begin insert plans: projected use. end insert

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Existing law, the Urban Water Management Planning Act, requires every urban water supplier to prepare and periodically update an urban water management plan for submission to the Department of Water Resources. A supplier is required to include in the plan, among other information, population and water use projections in 5-year increments to 20 years or as far as data is available. A supplier that relies upon a wholesale agency for water is also required to provide the wholesale agency with water use projections from that agency for that source of water in 5-year increments to 20 years or as far as data is available.

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This bill would add 5 years to those planning periods by extending the periods from 20 to 25 years.

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Existing law, the Urban Water Management Planning Act, requires every public and private urban water supplier that directly or indirectly provides water for municipal purposes to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan.

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This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that act.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 10631 of the end insert begin insert Water Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

10631.  

A plan shall be adopted in accordance with this chapter
that shall do all of the following:

(a) Describe the service area of the supplier, including current
and projected population, climate, and other demographic factors
affecting the supplier’s water management planning. The projected
population estimates shall be based upon data from the state,
regional, or local service agency population projections within the
service area of the urban water supplier and shall be in five-year
increments to begin delete 20 end delete begin insert 25 end insert years or as far as data is available.

(b) Identify and quantify, to the extent practicable, the existing
and planned sources of water available to the supplier over the
same five-year increments described in subdivision (a). If
groundwater is identified as an existing or planned source of water
available to the supplier, all of the following information shall be
included in the plan:

(1) A copy of any groundwater management plan adopted by
the urban water supplier, including plans adopted pursuant to Part
2.75 (commencing with Section 10750), or any other specific
authorization for groundwater management.

(2) A description of any groundwater basin or basins from which
the urban water supplier pumps groundwater. For basins that a
court or the board has adjudicated the rights to pump groundwater,
a copy of the order or decree adopted by the court or the board and
a description of the amount of groundwater the urban water supplier
has the legal right to pump under the order or decree. For basins
that have not been adjudicated, information as to whether the
department has identified the basin or basins as overdrafted or has
projected that the basin will become overdrafted if present
management conditions continue, in the most current official
departmental bulletin that characterizes the condition of the
groundwater basin, and a detailed description of the efforts being
undertaken by the urban water supplier to eliminate the long-term
overdraft condition.

(3) A detailed description and analysis of the location, amount,
and sufficiency of groundwater pumped by the urban water supplier
for the past five years. The description and analysis shall be based
on information that is reasonably available, including, but not
limited to, historic use records.

(4) A detailed description and analysis of the amount and
location of groundwater that is projected to be pumped by the
urban water supplier. The description and analysis shall be based
on information that is reasonably available, including, but not
limited to, historic use records.

(c) (1) Describe the reliability of the water supply and
vulnerability to seasonal or climatic shortage, to the extent
practicable, and provide data for each of the following:

(A) An average water year.

(B) A single-dry water year.

(C) Multiple-dry water years.

(2) For any water source that may not be available at a consistent
level of use, given specific legal, environmental, water quality, or
climatic factors, describe plans to supplement or replace that source
with alternative sources or water demand management measures,
to the extent practicable.

(d) Describe the opportunities for exchanges or transfers of
water on a short-term or long-term basis.

(e) (1) Quantify, to the extent records are available, past and
current water use, over the same five-year increments described
in subdivision (a), and projected water use, identifying the uses
among water use sectors, including, but not necessarily limited to,
all of the following uses:

(A) Single-family residential.

(B) Multifamily.

(C) Commercial.

(D) Industrial.

(E) Institutional and governmental.

(F) Landscape.

(G) Sales to other agencies.

(H) Saline water intrusion barriers, groundwater recharge, or
conjunctive use, or any combination thereof.

(I) Agricultural.

(J) Distribution system water loss.

(2) The water use projections shall be in the same five-year
increments described in subdivision (a).

(3) (A) For the 2015 urban water management plan update, the
distribution system water loss shall be quantified for the most
recent 12-month period available. For all subsequent updates, the
distribution system water loss shall be quantified for each of the
five years preceding the plan update.

(B) The distribution system water loss quantification shall be
reported in accordance with a worksheet approved or developed
by the department through a public process. The water loss
quantification worksheet shall be based on the water system
balance methodology developed by the American Water Works
Association.

(4) (A) If available and applicable to an urban water supplier,
water use projections may display and account for the water savings
estimated to result from adopted codes, standards, ordinances, or
transportation and land use plans identified by the urban water
supplier, as applicable to the service area.

(B) To the extent that an urban water supplier reports the
information described in subparagraph (A), an urban water supplier
shall do both of the following:

(i) Provide citations of the various codes, standards, ordinances,
or transportation and land use plans utilized in making the
projections.

(ii) Indicate the extent that the water use projections consider
savings from codes, standards, ordinances, or transportation and
land use plans. Water use projections that do not account for these
water savings shall be noted of that fact.

(f) Provide a description of the supplier’s water demand
management measures. This description shall include all of the
following:

(1) (A) For an urban retail water supplier, as defined in Section
10608.12, a narrative description that addresses the nature and
extent of each water demand management measure implemented
over the past five years. The narrative shall describe the water
demand management measures that the supplier plans to implement
to achieve its water use targets pursuant to Section 10608.20.

(B) The narrative pursuant to this paragraph shall include
descriptions of the following water demand management measures:

(i) Water waste prevention ordinances.

(ii) Metering.

(iii) Conservation pricing.

(iv) Public education and outreach.

(v) Programs to assess and manage distribution system real loss.

(vi) Water conservation program coordination and staffing
support.

(vii) Other demand management measures that have a significant
impact on water use as measured in gallons per capita per day,
including innovative measures, if implemented.

(2) For an urban wholesale water supplier, as defined in Section
10608.12, a narrative description of the items in clauses (ii), (iv),
(vi), and (vii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), and a narrative
description of its distribution system asset management and
wholesale supplier assistance programs.

(g) Include a description of all water supply projects and water
supply programs that may be undertaken by the urban water
supplier to meet the total projected water use, as established
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 10635. The urban water
supplier shall include a detailed description of expected future
projects and programs that the urban water supplier may implement
to increase the amount of the water supply available to the urban
water supplier in average, single-dry, and multiple-dry water years.
The description shall identify specific projects and include a
description of the increase in water supply that is expected to be
available from each project. The description shall include an
estimate with regard to the implementation timeline for each project
or program.

(h) Describe the opportunities for development of desalinated
water, including, but not limited to, ocean water, brackish water,
and groundwater, as a long-term supply.

(i) For purposes of this part, urban water suppliers that are
members of the California Urban Water Conservation Council
shall be deemed in compliance with the requirements of subdivision
(f) by complying with all the provisions of the “Memorandum of
Understanding Regarding Urban Water Conservation in
California,” dated December 10, 2008, as it may be amended, and
by submitting the annual reports required by Section 6.2 of that
memorandum.

(j) An urban water supplier that relies upon a wholesale agency
for a source of water shall provide the wholesale agency with water
use projections from that agency for that source of water in
five-year increments to begin delete 20 end delete begin insert 25 end insert years or as far as data is available.
The wholesale agency shall provide information to the urban water
supplier for inclusion in the urban water supplier’s plan that
identifies and quantifies, to the extent practicable, the existing and
planned sources of water as required by subdivision (b), available
from the wholesale agency to the urban water supplier over the
same five-year increments, and during various water-year types
in accordance with subdivision (c). An urban water supplier may
rely upon water supply information provided by the wholesale
agency in fulfilling the plan informational requirements of
subdivisions (b) and (c).

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SECTION 1.  

Section 10610 of the Water Code is amended to
read:

10610.  

This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the
“Urban Water Management Planning Act.”

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