Existing law declares that small water suppliers and rural communities are often not covered by established water shortage requirements, and that the state should provide guidance to improve drought planning for small water suppliers and rural communities. Existing law required the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board and other relevant state and local agencies and stakeholders, to use available data to identify, no later than January 1, 2020, small water suppliers and rural communities that may be at risk of drought and water shortage vulnerability. To implement this directive, the department formed a stakeholder advisory group, the County Drought Advisory Group. Existing law required the department, in consultation with the state board, to propose to the Governor and the Legislature, by January 1, 2020, recommendations and guidance
relating to the development and implementation of countywide drought and water shortage contingency plans to address the planning needs of small water suppliers and rural communities, as provided.
This bill would require small water suppliers, as defined, and nontransient noncommunity water systems that are schools, no later than December 31, 2022, to develop and submit to the Division of Drinking Water for the state board an Emergency Response Plan that includes specified drought-planning elements. The bill would require these water systems to report specified water supply condition information to the state board through the state board’s Electronic Annual Reporting System, and to include water system risk and water shortage information in the water systems’ Consumer Confidence Reports, as provided. The bill would require the state board, in partnership with the department and no later than December 31, 2022, to conduct an assessment of drought and emergency water
shortage resiliency measures for small water systems and nontransient noncommunity water systems that are schools, among other tasks.
This bill would require a county to establish a standing county drought and water shortage task force to facilitate drought and water shortage preparedness for state small water systems and domestic wells within the county’s jurisdiction, as provided, and include potential drought and water shortage risk and proposed interim and long-term solutions as an element in an existing county plan, as provided. Because the bill would impose additional duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require the department to take specified actions to support implementation of the recommendations from the County Drought Advisory Group. The bill would require the department to form a standing interagency drought and water shortage task force to facilitate
proactive planning and coordinating, both for predrought planning and postdrought emergency response, which shall consist of various representatives, including representatives from local governments. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.