State regulators lift strict water conservation rules
New rules recognize that cities like Paso Robles have adequate water supplies
–Marking a major shift in California water policy, state regulators Wednesday voted to lift the statewide conservation targets that for the past year have required dramatic cutbacks in irrigation and household water use for the Sacramento region and urban communities across the state, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The new rules adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board allow individual water agencies to propose their own conservation standards, based on the health of their water supplies and anticipated local demand, the report says.
The action effectively brings an end to an unprecedented conservation mandate, in place since June, that required urban water districts statewide to cut usage by an average of 25-percent over 2013, the report says.
On May 18, the state water board adopted a new conservation regulation that replaces the previous emergency regulation. The May 2016 regulation that will be in effect from June 2016 through January 2017 requires locally developed conservation standards based upon each agency’s specific circumstances.
The new regulations replaces the prior percentage reduction-based water conservation standard with a localized “stress test” approach. These standards require local water agencies to ensure a three-year supply assuming three more dry years like the ones the state experienced from 2012 to 2015. Water agencies that would face shortages under three additional dry years will be required to meet a conservation standard equal to the amount of shortage.
“The new rules say that we need to keep our water use at or below the 2013 levels, says Paso Robles Public Works Director Dick McKinley. “We have been below 2013 levels for a year. Many of our current rules will remain in place, such as not watering after it rains, or washing your car without a shutoff nozzle. The 2013 levels will allow us to consider changing from a two-day watering schedule to a no-more-than three-day watering schedule.
The new rules recognize that cities like Paso Robles have adequate water supplies, McKinley says.
For more information read “Paso Robles water future is bright.“
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