BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
SB 555 (Wolk) - Urban retail water suppliers: water loss
management.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: April 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 8 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 28, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill
Summary: SB 555 would require urban retail water suppliers to
submit an annual water loss audit report to the Department of
Water Resources (DWR) beginning in 2017. This bill would require
DWR and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to
establish rules related to the water loss audits and to
establish water loss performance standards.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 28, 2015):
One-time costs of $400,000 from the General Fund to DWR to
develop the rules guiding the water audit reports.
Unknown ongoing costs, but likely in the range of $150,000 to
$200,000, from the General Fund to review audits annually,
provide technical assistance to urban water suppliers, and
update the water audit report regulations every five years.
Background: The Urban Water Management Planning Act (act) requires all
urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt an urban water
management plan. In order for an urban water supplier to be
SB 555 (Wolk) Page 1 of
?
eligible for a water management grant or loan from the state, it
must be implementing the water demand management measures in its
urban water management plan. Last year the Legislature passed
and the Governor signed SB 1420 (Wolk), which requires the urban
water management plan include a calculation of the distribution
system water losses. The loss calculations are to be based on
the water system balance methodology developed by the American
Water Works Association (AWWA).
Proposed Law:
This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2017, each urban
retail water supplier to annually submit a water loss audit for
the previous calendar year. The audit must identify steps taken
in the preceding year to increase the validity of the data,
reduce the volume of apparent losses, and reduce the volume of
real losses. This audit must be validated by the chief financial
officer, the chief engineer, or the general manager of the urban
retail water supplier and determined complete by DWR.
This bill would require DWR to do the following:
By January 1, 2017, to adopt rules that: (1) require the audit
to be conducted in accordance with the method adopted by the
AWWA; (2) establish the process for validating an water loss
audit report; and (3) establish the method and timing of
submitting a water loss audit report to DWR. These rules must
be updated every five years and within six months after the
release of any revisions by the American Water Works
Association to its water audits method.
Determine whether validated audits are complete. Water
suppliers would have 90 days to resubmit an audit that was
deemed incomplete.
Post validated water audits on its website in a manner that
allows for public viewing and comparisons across water
suppliers.
Provide technical assistance using available funds, including
funding.
In consultation with the SWRCB, develop metrics for reporting
year-over-year progress on water loss reduction.
SB 555 (Wolk) Page 2 of
?
This bill would also require the SWRCB to adopt rules by July 1,
2020, that would mandate urban retail water suppliers to meet
performance standards for water losses.
Related
Legislation: SB 1420 (Wolk) Chapter 490, Statutes of 2014
required urban water management plans (UWMPs) to include
quantification of water loss in the distribution system and
would allow UWMPs to include projected water savings.
Staff
Comments: To adopt the rules required by this bill regarding
the conduct of water loss audits, submittal of reports,
validation of reports, and reporting metrics, DWR would need to
develop regulations at a one-time cost of $400,000, including
costs for two PYs. DWR notes that that part of these regulatory
costs is the staff time to review the AWWA water loss audit
method to ensure that it appropriate for California and to
consider any potential modifications to that method. Staff notes
that the bill requires that the rules be "in accordance" with
the AWWA methods, which would give DWR leeway in making changes
to the method as DWR sees fit.
This bill would also require DWR to determine whether the water
loss audit reports are complete, validated, attested, or
congruent with known characteristics of water system operations.
DWR estimates annual review costs of $150,000 to $200,000 to
review 400 reports each year.
The regulations guiding the development of the water loss audits
would be required to be updated every five years or within six
months after the release of an update to the AWWA methods. It is
unknown at this time whether substantial revisions would be
necessary after five years or whether updates to the AWWA
methods would require significant regulatory changes. However,
staff believes that it is reasonable to assume that these
ongoing activities could be achieved within the above estimated
ongoing costs.
SB 555 (Wolk) Page 3 of
?
Staff notes that the bill also requires DWR to provide technical
assistance to water suppliers' water loss detection programs,
including, but not limited to "funding." According to the
author, the intention is not for DWR to provide funding to water
suppliers for their water loss detection programs, but for DWR
to provide assistance in identifying local or non-state funding
sources. Staff recommends that the bill be amended to clarify
what responsibilities are included in technical assistance.
This bill would also require the SWRCB to adopt rules requiring
urban retail water suppliers to meet water loss performance
standards and to assist DWR in their development of metrics for
water loss reduction progress. The SWRCB estimates that they
will need one PY at a cost of $140,000 for three years for these
responsibilities.
-- END --