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State board says conservation regulation succeeded after extensive stakeholder work
Summary
State Water Board staff described how the 2018 “making conservation a way of life” regulation — a shift from percent‑reduction targets to supplier‑specific water budgets — was revised through heavy stakeholder engagement and work groups before the board adopted the rule in July 2024.
The State Water Resources Control Board’s executive director told a water quality coordinating committee meeting that the board adopted the regulation implementing the 2018 conservation legislation after a period of intensive stakeholder engagement and internal revision.
The regulation replaced a uniform percent‑reduction approach with a budget‑based system that required urban water suppliers to calculate a water use objective (budget) each year, combining indoor per‑capita indoor use set by statute, outdoor use standards set by the board, system loss budgets and limited variances for special circumstances. The rule also included a ‘bonus’ incentive for potable recycled water use.
The regulation began formal rulemaking in August 2003 and drew substantial public pushback from many urban suppliers, academic critics, and media reporting, the board’s executive director said. After a contentious comment period and a long workshop, the board directed staff to convene multi‑stakeholder work groups during November–December 2023. Staff ran more than 20 multi‑hour work‑group meetings that grouped technical and policy concerns and produced options and clarifying language, the executive director said.
Staff described three principal elements used to carry the regulation forward: skilled staffing, expanded engagement, and adaptation of the regulatory approach. Adaptations emphasized more time for compliance and alternative compliance pathways rather than lowering the rule’s long‑term efficiency trajectory, staff said. The board then held a series of briefings comparing positions (water supplier, environmental groups, staff) and iterated specific changes before presenting a revised regulation to the board in mid‑2024.
At adoption in July 2024 the board set interim schedules and reporting obligations; the regulation applies to the state’s ~400 largest urban suppliers, covering roughly 95% of statewide delivered supply, and phases in increasingly stringent objectives through 2040. The rule includes indoor use components set by statute, outdoor residential standards set by the board, a system‑loss budget, and credits for potable recycled water. Staff estimated long‑term statewide savings of about 400,000 acre‑feet by 2040 from the regulation’s standards.
The executive director and staff emphasized the central role that the work‑group process played in moving the project from confrontation to compromise. While some environmental commentators said the final rule provided too much flexibility, others, including research groups, praised the board for listening and adjusting the implementation approach. The board and staff continue to implement and support suppliers in meeting the new water budgets.
Implementation details, including annual supplier budget calculations, reporting expectations and alternative compliance pathways, remain in effect as the board and staff carry forward monitoring and support work.
