A third consecutive year of drought is in the books and, despite the recent rain, most reservoirs across California are still below their historical levels. However, progress is being made at the state level to ensure that Californians can access to water amid climate change.
While passed into law in 2021, the second half of a $200 million appropriation is now being allocated to repair canals and aqueducts damaged by land subsidence, which have lost up to 60% of their capacity to move water throughout the state.
Governor Newsom signed bills to better ensure that Californians have access to safe and reliable drinking water. SB 1254 will allow the State Water Resources Control Board to appoint administrators to water systems at-risk of failing in order to provide safe and reliable drinking water. SB 1188 will provide financing incentives to consolidate small drinking water systems with larger, neighboring water systems and fund drinking water infrastructure projects in small communities that would otherwise not qualify for funding.
A few bills were passed by the State Legislature to help improve the treatment of California’s tribes and their access to water. AB 923 will require training for state agencies on how to engage in tribal consultations; AB 2108 will require the State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards draft environmental justice analyses for water quality permits, plans, and policies, which will include considering the effects on disadvantaged and tribal communities; and AB 2877 will give California tribes better access to drinking water funding from the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.
In August of last year, Governor Newsom released his Water Supply Strategy to increase California’s water supply through 2040. State agencies will focus their efforts on attaining the goals laid out in the strategy.
Two bills vetoed by the governor are worth keeping an eye on for next year. SB 222 would have created the framework for a statewide water rate assistance program to help low-income Californians pay their water and wastewater bills. SB 1144 would have required public schools and state buildings to complete water efficiency and quality assessments and also created legionella management programs for certain buildings. Both bills were vetoed because their costs were very high with no guaranteed sources of funding to cover the new programs.
The State Legislature is expected to be very active over the next couple of years in terms of water bills. So far this year, legislators have already shown interest in bills that deal with lead pipes and bills that would help modernize California’s water rights system. California Republicans continue to be fixated on dams and surface water storage, despite their many drawbacks, but may be open to other strategies. Work still needs to be done on ensuring that all Californians have access to safe and reliable drinking water, and we will have to see how things play out as groundwater sustainability agencies start to implement their groundwater management plans.