The California Water Board released its latest proposal on water conservation regulations this week, and some environmental advocates say it could make water more expensive and delay meaningful conservation until 2040.
“The biggest problems I see with the updated regulation are, first and foremost, that the board pushed back all of the standards five years,” said Tracy Quinn, CEO of Heal the Bay.
The State Water Resources Control Board faced pushback after releasing its initial proposal last year, with the Legislative Analyst’s Office calling it costly and complicated. In response to the criticism, the board’s new draft eases water savings requirements.
Experts say the new rules will cut urban water use by only 7% instead of the 12% expected in the original proposal, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Quinn slammed the water board for prioritizing costly infrastructure investments over water efficiency programs in the new plan, saying the plan’s fiscal analysis “just doesn’t add up.”
“The smartest thing to do first is the one that is fastest and cheapest. That’s conservation,” she said. “Instead, Californians are being asked to make investments in infrastructure like wastewater recycling and desalination facilities. These will also create more water, but they are significantly more expensive and energy-intensive, and quite frankly, water suppliers don't know how they're going to pay for those multibillion-dollar projects.”
While this winter’s record-breaking storms are keeping the state’s reservoirs full for now, California’s Sierra snowpack could experience a 48% to 65% loss by 2040. Quinn says there's no time to waste as the next drought is right around the corner.
“The final regulation should reinstate the key provisions from last year's draft that would set California on a more sustainable path toward a water-resilient future,” she said.
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The water board will hold public workshops and provide another update on its proposed regulation on March 20. Write-in public comments are open until March 27.
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