Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Panel advances SB 72 to set interim water‑supply targets in updated California Water Plan
Summary
SB 72 would require the California Water Plan to set interim and long‑term water supply targets — the author proposed an interim target of 9 million acre‑feet by 2040 — to help plan for climate‑driven changes in supply; the committee advanced the bill with amendments.
Senator Caballero presented SB 72 proposing updates to the California Water Plan to reflect the state’s changing hydrology and climate realities and to set an interim target of 9,000,000 acre‑feet of additional water supply by 2040 while Department of Water Resources develops a longer‑term target for 2050.
The author and supporters said the targets provide a “North Star” to guide investments in desalination, recycling, storage (including groundwater recharge and floodplain recharge) and demand management. Andrea Abergel of the California Municipal Utilities Association and Catherine Freeman of the California State Association of Counties testified in support, saying counties and water agencies rely on improved planning to match housing and infrastructure needs with available water.
Opponents — including the Mono Lake Committee, Planning and Conservation League and Restore the Delta — raised concerns that a numeric target could skew planning toward expensive supply projects rather than demand management and ecosystem protections, and warned about affordability impacts if systems were overbuilt. The author accepted committee amendments intended to clarify the plan’s neutrality and regional approach; the committee recommended SB 72 as amended and moved it to Appropriations.
Committee members engaged a substantive discussion about regional priorities, linkages to climate targets, and tradeoffs between supply and demand measures.
