The California Water Plan Update 2018 (Water Plan) Policy Advisory Committee (Committee) held its inaugural meeting in Sacramento this week. RCRC, as a member of the twenty-eight member board, attended the meeting which provided a very broad framework for the Plan as it moves forward in the months ahead with a scheduled completion date of December 2018.
The Water Plan Review Draft includes chapters on a vision of water management in California; water management assessments including effectiveness, tracking and reporting as well as challenges; short and long term recommendations and priorities on both a statewide and regional scale; a finance plan to identify potential revenue sources, and lastly, an implentation plan.
While the last iteration, the Update 2013 was over 3,000 pages, it is the intent to create a much more succinct and focused Water Plan that is around 150 pages in length. Based on discussion at the Committee meeting, it is clear that the Administration’s California Water Action Plan, Integrated Regional Water Management and Sustainable Groundwater Management will all be center stage in the upcoming Water Plan.
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is in the middle of a series of public meetings seeking recommendations on how to make drinking water affordable for low-income Californians. The public is invited to come forward with their ideas about how to develop and implement a statewide low-income rate assistance program, including sharing examples of existing programs. The outreach is a direct result of the passage of Assembly Bill 401 (2015, Dodd) which requires the SWRCB to release a plan for this statewide initiative no later than February 1, 2018.
The next two public meetings are scheduled for November 7, 2016 at the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, and November 9, 2016 at the Junior League Community Center in Bakersfield. Both meetings are scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For further information, contact Esther Tracy at (917) 341-5908 or Esther.Tracy@waterboards.ca.gov.