On May 9, 2016, the California State Water Resources Control Board proposed a new emergency drought regulation and Governor Brown signed executive order B-37-16, “making water conservation a California way of life.” A fact sheet about the Board’s proposed emergency regulation indicates the new regulation would replace the state developed conservation standards for water utilities with conservation targets developed by individual water utilities. The individual conservation targets would be based on a utility’s estimated available water supplies and demand for the next three years, assuming continued drought conditions. Many water districts and utilities had encouraged the state to adopt this sort of locally tailored approach to conservation.
If adopted by the Board on May 18, the new conservation rules would be effective from June 1, 2016 until the end of January 2017. The fact sheet notes that if severe drought conditions return that the Board will enact stronger conservation mandates if necessary.
The governor’s executive order directs state agencies to make permanent many of the emergency water restrictions that were enacted as a result of several executive orders and emergency proclamations in 2015 and early 2016. These include actions identified to use water more wisely, eliminate water waste and strengthen local drought resilience.
“Californians stepped up during this drought and saved more water than ever before,” Governor Brown said in a statement. “But now we know that drought is becoming a regular occurrence and water conservation must be a part of our everyday life.”