In 2024, after years of deliberation, California water officials adopted landmark rules that will guide future water use and conservation in the state. The "Making Conservation a California Way of Life" framework went into effect at the beginning of 2025 and requires compliance by 2027. The framework is intended to help preserve water supplies as climate change drives hotter, drier conditions and droughts become more frequent and longer lasting, and is expected to help save 500,000 acre-feet of water annually by 2040. That is enough to supply more than 1.4 million households for a year.
Under the new regulations, urban retail water suppliers – not individual customers or businesses – must meet urban water use objectives. These objectives are based on budgets for distinct kinds of water use, such as indoor residential use, outdoor residential use, and commercial, industrial, institutional irrigation use, as well as water loss. The budgets incorporate statewide efficiency standards and consider characteristics of each local service area, such as population, climate, and landscape.
The regulations also allow for variances to take into account unique uses that may cause some areas to have higher water usage than others, and provide incentives for potable reuse (recycling previously used water into purified drinking water). Extensions are also available for urban retail water suppliers that serve disadvantaged communities. Urban retail water suppliers who violate the regulations could be subject to enforcement actions and fines of up to $1,000 per day under normal conditions and $10,000 per day under drought conditions. The emphasis initially, however, will be on progress and compliance.
To encourage their customers to use water efficiently, urban retail water suppliers will turn to a variety of methods, including tiered rate structures, conservation education and outreach, advanced metering infrastructure, landscaping incentives and rebates for water-efficient fixtures and appliances. The regulations do not require specific methods for encouraging wise water use but instead give urban retail water suppliers the flexibility to meet the water use objectives in the ways that are best for the suppliers and their customers.
In the latest episode of the Digging Into Land Use Law podcast, Lori Anne Dolqueist and Alex Van Roekel discuss in detail the Making Conservation a California Way of Life framework and the impact it may have throughout California. Lori and Alex detail this framework that will impact all urban retail water suppliers throughout the state – a category that covers about 95% of California residents. For those interested in water and climate issues or how these new regulations will impact water suppliers and communities throughout the state, this podcast explains the purpose behind the new regulations, the intricacies of the new regulations, including variances and incentives, and what this will mean for water in California going forward.
Digging Into Land Use Law covers the development of all things in, on or above the ground. Each episode features a timely and topical discussion of land use issues, from valuation, development and natural resources, to endangered species, property rights and other legal and regulatory aspects. Our podcast can be heard directly via Nossaman's website or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode!
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