CHAPTER
5. Urban Water Efficiency
Article
1. Findings and Definitions
10660.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) The Governor’s goal for a 20-percent reduction in statewide, urban, per capita water use is an important component of a comprehensive package of long-term sustainable water management strategies necessary to ensure sufficient water supplies for California’s residential and commercial uses. The implementation of this goal should allow for flexible implementation that encourages local and regional implementation.
(1)
(2) California’s growing population, periodic and serious drought conditions, and the need to protect California’s fish and wildlife resources require that Californians adopt reasonable water efficiency measures that improve water supply reliability.
(2)
(3) Water conservation and water use efficiency are central elements of the state’s strategy to enhance water reliability, restore ecosystems, and respond to a growing population.
(3)
(4) Water conservation and water use efficiency should be part of a comprehensive solution that includes local resource development and infrastructure improvements, including storage and conveyance, as part of a statewide system that promotes economic and environmental stability.
(4)
(5) Accomplishing water conservation and water use efficiency goals will require statewide action by all water users, including residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural users, local and regional planning agencies,
state and federal agencies, chambers of commerce, and business, commercial, and industrial professional and trade associations.
(5)
(6) Efficient water use may be improved by the development of alternative local sources of water supplies, such as stormwater, recycled water, desalinated water, and treated water, that reduce the demand for imported water. Efficient water use also encourages multiple uses of water within a single watershed or region.
(6)Efficient water management in California requires that urban water suppliers attempt to match the water quality available from different sources of water, including, but not limited to, recycled water, with the corresponding water quality objectives required by each beneficial use, including, but not limited to, municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses.
(7)The Governor’s mandate for a 20-percent reduction in statewide, urban, per capita water use is an important component of a comprehensive package of water management strategies necessary to ensure sufficient water supplies for California’s residential and commercial uses. The implementation of this goal should allow for flexible implementation that encourages local and regional implementation.
(8)Existing, well-established water management planning processes,
including integrated regional water management plans, should be utilized to provide for the most effective, cooperative, efficient, and expedient progress toward the 20-percent statewide goal.
(9)General statutory direction to state, regional, and local implementing agencies should allow for implementation that reflects the need to take into account unique local factors, including housing density and lot sizes, climatic conditions, local watershed and groundwater conditions, the mix of commercial, industrial, and institutional uses, and year-to-year weather changes.
(10)Standardized data collection and analysis will be required to track progress toward the statewide water conservation goal and ensuring accountability among local and regional agencies.
(11)Goals pertaining to agricultural water use should recognize
that agricultural water use, like commercial and industrial water use, is for a business purpose. Progress towards efficient agricultural water use can best be achieved through the development of best management practices that recognize local and regional differences in climates, soils, cropping patterns, and cultural practices.
(12)Goals pertaining to commercial and industrial water uses should recognize the very different commercial and industrial uses among regions and local agencies and should not unreasonably combine the factors of commercial uses and population. Progress toward commercial and industrial water conservation can best be achieved through the development of best management practices and local and regional engagement with local commercial and industrial operations.
(14)
(13)Water use efficiency and local water resources management should be undertaken for the purpose
of enhancing watershed sustainability.
(7) Conservation and water use efficiency programs should be implemented in a manner that strengthens the water rights of California communities. Implementation of programs for conservation and water use efficiency in a manner that undermines the certainty and security of water rights contradicts the mandate of Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution, which directs that the water resources of California be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this act, to do all of the following:
(1) Establish a statewide, transparent process to accomplish
the Governor’s goal of a 20-percent per capita reduction in water usage by 2020, which translates into a statewide goal of 1.74 million acre-feet, and thereby improves statewide water supply reliability in a time of periodic drought and population growth.
(2) Encourage better management practices in urban areas that reduce per capita water use consistent with the Governor’s goal on a statewide, aggregate basis.
(3) Encourage maximum water use efficiency in the commercial, institutional, industrial, and agricultural sectors to reduce overall water use while maintaining and improving economic output and productivity, thereby contributing to sustainable job growth and a vibrant economy for the 21st century.
(4) Acknowledge that conservation, improved water use efficiency, and development of local resources, such as
water reuse, recycling, desalination, multiple uses of water in the same watershed, and stormwater capture, all contribute to better water management and all should be credited against the goals established by local agencies under this legislation chapter.
(5) Acknowledge that incentive-based programs will be more effective in improving water management than command and control approaches.
(6) Recognize that “one size does not fit all” and seek to allow local agencies the flexibility to tailor water use reduction efforts that account for variations in local circumstances, including local climate conditions, population growth, industrial composition, characteristics of local watersheds and
groundwater basins, and previous conservation and water use efficiency efforts.
(7) Ensure accomplishment of the statewide conservation goal by implementing an effective, transparent process for the reporting, monitoring, and analysis of data on water use and water conservation and efficiency measures and the progress of local agencies in meeting long-term conservation and water use efficiency goals.
(8) Water conservation and water use efficiency should be just one element of a comprehensive water supply solution for commercial, institutional, and industrial water users, urban water users, agricultural suppliers, and other water users in the state.
10661.
Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions set forth in this section govern the construction of this chapter.(a) “Baseline” means a retail urban water supplier’s average total residential water use in acre-feet during a fixed, 10-year period ending in 2004 or later.
(b) “CII” means the use of water in commercial, industrial, and institutional settings.
(c) “Form 38” means the Department of Water Resources Form Number 38, Public Water System Statistics.
(d) “High-efficiency water use” means net residential water use within a retail urban water supplier’s
service area that does not exceed the sum of both of the following:
(1) Fifty-five gallons per capita, per day for indoor residential uses.
(2) Seventy percent of reference evapotranspiration, as determined by historic CIMIS data as outlined in the state’s model water efficient landscape ordinance for outdoor residential uses.
(e) “Institute” means the California State University Water Resources and Policy Initiative.
(f) “Local water resources management” means the use of any of the following alternative sources of water that make the most efficient use of water, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) The capture of stormwater or rainwater.
(2) The use of recycled water.
(3) The desalination of brackish groundwater or seawater.
(4) The conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater in a manner that is consistent with the safe yield of the groundwater basin.
(5) The reuse of water multiple times in a watershed, provided that the total credits for that water do not exceed the quantity of water reused.
(6) The recovery of losses in conveyance systems.
(7) The matching of the water quality available from different sources of water, including recycled water,
with the corresponding water quality objectives required by each beneficial use, including municipal, industrial, or agricultural uses.
(g) “Plan” means an urban water conservation plan required by this chapter.
(h) “Regional water management group” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 10537 10539.
(i) “Reporting agency” means a retail urban water supplier, a wholesale urban water supplier acting at the request and on behalf of one or more retail urban water suppliers within its boundaries, or a regional water management group acting at the request and on behalf of one or more retail urban water suppliers within its
boundaries, as authorized by resolution of its governing board submitted to the department.
(j) “Retail urban water supplier” is an urban water supplier, as defined in Section 10617, that provides water service directly to residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional customers.
(k) “Statewide aggregate water conservation goal” means the Governor’s statewide aggregate goal of a 20-percent reduction in water use by 2020, which totals 1.74 million acre-feet of water.
(l) “Water conservation percentage” means the percentage calculated pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 10665.
(m) “Water use efficiency” means the efficient use of water as that term is defined in Section 10613.
(n) “Wholesale urban water supplier” means a water supplier that provides more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually at wholesale for municipal purposes.
Article 2. Urban Water Conservation Plans
Article
2. Urban Water Conservation Plans
10665.
(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each retail urban water supplier shall, in its urban water management plan, develop and implement an urban water conservation plan, in accordance with this article.(2) A retail urban water supplier that has achieved high-efficiency water use or will achieve high-efficiency water use by January 1, 2020, is not subject to the requirements of this section.
(b) An urban water conservation plan shall include all of the following components:
(1) A water use efficiency component, which shall include programs to implement all of the following:
(A) (i) The “foundational best management practices” of Exhibit 1 to the Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California, dated December 2008, in accordance with all of the provisions of that memorandum of understanding.
(ii) The water savings goals contained in Exhibit 1 to the Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California, dated December 2008, including accomplishing the specific measures listed in Section A of each best management practice, a set of measures that achieve equal or greater water savings, or a set water savings goals, as measured in gallons per capita per day.
(iii) A retail urban water supplier may, in lieu of programs described in clause (i) or (ii), implement local or regional best management practices that are
collectively at least as effective as those programs.
(B) Reporting on the implementation status of programs to replace traditional outdoor landscaping with climate-appropriate landscaping, or otherwise change patterns of water use in urban areas.
(C) For a retail urban water supplier subject to Section 526 or 527, a program that includes a schedule for accomplishing the installation of metering that includes interim milestones, and a financial plan or budget to achieve that schedule. A retail urban water supplier that accelerates its schedule for accomplishing metering of its entire service area ahead of the deadline stated in Section 526 or 527, as applicable, shall be entitled to credits for the water conserved by the accelerated implementation in calculating the amount and percentage of water conserved by its conservation plan. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
require a retail urban water supplier to accelerate its implementation of metering or to penalize that supplier if it is in compliance with either Section 526 or 527.
(2) A local water resources management component, which shall include both of the following:
(A) Consideration of changes in water use to better match the water quality available from different sources of water with the corresponding water quality objectives required by each beneficial use.
(B) Consideration of programs to make use of alternative local sources of water supply through local water resources management.
(3) A water efficiency planning component, which shall include all of the following:
(A) Estimates of the
annual quantity of water, in acre-feet, that would are projected to be conserved by the plan by the year 2020 and thereafter, when compared to baseline, and the percentage of that water conserved as compared to baseline. It is the intent of the Legislature that in estimating and projecting the savings from specific water conservation measures, the retail urban water supplier use analytic methods developed by the California Urban Water Conservation Council or the institute, to the extent that these methods are appropriate to the conditions facing the retail urban water supplier.
(i) In calculating the amount and percentage of conservation pursuant to
this subparagraph, credit shall be given for local water resources management measures implemented after the baseline period.
(ii) The calculation shall also include an estimate of indoor residential gallons used per capita per day, and an estimate of outdoor residential water use, in terms of percentage of reference evapotranspiration.
(iii) A retail urban water supplier may include in its calculation of the annual quantity of water, in acre-feet, the amount of water that would be conserved by the plan and the quantity of water that would be conserved by implementing measures to conserve water used in the CII sector, including, but not limited to, measures recommended by the CII task force, if the retail urban water supplier’s baseline includes the use of water in the CII sector. In calculating water conservation in the combined residential and CII sectors, a retail urban water
supplier may credit the quantity of water obtained from local water resources management measures in calculating the total quantity and percentage of water conservation.
(B) If applicable, an explanation of the reason it is not feasible for the retail urban water supplier to have a water conservation percentage of 20 percent or more of baseline water use by 2020, if the plan will not meet that goal by 2020. The explanation may refer to the inability to obtain voter approval of necessary expenditures of funds, as required by Article XIII D of the California Constitution, or any other financial constraints.
(C) Interim milestones for progress toward the estimates described in subparagraph (A), for the years 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018.
10666.
A retail urban water supplier that will achieve high-efficiency water use before January 1, 2020, shall include in its urban water management plans for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020 documentation of its plan for achievement and maintenance of high-efficiency water use, and is exempt from developing and implementing an urban water conservation plan pursuant to this article.10667.
Each retail urban water supplier shall fully implement its water conservation plan in a timely fashion and shall include an update of its water conservation plan in each of its urban water management plan updates for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020.10668.
(a) If a retail urban water supplier achieves high-efficiency water use, or adopts a plan that will achieve high-efficiency water use, and subsequently fails to meet that standard or fails to fully implement that plan in a subsequent reporting period, the retail urban water supplier shall do all of the following:(1) Provide notice of its failure to the department within 90 days of its submission of an urban water management plan to the department that documents that failure.
(2) Prepare the water conservation plan required by this chapter and submit that plan to the department within 90 days after the notice provided pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Implement the water conservation plan in accordance with this chapter.
(b) If a retail urban water supplier fails to meet an interim milestone identified in its plan, it shall provide notice of its failure to the department within 90 days of the interim milestone. The retail urban water supplier, within 90 days after providing that notice, shall submit a plan to the department to meet the next interim milestone and shall implement that plan in a manner that achieves the next interim milestone.
10669.
Retail urban water suppliers may cooperate in developing and implementing water use efficiency and local water resources management projects and may agree among themselves as to the manner in which to allocate credit for water conservation in the implementation of those projects, in a manner that does not double-count any water conserved through those projects.Article 3. Enforcement and Regulations
Article
3. Enforcement and Regulations
10670.
(a) The department, or the institute pursuant to an agreement with the department, shall develop an Internet Web site for the purpose of reporting the information required by this chapter. The cost of developing the Internet Web site may be funded from unallocated bond revenues pursuant to paragraph (12) of subdivision (a) of Section 75027 of the Public Resources Code, to the extent those funds are available for this purpose.(b) On or before December 31, 2012, and every two years thereafter, each reporting agency shall report on the Internet Web site developed pursuant to this section, its progress toward reaching a water conservation percentage of 20 percent or more of baseline water use by 2020. The reporting agency shall report the
following information:
(1) The data included in Form 38.
(2) The total population within the water supplier’s service area, as determined by the United States Census Bureau or a more recent estimate by the California Department of Finance.
(c) Estimates of water conservation percentages contained in initial and revised water conservation plans shall be uploaded to the Internet Web site developed pursuant to this section.
10671.
(a) The department shall It is the intent of the Legislature that the department contract with the institute to evaluate urban water conservation plans pursuant to this chapter.(b) The institute shall It is the intent of the Legislature that the institute, through a contract with the department, develop, through an open and public process, all of the following:
(1) A description of the data in addition to the data collected on Form 38, if any, required to be submitted by each retail urban water supplier in order for the institute to determine whether California is on track to meet the statewide aggregate water conservation goal. The institute shall include an evaluation of the costs of collecting this data to the state and to retail urban water suppliers.
(2) A description of the process and information needed to assure the institute that the data submitted by each retail urban water supplier are reasonably accurate and reliable to be included in the estimate of progress toward the statewide aggregate water conservation goal.
(3) A description of weather-normalizing factors, including, but not limited to, any differences in evapotranspiration and rainfall in the baseline
period compared to the reporting period, that a retail urban water agency may use in reporting water conservation data.
10672.
(a) The institute shall calculate the total quantity of water conserved contained in the 2010 urban water management plans and report that statewide total to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2011.(b) Reporting agencies shall upload the data needed for the calculation in subdivision (a) to the Internet Web site developed pursuant to Section 10675 10670.
10673.
A retail urban water supplier may consult with the institute to perform a water conservation plan evaluation for the retail urban water supplier that provides the retail urban water supplier with recommendations regarding projects that would improve the retail urban water supplier’s water use efficiency or local water resources management program to achieve high levels of water use efficiency. These recommendations shall consider the availability of financial and other assistance and shall maximize implementation of locally cost-effective measures.10674.
(a) If the statewide total quantity of water conserved contained in the urban water management plans submitted for the year 2010 is less than the statewide aggregate goal, as determined by the institute, each retail urban water supplier that is not implementing a plan to achieve high-efficiency water use, or a plan to achieve a water conservation percentage equal to or greater than 20 percent of baseline by 2020, shall prepare a revised water conservation plan and submit that plan to the institute by December 31, 2012.(b) A retail urban water supplier that is implementing a plan to achieve high-efficiency water use, or a plan to achieve a water conservation percentage equal to or greater than 20 percent of baseline by the year 2020, may submit
a revised water conservation plan to the institute by December 31, 2012.
10675.
(a) The institute shall calculate the total of all estimates of water conserved, as submitted in urban water management plans for the year 2010, for retail urban water suppliers that are implementing a plan to achieve high-efficiency water use or a water conservation percentage equal to, or greater than, 20 percent of baseline by the year 2020. The calculation shall include the estimates of water conserved that is contained in all revised water conservation plans submitted by December 31, 2012. The institute shall report the statewide total to the Legislature on or before March 1, 2013.(b) (1) If the statewide total in the report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a), is less than the statewide aggregate goal, the institute shall prepare a
report, by July 1, 2013, on the cost of achieving the statewide aggregate goal, which shall include all of the following:
(A) Expenditures needed to achieve the statewide aggregate goal that are not locally cost effective.
(B) The relative cost-effectiveness of water use efficiency measures as compared to local water resources management measures for different regions of California.
(C) Consideration of the potential contribution toward the statewide aggregate goal from all feasible water conservation measures in the CII sector, as recommended by the CII task force pursuant to Article 3 4 (commencing with Section 10685).
(D) Consideration of the potential contribution toward the statewide aggregate goal from all feasible water conservation measures in the residential sector that have not been included in retail urban water suppliers’ urban water conservation plans, as identified in the best management practices developed and updated by the California Urban Water Conservation Council.
(2) The institute shall update the report and present the updated report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2016.
(c) (1) If the statewide total in the report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) is less than the statewide aggregate goal, the department, beginning on January 1, 2014, may adopt regulations to achieve the statewide aggregate goal consistent with all of the following requirements:
(A) Retail urban water suppliers that have adopted and are implementing a plan to achieve high-efficiency water use, or a water conservation percentage equal to or greater than 20 percent of baseline by the year 2020, shall be exempt from the regulations.
(B) All other retail urban water suppliers shall be required by the department to adopt water use efficiency measures or local water resources management measures that will achieve the statewide aggregate goal, based on the following criteria:
(i) The retail urban water supplier’s water conservation percentage.
(ii) A comparison of the retail urban water supplier’s indoor residential and outdoor residential water use with retail urban water suppliers with similar populations and similar reference
evapotranspiration based on CIMIS.
(iii) Whether the retail urban water supplier has fully implemented any recommendations for water use efficiency or local water resources management measures made by the institute.
(iv) Consideration of any statewide recommendations for water use efficiency or local water resources management measures proposed by the institute.
(2) The department’s regulations shall, to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with achieving the statewide aggregate goal, maximize the use of local cost-effective measures and shall not require any retail urban water supplier to have a water conservation percentage greater than 20 percent of baseline.
Article 4. Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Water Conservation
Article
4. Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Water Conservation
10685.
(a) The board and the department, not later than April 1, 2010, shall convene a task force consisting of experts to develop, for the CII sector, best management practices that are intended to result in meeting a statewide goal of at least a 20-percent reduction in potable water use in the CII sector by the year 2020, as compared to statewide water use by that sector for the year 2005.(b) The task force shall be composed of representatives of the board, the department, urban water suppliers located in all of the regions used as part of the California Water Plan task force, trade groups representing the CII sector, and environmental groups. Members of the task force shall be selected by the director, after consultation with the chairperson of
the board.
(c) On or before April 1, 2010, the department shall enter into an agreement providing for the funding of the operations of the task force by its participants.
(d) The director, after consultation with the chairperson of the board, may designate a chairperson of the task force.
(e) Any recommendation of the task force, in the report required pursuant to subdivision (f), shall be endorsed by two-thirds of the members of the task force and minority reports shall be included in the report.
(f) On or before April 1, 2011, the task force shall submit a report to the board and the department, which shall include a discussion of at least all of the following subjects:
(1) Metrics that
are appropriate for use in evaluating the use of water in the CII sector.
(2) An evaluation of the appropriate quantities of water needed for cooling in manufacturing processes.
(3) An evaluation of the appropriate quantities of water needed as an ingredient in manufactured goods or for use in manufacturing processes.
(4) The cost-effectiveness of water use efficiency and local water resources management measures in the CII sector.
(5) An evaluation of the differences between process water and product water.
(6) An evaluation of the potential use of stormwater, recycled water, treated water, desalinated water, or other alternative sources of water in the CII sector, together with
appropriate credits for that use.
(7) An evaluation of the manner in which regional projects could provide significant supplies of stormwater, recycled water, treated water, desalinated water, or other alternative sources of water to the CII sector.
(8) An evaluation of the need for offsite public infrastructure to provide sufficient supplies of stormwater, recycled water, treated water, desalinated water, or other alternative sources of water to the CII sector.
(9) The economic viability of any proposals developed by the task force and whether these proposals would create sustainable green collar jobs.
(10) An evaluation of institutional and economic barriers to increased water use efficiency and local water resources management in the CII sector.
(11) An evaluation of whether it is feasible to reduce water use statewide in the CII sector by at least 20 percent by the year 2020 and, if the reduction is feasible, whether that reduction would be in the public interest.
(12) The identification of appropriate best management practices that should be implemented in order to achieve a feasible reduction in water use statewide in the CII sector that is consistent with the public interest and reflects past investments in water use efficiency and local water resources management.
(13) An evaluation of the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of encouraging commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities to implement best management practices that can readily be transferred from residential settings to commercial or institutional settings, including the use of
high-efficiency toilets, low-flow showerheads, smart irrigation controllers, and climate-appropriate landscaping.
(14) Industry-specific best management practices that have already been adopted by specific industries or commercial sectors. The task force may recommend that implementation of these best management practices shall be deemed to comply with the purposes of this chapter and may recommend that a retail urban water supplier be prohibited from requiring further measures of water users that have implemented these best management practices.
10686.
Each retail urban water supplier shall consider the adoption of best management practices recommended by the CII task force no later than December 31, 2011, and, by March 1, 2012, shall submit to the institute a report describing the actions, if any, that the water supplier has taken based on the recommendations of the CII task force.Article 5. Regional Implementation
Article
5. Regional Implementation
10690.
A wholesale urban water supplier may, with the written consent of retail urban water suppliers within its service area, undertake to perform any or all planning, reporting, and implementation functions under this chapter for those retail urban water suppliers that consent to those activities. Any data or reports shall provide information both for the wholesale urban water supplier and for consenting retail urban water suppliers.10691.
(a) A regional water management group may, with the written consent of its member agencies, undertake any or all planning, reporting, and implementation functions under this chapter for the member agencies that consent to those activities. Any data or reports shall provide information both for the regional water management group and for consenting wholesale and retail urban water suppliers.(b) A regional water management group that agrees to undertake planning, reporting, and implementation functions for member agencies shall be entitled to a preference of 20 percent in competitive grant and loan programs. That preference shall only be awarded to projects that are identified in the integrated regional water management plan adopted by the regional water management
group.
Article 6. Miscellaneous Provisions
Article
6. Miscellaneous Provisions
10695.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all competitive grant or loan programs administered by the department, the board, or the California Bay-Delta Authority, or its successor agency, for integrated regional water management programs or water conservation programs shall provide financial incentives to the following retail urban water suppliers to support water use efficiency and local water resources management measures:(1) Retail urban water suppliers that adopt and document implementation of a plan to achieve high-efficiency water use.
(2) Retail urban water suppliers that adopt and document implementation of a plan to achieve a water conservation percentage that
exceed 20 percent of baseline shall be entitled to preference for grants or loans over retail urban water suppliers that do not exceed 20 percent of baseline.
(3) Retail urban water suppliers that adopt and document implementation of a plan to achieve a water conservation percentage that exceed 20 percent of baseline prior to ____ , shall be entitled to preference for grants or loans over retail urban water suppliers that do not adopt such a plan.
(4) Retail urban water suppliers serving disadvantaged areas, for which the median income of the retail urban water supplier’s service area is less than 80 percent of the statewide median, shall be entitled to a preference at least equal to that provided to retail urban water suppliers that adopt and document implementation of a plan to achieve water conservation percentage that exceed 20 percent of baseline.
(5) Retail urban water suppliers proposing to implement other measures that may be needed to achieve the statewide aggregate goal.
(b) The department, the board, and the California Bay-Delta Authority, or its successor agency, may adopt competitive criteria to implement this section.
10696.
(a) This chapter does not subject a retail urban water supplier to regulation by the department, if the retail urban water supplier has adopted and begun to implement its water conservation plan in good faith and the retail urban water supplier meets any of the following criteria:(1) Is unable to implement its water conservation plan as a result of an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Is delayed in implementing its water conservation plan as a result of a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction that invalidates an element of the water conservation plan, or the financing or regulatory permitting of an element of the plan.
(3) Has been unsuccessful in attempting to raise any additional revenues needed to implement all or a portion of its water conservation plan after the completion of the procedures required by Article XIII D of the California Constitution.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any retail urban water supplier that is prevented from implementing its water conservation plan as a result of the conditions identified in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) shall continue to actively implement all remaining elements of its water conservation plan.
10696.5.
Nothing in this chapter shall interfere with Section 110105 of the Health and Safety Code or require the reduction of the water content of a food, beverage, cosmetic, or drug product.10697.
Water use efficiency and local water resources management measures adopted and implemented pursuant to this part are water conservation measures subject to the protections provided under Section 1011.10698.
Costs incurred by the department and the institute pursuant to this chapter may be funded from unallocated bond revenues pursuant to paragraph (12) of subdivision (a) of Section 75027 of the Public Resources Code, to the extent those funds are available for those purposes.10699.
This chapter shall be liberally construed to achieve its purpose, specifically achieving the statewide aggregate goal of a 20 percent reduction in urban water use, in a manner that provides the greatest possible flexibility and discretion to local agencies and that protects water rights to the fullest extent possible.