CICWQ-MAY 2024 Recap
1) SWRCB Making Conservation a Way of Life Regulation Development
The State Water Resources Control Board is continuing its development of the proposed Making Conservation a Way of Life regulation.
The revised draft of the regulation sets water conservation targets for large suppliers in California, including extending timelines, broadening compliance pathways, and increasing flexibility based on public input from the first comment period.
The State Board's website provides a summary of the rulemaking, who is impacted, and why the rule is important to Californians, as shown below. The State also published an informative presentation on the proposed rulemaking, which is available below in PDF.
2) California Water Plan 2023 Updates – Draft Resources Management Strategies Released – Urban Stormwater Runoff Capture Strategy
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has updated eleven strategies for improving water supply reliability, including urban stormwater runoff capture and management, flood management, and watershed management the support the Plan Update.
The strategy published by DWR for Urban Stormwater Runoff Capture and Management is notable. It provides 12 recommendations to attempt to increase the pace of project construction. CICWQ has long supported the construction of regional, multi-benefit stormwater capture projects in urban areas wherever feasible.
3) Delta Conveyance Project Cost Benefit Analysis – Facts About Economic Value and Understanding Costs, Benefits, Funding, and Financing EPA
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) just released a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis and report for the Delta Conveyance Project. The report found that the infrastructure modernization project would create billions of dollars in benefits for Californian communities, including reliable water supplies, climate change adaptation, earthquake preparedness, and improved water quality.
According to the report, for every $1 spent, $2.20 in benefits would be generated. The report also shows the cost of doing nothing, posing significant future challenges to supplying water to California communities.
4) Proposed Santa Ana River Watershed Regional MS4 Permit - Released for Public Review and Comment and Additional Workshop Scheduled
The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board released a draft tentative permit for regulating discharges of pollutants in stormwater and urban runoff from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties on a regionwide basis. The permit is the first of its kind in the Santa Ana region, where previously each county maintained individual, county-wide permits.
The new regional permit structure proposes that each of the three-county permittee groups prepare watershed management plans with specific requirements common to all counties. Several new changes are also proposed for the Planning and Land Development section of the permit, which impacts the building and construction industry tasked with designing and installing post-construction stormwater runoff controls.
The board members received an updated presentation from the Board staff and additional input from interested stakeholders during a Board workshop held on Thursday, June 6, 2024. The public comment period deadline for the draft regional MS4 permit is July 3, 2024.
