Posts tagged water affordability.
New California Legislation on Water Issues – Updated with Signings and Vetoes

The 2024 legislative session ended on August 31, 2024, meaning the legislature passed all bills for this year. All of the bills are currently with Governor Newsom. He has until September 30 to sign or veto any bills. Any bills not signed by September 30 will be vetoed through a ‘pocket veto.’

This session was a busy one for bills affecting the water sector with at least nine bills passed impacting water and sewer systems in California. The bills cover a wide range of topics, including fines for violating State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) orders, Proposition 26 and 218 requirements for water-related fees, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requirements, and the California Water Plan. … 

EPA Announces $7.5 Billion in Available Loans for Water Infrastructure Projects

On September 6, 2024, EPA announced $7.5 billion in available loan funding through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). From that total, $6.5 billion is available through WIFIA loans and $1 billion is available through the State Water Infrastructure Financing Authority (SWIFIA). … 

Solar + Water Canals = Win-Win?

On April 4, 2024, Governor Newsom and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) announced that the Bureau awarded California $15 million for the Delta-Mendota Canal floating solar project. The project, which is funded through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, marks a key step forward for ‘floating solar,’ a technology that is billed as a win-win for the energy and water sectors. … 

Posted in Water Supply
State Water Board Updates the “Make Conservation a California Way of Life” Framework, but are the Changes Enough?

On March 12, 2024, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) announced updates to the “Make Conservation a California Way of Life” framework that is based on SB 606 and AB 1668 from 2018. The changes seek to identify issues identified by commenters on the framework as well as the Legislative Analysts’ Office (LAO), but it is unclear whether they will be enough to satiate critics. Deadlines are fast approaching, as the State Water Board plans to hold a public workshop on the proposed updates on March 20, 2024 and comments on the regulation are due on March 27, 2024. … 

Toilet-to-Tap or the Future of California Water?

If there is one truism in California water, it is that there is not enough of it. In part to try to help address that issue, on December 19, 2023, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted the state’s first direct potable reuse (DPR) regulations. As detailed in the State Water Board’s press release, the new regulations represent the “most advanced standards in the nation,” provide a “climate-resilient water source,” and “add millions of gallons of additional drinking water.” However, is the picture quite that rosy? … 

California Water Policy: What Happened in 2023 and Where Are We Going?

The year started with a bang, with a lot of new Members of the Legislature, and more seasoned Members, invigorated and motivated to tackle some major water policy and funding issues for California. While some significant water policy changes were passed by the Legislature this year (with much controversy), there is still much left to debate and discuss in the second year of the two-year session, which will begin on January 3, 2024. … 

The Impact of Governor Newsom’s Proposed Budget on Water Projects

On January 10, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom announced his $297 billion budget proposal for 2023-2024, which includes a $22.5 billion budget deficit. Despite environmental/climate change programs facing $6 billion in cuts, Governor Newsom’s proposed budget includes relatively few negative impacts to water projects. In fact, the drought response and water resilience section, which includes the vast majority of water-related funding, only faces a cut of two percent, from $8.7 billion to $8.6 billion. That two percent reduction is the lowest of any environmental category. ...  

Army Corps Releases Draft EIS on Delta Conveyance Project

On December 19, 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps), Sacramento District released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Delta Conveyance Project. The Army Corps is the federal agency tasked with evaluating the Delta Conveyance Project for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Cooperating federal agencies include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. … 

California Announces New Emergency Drought Regulations

On May 24, 2022, the California State Water Resources Control Board announced emergency drought restrictions resulting from Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-7-22. The regulations are the latest in a series of attempts by the state to deal with the ongoing severe drought. The regulations cover two areas: a ban on irrigating non-functional turf and a requirement that urban water suppliers implement the Level 2 demand reduction actions in their water shortage contingency plan. …

Poseidon Water’s Coastal Commission Application Denied – Setting Up an Uncertain Future for Desalination

On May 12, 2022, at the conclusion of a 10-hour hearing, the California Coastal Commission voted to deny Poseidon Water’s application to site and operate a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, in what could be a fatal blow for a project that has been debated for more than 20 years.

The Coastal Commission’s vote was unanimous, 11-0, in agreeing with the staff report’s recommendation to reject Poseidon Water’s application. The staff report recommended denial “due to this project’s fundamental inconsistencies with Coastal Act and LCP policies related to coastal ...

Metropolitan Water District Announces Required Water Reductions Affecting up to Six Million Californians

At a board meeting on April 26, 2022, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (“the Met”) announced it would be requiring reductions in water usage from retail water suppliers that are dependent on water from the State Water Project. The reduction, which the Met took as a result of the severity of the state’s current drought, will apply to six million Californians covering Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. The impacted retail water suppliers are Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Three Valleys Municipal Water District, Upper San Gabriel ...

CPUC Proceedings on Low-Income Customer Assistance and Affordability

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently took action in two proceedings addressing issues related to low-income customer assistance and affordability. The CPUC noted that the importance of these proceedings has been magnified due to the economic conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

First, on June 3, 2020, the CPUC issued an amended scoping memo in Rulemaking 17-06-024 requesting comments to consider potential CPUC response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would be the second phase of this rulemaking proceeding, which was initiated to evaluate the ...

California Water Views provides timely and insightful updates on the water sector in the state. We relay information on how water legislation and policy from the nation’s capital, Sacramento, and around the U.S. affect California’s water utilities, agencies, practitioners, and consumers.  We also write about important events, conferences, legal cases, and other key happenings involving all things water in and around California.

Stay Connected

RSS RSS Feed

Categories

Archives

View All Nossaman Blogs
Jump to Page

We use cookies on this website to improve functionality, enhance performance, analyze website traffic and to enable social media features. To learn more, please see our Privacy Policy and our Terms & Conditions for additional detail.