BILL NUMBER: SB 555 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
(Coauthor: Senator Pavley)
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 10608.34 to the Water Code, relating to
water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 555, as amended, Wolk. Urban retail water suppliers: water loss
management.
Existing law requires the state to achieve a 20% reduction in
urban per capita water use in California by December 31, 2020, and
requires the state to make incremental progress towards this goal by
reducing per capita water use by at least 10% on or before December
31, 2015. Existing law requires each urban retail water supplier to
develop urban water use targets and an interim urban water use
target, in accordance with specified requirements.
This bill would require each urban retail water supplier, on or
before July October 1, 2017, and
annually on or before July 1 of each
year thereafter, to submit a completed and validated water loss audit
report for the previous calendar year as prescribed by rules adopted
by the Department of Water Resources on or before January 1, 2017,
and updated as provided. The bill would require the department to
post all validated water loss audit reports on its Internet Web site
in a manner that allows for comparisons across water suppliers and to
make these reports available for public viewing. This bill would
require the department to provide technical assistance to guide urban
retail water suppliers' water loss detection programs. The bill
would require the State Water Resources Control Board, no earlier
than January 1, 2019, and no later than July 1, 2020, to adopt rules
requiring urban retail water suppliers to meet performance standards
for the volume of water losses. This bill would require the board to
contribute up to $400,000 using funds available for the 2016- 17
fiscal year towards the department's costs incurred
in performing validations of procuring water
loss audit reports during the period beginning on July 1,
2016, and ending on or before July 1, 2017. report
validation assistance for urban retail water suppliers.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 10608.34 is added to the Water Code, to read:
10608.34. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2017, the department
shall adopt rules for all of the following:
(A) The conduct of standardized water loss audits by urban retail
water suppliers in accordance with the method adopted by the American
Water Works Association in the third edition of Water Audits and
Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 and in the Free Water Audit
Software, version 5.0.
(B) The process for validating a water loss audit report prior to
submitting the report to the department. For the purposes of this
section, "validating" is a process whereby a technical
expert engages with an urban retail water supplier
uses a technical expert to confirm the basis of all data
entries in the urban retail water supplier's water loss audit report
and to appropriately characterize the quality of the reported data.
The validation process shall follow the principles and terminology
laid out by the American Water Works Association in the third edition
of Water Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 and in the
Free Water Audit Software, version 5.0. A validated water loss audit
report shall include the name and technical qualifications of the
person engaged for validation.
(C) The technical qualifications required of a person to engage in
validation, as described in subparagraph (B).
(D) The certification requirements for a person selected by an
urban retail water supplier to provide validation of its own water
loss audit report.
(E) The method and timing of submitting a water
loss audit report to the department.
(2) The department shall update rules adopted pursuant to
paragraph (1) no later than six months after the release of
subsequent editions of the American Water Works Association's Water
Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36. Except as provided
by the department, until the department adopts updated rules
pursuant to this paragraph , an urban retail water supplier may rely
upon a subsequent edition of the American Water Works
Association's Water Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 or
the Free Water Audit Software.
(b) On or before July October 1,
2017, and annually on or before July 1 of
each year thereafter, each urban retail water supplier shall
submit a completed and validated water loss audit report for the
previous calendar year as prescribed by the department pursuant to
subdivision (a). Water loss audit reports submitted on or before
October 1, 2017, may be completed and validated with assistance as
described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).
(c) (1) Using available funds,
funds available for the 2016- 17 fiscal year,
the board shall contribute up to four hundred thousand dollars
($400,000) towards the department's costs incurred in
performing validations of water loss audit reportsduring the period
beginning on July 1, 2016, and ending on or before July 1, 2017.
Thereafter, the board shall determine whether performing validations
is an appropriate use of state funds or whether an urban retail water
supplier shall be responsible for its own validation costs.
procuring water loss audit report validation
assistance for urban retail water suppliers.
(2) The board shall determine whether providing water loss audit
report validation assistance is an appropriate use of state funds or
whether an urban retail water supplier shall be solely responsible
for its own validation costs after the 2016-17 fiscal year.
(d) Each water loss audit report submitted to the department shall
be accompanied by information, in a form specified by the
department, identifying steps taken in the preceding year to increase
the validity of data entered into the final audit, reduce the volume
of apparent losses, and reduce the volume of real losses.
(e) At least one of the following employees of an urban retail
water supplier shall attest to each water loss audit report submitted
to the department:
(1) The chief financial officer.
(2) The chief engineer.
(3) The general manager.
(f) The department shall deem incomplete and return to the urban
retail water supplier any final water loss audit report found by the
department to be incomplete, not validated, unattested, or
incongruent with known characteristics of water system operations. A
water supplier shall resubmit a completed water loss audit report
within 90 days of an audit being returned by the department.
(g) The department shall post all validated water loss audit
reports on its Internet Web site in a manner that allows for
comparisons across water suppliers. The department shall make the
validated water loss audit reports available for public viewing in a
timely manner after their receipt.
(h) Using available funds, the department shall provide technical
assistance to guide urban retail water suppliers' water loss
detection programs, including, but not limited to, metering
techniques, pressure management techniques, condition-based
assessment techniques for transmission and distribution pipelines,
and utilization of portable and permanent water loss detection
devices.
(i) No earlier than January 1, 2019, and no later than July 1,
2020, the board shall adopt rules requiring urban retail water
suppliers to meet performance standards for the volume of water
losses. In adopting these rules, the board shall employ full life
cycle cost accounting to evaluate the costs of meeting the
performance standards.