Status of 2015 Urban Water Management Plans

The Department of Water Resources (DWR or Department) respectfully submits this report to the Legislature pursuant to the requirements of the Urban Water Management Planning Act. Specifically, California Water Code (CWC) §10644 and §10608.42 require the Department to summarize the status of Urban Water Management Plans (UWMPs), exemplary elements of UWMPs, progress towards achieving a statewide water use reduction of 20-percent by the year 2020 (20×2020), and provide recommendations to achieve the targeted 20-percent reduction in statewide water use by 2020 in this report.

This report incorporates the CWC’s §10608.42 (SB X7-7 of 2009) requirement for DWR to report progress towards achieving a 20% reduction in per capita urban water use by December 31, 2020. The statute requires DWR to include recommendations on changes to water use efficiency standards on urban water use targets needed to achieve the 20% reduction, and to reflect updated efficiency information and technology changes.

UWMPs are prepared by California’s urban water suppliers to support their long-term resource planning and ensure that adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water demands. The Urban Water Management Planning Act (CWC §10610 – 10656 supplemented by CWC §10608 et seq) specifies the requirements for UWMPs. Every urban water supplier that either provides over 3,000 acre-feet of water annually or serves 3,000 or more customers is required to submit an UWMP in years ending in one and six.

To date, 400 out of 435 urban water suppliers have submitted their 2015 UWMP, a 92% compliance rate.