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Carlsbad Municipal Water District adopts 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and water‑shortage contingencies
Summary
After a public hearing, the council (sitting as CMWD board) adopted the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan and authorized staff to submit the plans to the Department of Water Resources before the July 1, 2026 deadline; a public commenter urged a distribution‑system risk assessment for recycled water.
The Carlsbad City Council, acting as the Carlsbad Municipal Water District (CMWD) board, adopted the district’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and the associated Water Shortage Contingency Plan, and authorized submittal to the California Department of Water Resources.
Principal engineer Carrie Martinez summarized the UWMP’s findings, saying the district’s supply portfolio — which includes purchases from the San Diego County Water Authority, local desalination, and recycled water from the Carlsbad Water Recycling Facility — provides adequate supplies under modeled single‑ and multi‑dry‑year scenarios through 2050. Martinez described the plan’s organization and noted statutory submission requirements, including the agency’s July 1, 2026 deadline for filing.
The presentation detailed CMWD’s system scale (roughly 32 square miles served; about 82% of city water users served by CMWD), system assets (including 457 miles of potable distribution pipe and 97 miles of recycled water pipeline), and demand‑management programs. Staff said recycled water and desalination are “drought‑proof” supply components that help meet projected needs.
Public commenter Mike Barillo urged the board to add an explicit risk assessment for recycled water distribution, arguing the UWMP does not address biofilm formation, pathogen regrowth in long distribution mains or aerosol exposure risks at irrigation sites. “The 2025 UWMP contains a serious and unacceptable gap,” Barillo said, asking for transparency and independent review; he said those concerns are part of pending litigation.
Staff and council members acknowledged the comment and described the district’s ongoing monitoring, leak detection, and code provisions that prohibit waste. Council members thanked staff for the extensive plan, noted CMWD’s investments—particularly the Carlsbad desalination plant—and moved to adopt the resolution and delegate authority to the executive manager to make revisions based on public comments. The board approved the action unanimously.
Next steps: staff will submit the adopted UWMP and the water shortage contingency plan to the Department of Water Resources, and will continue to update and review the shortage plan as regulatory and regional conditions evolve.
