State Water Board presents 2025 strategic work plan update; BIPOC water access and domestic wells draw public attention

State Water Resources Control Board staff presented the board's sixth annual strategic work plan update on March 4, describing about 70 total actions and nearly two dozen starred items the agency intends to prioritize over the next one-to-five years.

Lede: Executive Director Eric Oppenheimer said the plan focuses on four themes: protect public health; protect and restore watersheds and marine environments; increase statewide climate resilience; and strengthen relationships, systems and internal capacity. Staff said the plan does not replace core workload such as permits and inspections, but highlights discrete short- to intermediate-term actions staff and the board expect to emphasize.

Nut graf: Among roughly 70 actions, staff identified 24 "high priority" or "starred" items the board and staff aim to complete or substantially advance in the coming year. Those include: implementing the safe-and-affordable funding for equity and resilience (SAFER) program; an expert panel for irrigated lands; completing a dairy order (Regional Board 5 petition); addressing regulatory gaps left by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision (referred to in the meeting as the "SACET" decision) by developing state permitting and training; a utility wildfire-response order; a nutrient package that addresses harmful algal blooms, biostimulatory substances and ocean acidification; Prop. 4 guideline development and other infrastructure-funding work; water recycling, desalination and stormwater-capture permitting and technical support; and continued work on the Bay-Delta plan, SGMA implementation and water-rights modernization.

Public and board engagement: Dozens of public commenters used the item to press staff on community needs. Community Water Center and Central California Environmental Justice Network urged clearer, more explicit priorities and outcomes for domestic wells and asked that the board align the strategic plan with the SAFER expenditure plan and prioritize consolidation and long-term solutions for private/well-dependent communities. Staff said the SAFER program's fund-expenditure plan would continue to be developed and that staff expected to use this year to identify prioritization and target-setting for domestic wells.

Further remarks: Other public commenters asked the board to accelerate efforts on stormwater capture and clarified needs for funding and permitting. Several environmental groups urged fast-moving nutrient work to address harmful algal blooms and ocean acidification. Board members thanked staff and community stakeholders, emphasized workforce and institutional needs and discussed adding or reprioritizing particular permits (for example, MS4 Phase 2 and the industrial stormwater general permit) as staff resources allow.

Ending: Staff said the plan is informational (not an adoption item), will be revised as needed, and that the board remains able to direct amendments based on feedback. Board members asked staff to post a corrected version (including capitalization and minor text edits), to remove an item the board now considers complete and to consider whether additional permits should be elevated to the starred list.