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Contra Costa to return regulation of most small public water systems to state; county raises fees for smallest systems
Summary
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Oct. 7 to adopt higher permit fees for the county'''s smallest nonpublic water systems and to notify the State Water Resources Control Board that it will end a local primacy delegation so the state will assume oversight of 75 small public systems beginning after Feb. 2026.
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 7 voted unanimously to increase regulatory permit fees for the county'''s smallest nonpublic water systems and directed staff to initiate termination of the county'''s local primacy agency (LPA) delegation agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board, returning oversight of most small public water systems to the state after the county'''s February 2026 permit year.
County Environmental Health Director Christian Lucas told supervisors the county currently administers delegated oversight for 75 small public water systems (15'''199 service connections) and directly regulates another 34 smaller nonpublic systems (2'''14 connections). Staff and an outside contractor concluded operating the delegated program locally would require large fee increases for the 75 LPA systems. Lucas said the county'''s recommended approach is to stop the LPA delegation so those 75 systems can instead be regulated by the state and benefit from lower state-permit fees and state technical and funding resources.
Lucas said the board should adopt new fees only for the 34 nonpublic local systems that remain under county regulatory authority. Under the motion supervisors approved, permit fees for the smallest local systems would rise from $348 to $474 and the next category from $522 to $910 (figures presented by staff). Lucas warned the large percentage increases reflected economies of scale: the state regulates many more systems, allowing lower per-system fees.
Supporters of the change told the board that shifting most systems back to state oversight could ease the financial burden on operators in disadvantaged communities and provide access to state technical support or funding programs the county cannot offer.
Supervisor Diane Burgess moved the action; the motion carried on a unanimous roll-call vote (John Gioia: yes; Candace Anderson: yes; Ken Carlson: yes; Chanel Scales Preston: yes; Diane Burgess: yes).
The board'''s direction requires staff to notify the state within the statutory notice window (staff cited the 120-day notice requirement) and to continue administering the local permits through the end of the county'''s current permit year in February 2026. Staff told the board they will produce outreach materials, individualized notices and, where necessary, on-site visits to affected system operators to effect a "warm handoff" to the State Water Resources Control Board.
Why it matters: The change moves permit authority for many community and transient noncommunity systems to the state, with the stated goal of reducing permit costs for system operators and expanding access to state-level technical assistance and funding. At the same time, the county will continue to regulate a smaller portfolio of very small systems and has raised fees for those to cover county administrative costs.
What'''s next: Environmental Health will notify the state per statutory timelines, send the outreach package to system operators, and return to the board with implementation steps and any operational impacts identified during the transition.
