AGENDA
MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
REGULAR MEETING NOTICE
JUNE 9, 2026
PUBLIC MEETING 5:00 P.M.
MEMBERS
Justin Jones, Chair, District 3
Rick Cole, Councilmember, District 2
Tyron Hampton, Councilmember, District 1
Jason Lyon, Councilmember, District 7
STAFF
David Reyes, General Manager
Lisa Hosey, Assistant City Attorney
Betty Gao, Recording Secretary
MISSION STATEMENT
The City of Pasadena is dedicated to delivering exemplary municipal services, responsive to our entire community and consistent
with our history, culture and unique character.
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n compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Assistive Listening Devices are available from the City Clerk’s Office with a 24-hour advance notice.
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tems on the agenda may not be called in order listed.
Agendas and supporting documents are available on the Internet at http://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/city-council-municipal-services-committee/ Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the Municipal Services Committee after distribution of the agenda packet will be posted online and listed as: “Supplemental Agenda Material Received after the Posting of the agenda”.
PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING FOR JUNE 9, 2026, AT 5:00 P.M. WILL BE ACCEPTED IN-PERSON AND BY VIDEOCONFERENCE/TELECONFERENCE.
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orrespondence will be forwarded to the Committee prior to the start of the meeting, posted online, and made part of the legislative record for the item.
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CITY OF PASADENA
REGULAR MEETING OF
THE MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
JUNE 9, 2026
PUBLIC MEETING: 5:00 PM
PASADENA CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBER
100 NORTH GARFIELD AVENUE, ROOM S249
N
OTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the regular meeting of the Municipal Services Committee will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., to discuss matters on the attached agenda.
Justin Jones, Chair
M
unicipal Services Committee
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this agenda in its entirety, was posted on the Internet at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/city-council-municipal-services-committee/ and on the Council Chamber Bulletin Board, Room S249, and the Bulletin Board in the rotunda area; City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, this June 4, 2026, by 6:00 p.m. and that copies hereof were faxed, emailed or delivered to each member of the City Council and to each local newspaper of general circulation, radio or television station requesting notice in writing, all of which recipients are identified on the distribution herein below.
Susana Castro
DISTRIBUTION:
MSC Committee Members Central Library General Manager Pasadena Weekly City Council City Clerk Director of Planning and Permitting Pasadena Star-News City Manager Director of Public Works Los Angeles Times Pasadena Now City Attorney Public Information Officer La Opinion Pasadena Journal In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, listening assistive devices are available from the City Clerk's Office with a 24-hour advance notice.
Please call (626) 744-4124 to request use of a listening device. Language translation services may be requested with 24-hour advance notice.
Habra servicio de interpretacion disponible para estas juntas llamando al (626) 744-4124 por lo menos con 24 horas de anticipación.
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
JUNE 9, 2026
Public Meeting: 5:00 P.M.
Council Chamber, Pasadena
City Hall 100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249
The Municipal Services Committee may take action within its authority on any item listed on this agenda as it deems appropriate following consideration and discussion of the matter.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
May 12, 2026 (Regular Meeting)
1. PUBLIC HE
ARING FOR CITY COUNCIL ADOPTION OF THE PASADENA 2025
URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN AND WATER SHORTAGE
CONTINGENCY PLAN
INFORMATIONAL ONLY
Information only items contain no staff recommendations. The committee may, however, take action within its authority relating to informational items on the agenda as it deems appropriate following consideration and discussion of the matter.
2. ENERGY
AND CREDIT RISK POLICY PROPOSED ENHANCEMENTS TO
INTEGRATE AN ENERGY HEDGING STRUCTURE
PUBLIC MEETING - 5:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
PUBLIC COMMENT
ADJOURN
NEW BUSINESS/ACTION ITEMS
1 CITY OF PASADENA
MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE MINUTES
PASADENA CITY HALL
100 NORTH GARFIELD AVENUE
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER – S249
MAY 12, 2026 MEETING
OPENING The Chair called the meeting of the Municipal Services Committee to order at 5:08 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Staff:
Councilmember Justin Jones, Chair
Councilmember Tyron Hampton (Absent)
Councilmember Rick Cole
Councilmember Jason Lyon
Phillip Leclair, Acting Assistant City Manager
David Reyes, General Manager of Water and Power
Greg de Vinck, Director of Public Works
Joaquin Siques, Director of Transportation
Thanos Gauthier, Deputy Director of Public Works
Timothy Park, Budget Administrator
Lisa Hosey, Assistant City Attorney
Betty Gao, Recording Secretary
PUBLIC COMMENT No one appeared for public comment on matters not on the agenda.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was moved by Councilmember Cole, seconded by Councilmember Lyon, to approve the minutes of April 14, 2026, as submitted. ( Motion unanimously approved) (Absent: Councilmember Hampton)
NEW BUSINESS BUDGET WORKSHOP – FY 2027 RECOMMENDED OPERATING BUDGET
a. TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
b. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
David Reyes, General Manager of Water and Power, provided introductory comments, and Joaquin Siques, Director of Transportation, presented a PowerPoint presentation on the item, including providing information on department’s mission, Fiscal Year 2026
accomplishments, appropriations by category, parking enforcement revenue projections, enhancement requests, key performance indicators (KPIs), and FY 2026 work plan, and responded to questions.
In response to Councilmember Cole’s inquiry related to operating expenses, Timothy Park, Budget Administrator, clarified the fleet depreciation costs fall under operating expenses, and responded to questions.
Councilmember Cole emphasized the importance of staff coordination on outreach and communication efforts on projects and programs in the City; and requested that staff provide an update o n the Active Transportation Plan and parking enforcement revenue items at a future Committee meeting.
2 Councilmember Lyon emphasized the importance of having a broader policy d iscussion regarding parking enforcement and its impact on residents with limited parking options.
Betty Gao, Recording Secretary, reported that 3 letters were received by the City Clerk’s Office, which were distributed to the Committee, posted online, and made part of the record for this item.
The following individuals expressed concerns regarding body-worn camera purchases, unused bus shelters, red light cameras, and/or provided other related comments on the matter:
Yadi, Pasadena resident
P.A. Brown, Pasadena resident
Humaira, Pasadena resident
Greg de Vinck, Director of Public Works, presented the PowerPoint presentation on the item, including providing information on the department’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 accomplishments, expense summary, overview of funds, FY 2027 enhancement requests , pavement condition index (PCI) , and FY 2027 work plan; and responded to questions.
Councilmember Lyon asked staff to provide additional information regarding data privacy implication s and cameras installed on refuse collection vehicles.
Councilmember Cole asked staff to provide additional information regarding updated meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) measurements for the Public Works Department.
In response to Chair Jone’s inquiry on bulky item pickups, Thanos Gauthier, Deputy Director of Public Works, provided an overview on the City’s bulky item pick-up process, and responded to questions.
The following individuals expressed concerns on data risks and/or provided other related comments on the matter:
Yadi, Pasadena resident
Humaira, Pasadena resident
In response to Chair Jones’ inquiry regarding coordination between the Fire Department and Public Works Department on a potential parcel tax, Phillip Leclair, Acting Assistant City Manager, stated that a parcel tax is one of several funding sources being explored for street repaving and fire infrastructure improvements, and responded to questions.
Councilmember Cole emphasized the need to bring the topic of a potential parcel tax before the public and City Council as soon as possible to allow adequate time for community outreach, education, and discussion prior to any potential ballot measure consideration.
Following discussion, on the order of the Chair, and by consensus of the Committee, the information was received and filed
3 ADJOURNMENT On the order of the Chair, the meeting of the Municipal Services Committee was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.
__________________________
Councilmember Justin Jones, Chair
Municipal Services Committee
ATTEST:
____________________
Betty Gao
Recording Secretary
4 ITEM #1
5 TO:
THROUGH:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Agernda Re1p
June 15, 2026
Honorable Mayor and City Council
Municipal Services Committee (June 9, 2026)
Water and Power Department
PUBLIC HEARING FOR CITY COUNCIL ADOPTION OF THE
PASADENA 2025 URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN AND
WATER SHORTAGE CONTINGENCY PLAN
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Find that the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan ("UWMP") and Water Shortage Contingency Plan ("WSCP") are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15282(v), which exempts from CEQA the preparation and adoption of urban water management plans pursuant to the Water Code;
2. Conduct a public hearing on June 15, 2026, to receive comments on the UWMP and the WSCP; and
3. Adopt a resolution approving the 2025 UWMP and WSCP immediately following the public hearing and incorporating any changes the Council deems necessary.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As an urban water supplier, Pasadena Water and Power ("PWP") has prepared the 2025 UWMP to comply with the requirements of the California Water Code ("CWC"). The UWMP demonstrates Pasadena's long-term water supply and resource planning and ensures adequate water supplies are available to meet current and future water demands. The 2025 UWMP complies with applicable California Law and must be adopted by the City of Pasadena and sub.mitted to the State Department of Water Resources by July 1, 2026.
Adoption of the UWMP and WSCP does not impose rate changes or operational limitations on residents or businesses. These documents serve as State-required planning tools that outline how Pasadena will ensure reliable, sustainable water service MEETING OF _____ _ AGENDA ITEM NO. ____ _
6 7
8 9
10 11
May 2026
City of Pasadena
Water and Power
2025 Urban Water Management Plan
Prepared by
Public Review Draft
12 2775 North Ventura Road, Suite 202
Oxnard, California 93036
805-973-5700
City of Pasadena
Water and Power
2025 Urban Water
Management Plan
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT
May 2026
Prepared for
Pasadena Water and Power
150 South Los Robles Avenue, Suite 200
Pasadena, CA 91101
13 Table of Contents
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures............................................................................................................................... iv List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ v Section 1: Introduction and Lay Description ............................................. 1-1
1.1 Overview ............................................................................................. 1-1
1.2 Purpose ............................................................................................... 1-1
1.2.1 Relationship to Other Planning Efforts ..................................... 1-2
1.3 Lay Description/Fundamental Findings of the UWMP ......................... 1-2 Section 2: Urban Water Management Plan Preparation ............................ 2-1
2.1 Basis for Preparing the Plan ................................................................ 2-1
2.1.1 Organization of Document ....................................................... 2-1
2.2 Coordination and Outreach ................................................................. 2-2
2.2.1 Plan Preparation ...................................................................... 2-3
2.2.2 Public Outreach........................................................................ 2-4
2.2.3 Plan Adoption ........................................................................... 2-4
2.2.4 Plan Availability ........................................................................ 2-5 Section 3: System Description ................................................................... 3-1
3.1 General Description............................................................................. 3-1
3.2 Land Use ............................................................................................. 3-1
3.3 Population, Demographics and Socioeconomics ................................ 3-5
3.3.1 Population ................................................................................ 3-5
3.3.2 Demographics and Socioeconomics ........................................ 3-5
3.4 Service Area Climate........................................................................... 3-6
3.4.1 Potential Effects of Climate Change ........................................ 3-7 Section 4: Water Use Characterization ...................................................... 4-1
4.1 Water Use Sectors .............................................................................. 4-1
4.2 Past and Current Water Use ............................................................... 4-2
4.2.1 Historical Trends ...................................................................... 4-2
4.2.2 Current Water Use ................................................................... 4-3
4.3 Projected Water Use ........................................................................... 4-4
4.3.1 Factors Considered in Water Use Projections ......................... 4-4
4.3.2 Total Projected Water Use ....................................................... 4-6
4.3.3 Water Use for the Next Five Consecutive Dry Years ............... 4-7
4.3.4 Water Use Projections for Lower-Income Households ............ 4-7
4.4 Distribution System Water Losses ...................................................... 4-8 14 4.4.1 Water Loss Performance Standard .......................................... 4-9 Section 5: SBX7-7 Baseline, Targets, and Compliance ............................. 5-1 Section 6: Water Supply Characterization ................................................. 6-1
6.1 Overview ............................................................................................. 6-1
6.2 Groundwater ....................................................................................... 6-1
6.2.1 Raymond Basin ........................................................................ 6-1
6.2.2 Raymond Basin Judgement ..................................................... 6-3
6.2.3 Spreading Credits .................................................................... 6-3
6.2.4 Groundwater Production .......................................................... 6-4
6.2.5 Groundwater Quality ................................................................ 6-5
6.2.6 Groundwater Operations .......................................................... 6-6
6.3 Imported Water from MWD ................................................................. 6-6
6.3.1 Imported Water for Groundwater Storage ................................. 6-7
6.3.2 Imported Water Supply Reliability ............................................ 6-8
6.3.3 Delta Reliance .......................................................................... 6-8
6.3.4 Imported Water Quality ............................................................ 6-9
6.4 Water Exchanges and Transfers ......................................................... 6-9
6.5 Surface Water and Stormwater ......................................................... 6-10
6.6 Wastewater and Recycled Water ...................................................... 6-10
6.7 Desalinated Water ............................................................................. 6-11
6.8 Future Water Projects ....................................................................... 6-11
6.8.1 Arroyo Seco Canyon Project .................................................. 6-12
6.8.2 Devil’s Gate Pump Back Project ............................................ 6-12
6.9 Summary of Projected Water Supplies ............................................. 6-12
6.10 Energy Use ....................................................................................... 6-14 Section 7: Water Service Reliability and Drought Risk Assessment ........ 7-1
7.1 Constraints on Water Sources ............................................................ 7-1
7.1.1 Groundwater ............................................................................ 7-1
7.1.2 Imported Water ........................................................................ 7-1
7.2 Water Service Reliability Assessment ................................................. 7-2
7.2.1 Year Type Characterization ..................................................... 7-2
7.2.2 Supply and Demand Comparisons .......................................... 7-3
7.2.2.1 Water Service Reliability – Normal Year ................ 7-3
7.2.2.2 Water Service Reliability – Single-Dry Year ........... 7-3
7.2.2.3 Water Service Reliability – Multiple Dry Years ....... 7-4
7.2.3 Summary of Comparisons ........................................................ 7-4
7.3 Drought Risk Assessment ................................................................... 7-4 Section 8: Water Shortage Contingency Plan ............................................ 8-1 15 8.1 Overview ............................................................................................. 8-1
8.2 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment ................................ 8-1
8.3 Water Shortage Levels ........................................................................ 8-1
8.4 Water Shortage Response Actions ..................................................... 8-2
8.5 Additional WSCP Content and Procedures ......................................... 8-2 Section 9: Demand Management Measures ............................................... 9-1
9.1 Water Waste Prevention Ordinances .................................................. 9-1
9.2 Metering .............................................................................................. 9-3
9.3 Conservation Pricing ........................................................................... 9-4
9.4 Public Education and Outreach ........................................................... 9-5
9.5 Programs to Assess and Manage Distribution System Real Loss ...... 9-6
9.6 Water Conservation Program Coordination and Staffing Support ....... 9-6
9.7 Other DMMs ........................................................................................ 9-7
9.7.1 Residential Water Efficiency Programs .................................... 9-7
9.7.2 Residential Rebate Programs .................................................. 9-8
9.7.3 Conservation Programs for Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Accounts ....................................................... 9-9
9.8 Planned DMMs to Meet Water Use Targets ...................................... 9-10 References ....................................................................................................... i
List of Tables
Table 1-1: Normal Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) ......................................... 1-3 Table 1-2: Single-Dry Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) ................................... 1-4 Table 1-3: Multiple Dry Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) ................................. 1-4 Table 2-1: Public Water System Covered by this Plan ........................................................ 2-1 Table 2-2: Supplier Identification ......................................................................................... 2-1 Table 2-3: Coordination and Notification for Plan Preparation [To be updated between public draft and final] ..................................................................................................... 2-3 Table 2-4: Public Participation Timeline [To be updated between public draft and final] .... 2-4 Table 3-1: Current and Projected Population ...................................................................... 3-5 Table 3-2: Summary of Service Area Demographics .......................................................... 3-6 Table 3-3: Pasadena Monthly Average Climate Data Summary ......................................... 3-7 Table 3-4: Prioritized Climate Change Vulnerabilities in the PWP Service Area ................. 3-9 Table 4-1: 2025 Actual Total Uses ...................................................................................... 4-4 Table 4-2: Projected Water Use – Normal Years (AF)1 ....................................................... 4-6 Table 4-3: Projected Water Use – Dry Years (AF)1, 2 ........................................................... 4-7 Table 4-4: Projected Five-Year Drought Water Use (2026 – 2030) (AF) ............................. 4-7 16 Table 4-5: Water Use Projections for Lower-Income Households ....................................... 4-8 Table 4-6: Water Loss Audit Reporting ................................................................................ 4-8 Table 4-7: Progress Towards 2028 Water Loss Standard [based on DWR Table 4-6] ....... 4-9 Table 5-1: SBX7-7 2020 Target Progress [based on DWR Table 5-1] ............................... 5-1 Table 6-1: Water Supplies – 2025 Actual (AFY) .................................................................. 6-1 Table 6-2: Groundwater Volume Pumped (2021-2025) (AF) ............................................... 6-4 Table 6-3: Groundwater Projections (AFY) .......................................................................... 6-5 Table 6-4: Imported Water Supply Projections (AFY) .......................................................... 6-7 Table 6-5: PWP Interconnections ...................................................................................... 6-10 Table 6-6: Wastewater Collected Within the Service Area in 2025 (AF) ........................... 6-11 Table 6-7: Projected Water Supply – Normal Year (AFY) ................................................. 6-12 Table 6-8: Projected Water Supply – Single-Dry Year (AFY) ............................................ 6-13 Table 6-9: Projected Water Supply – Multiple Dry Years (AFY) ........................................ 6-13 Table 6-10: Energy Intensity for PWP’s Water Service Area ............................................... 6-14 Table 7-1: Basis of Water Year Data – (Spreading Credit Reliability Assessment) ............. 7-3 Table 7-2: Normal Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) ....................................... 7-3 Table 7-3: Single-Dry Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) .................................. 7-4 Table 7-4: Multiple Dry Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) ................................ 7-4 Table 7-5: Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment .................................................................. 7-5 Table 8-1: Cross-reference for Standard vs Supplier Shortage Levels ............................... 8-2 Table 9-1: PWP Variable Water Charges ............................................................................ 9-4 Table 9-2: Residential Rebates ........................................................................................... 9-8 Table 9-3: Commercial/Industrial/Institutional Rebates ....................................................... 9-9 List of Figures
Figure 3-1: PWP Water Service Area Boundary ................................................................... 3-3 Figure 3-2: Land Use Map .................................................................................................... 3-4 Figure 4-1: Historical Water Use (2011 – 2025)1 .................................................................. 4-2 Figure 4-2: Average Monthly Water Use (2020 – 2025)1 ...................................................... 4-3 Figure 6-1: Raymond Basin .................................................................................................. 6-2 List of Appendices
Appendix A: DWR Checklist
Appendix B: DWR Submittal Tables
Appendix C: Coordination and Outreach Materials
Appendix D: UWMP Adoption Resolution [to be inserted]
Appendix E: Water Shortage Contingency Plan
17 List of Acronyms
Act California Urban Water Management Planning Act
AF Acre-Feet
AFY Acre-Feet per Year
AWWA American Water Works Association
CCOP Cyclic Cost-Offset Program
CII Commercial, Industrial and Institutional
City City of Pasadena
CRA Colorado River Aqueduct
CWC California Water Code
DOF Department of Finance
DMM Demand management measure
DRA Drought Risk Assessment
DWR California Department of Water Resources
eAR Electronic Annual Report to the Drinking Water Program GPCD Gallons per capita per day
gpm Gallons per minute
HCF Hundred cubic feet
IRP Integrated Water Resources Plan
kWh Kilowatt-hours
L2 Laundry-to-Landscape
MG Million gallons
MSL Mean sea level
MWD The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California PWP Pasadena Water and Power
RBMB Raymond Basin Management Board
SB 79 California Senate Bill 79
SBX7-7 Senate Bill 7 of Special Extended Session 7
SCAG Southern California Association of Governments
SWP State Water Project
SWRCB State Water Resources Control Board
UWMP Urban Water Management Plan
UWUO Urban Water Use Objective
VOCs Volatile organic compounds
WSAP Water Supply Allocation Plan
WSCP Water Shortage Contingency Plan
WSDM Water Surplus and Drought Management
WSRP Water Sources Resource Plan
WTP Water Treatment Plant
18 Section 1: Introduction and Lay Description
1.1 Overview
This document presents the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) for Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) water service area, which includes the City of Pasadena (City), and portions of neighboring areas of unincorporated Los Angeles County.
1.2 Purpose
California Water Code (CWC), Sections 10610 through 10656 requires that every urban water supplier that provides water to more than 3,000 customers or supplies more than 3,000 acre- feet of water annually shall prepare and adopt an urban water management plan every five years. The UWMP is a planning tool to help guide the actions of water management agencies. It provides managers and the public with a broad perspective on a number of water supply issues.
It is not a substitute for project-specific planning documents, nor was it intended to be when mandated by the State Legislature. For example, the Legislature mandated that a plan include a Section which “describes the opportunities for exchanges or water transfers on a short-term or long-term basis.” (California Urban Water Management Planning Act, Article 2, Section 10630(d).) The identification of such opportunities, and the inclusion of those opportunities in a general water service reliability analysis, neither commits a water management agency to pursue a particular water exchange/transfer opportunity, nor precludes a water management agency from exploring exchange/transfer opportunities not identified in the plan. When specific projects are chosen to be implemented, detailed project plans are developed, environmental analysis, if required, is prepared, and financial and operational plans are detailed.
Water management in California is not a matter of certainty and planning projections may change in response to a number of factors. From this perspective, it is appropriate to look at the UWMP as a general planning framework, not a specific action plan, nor an exact blueprint for supply and demand management. It is an effort to generally answer a series of planning questions including:
What are the potential sources of supply and what is the reasonable probable yield from them?
What is the probable demand, given a reasonable set of assumptions about growth and implementation of good water management practices?
How well do supply and demand figures match up, assuming that the various probable supplies will be pursued by the implementing agency?
Using these “framework” questions and resulting answers, the implementing agency will pursue feasible and cost-effective options and opportunities to meet demands.
The Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act) requires preparation of a plan that:
19 Accomplishes water supply planning over a 20-year period in five-year increments. (PWP is progressing beyond the requirements of the Act by developing a plan which spans 25 years.)
Demonstrates water supply reliability in normal, single dry, and multiple dry years. Demonstrates conservation and efficient use of urban water supplies.
Detailed information on what must be included in these plans can be found in CWC sections 10610 through 10657.
It is the intent of PWP to deliver safe and reliable water supplies to its customers, even during dry periods. Based on conservative water supply and demand assumptions over the twenty-five years in combination with conservation of non-essential demand during normal water years, the UWMP documents PWP’s ability to achieve this goal.
1.2.1 Relationship to Other Planning Efforts
Numerous local and regional planning documents were referenced in preparation of this UWMP, including previous UWMPs, the 2020 Water System and Resources Plan (WSRP), the City General Plan, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) population projections, and other planning documents to effectively integrate water supply planning and land-use planning.
Additionally, concurrent with the 2025 UWMP update, PWP’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) was also updated consistent with CWC Section 10632 and Section 10635. The 2025 WSCP outlines PWP’s action plan for a drought or catastrophic water supply shortage and specifies opportunities to reduce demand and augment supplies under such conditions. The WSCP was adopted as a stand-alone document and is summarized in this Plan, in Section 8, and is also included as an attachment in Appendix E.
1.3 Lay Description/Fundamental Findings of the UWMP
This section summarizes the fundamental determinations made in this UWMP and addresses CWC 10630.5, cited below:
“Each plan shall include a simple lay description of how much water the agency has on a reliable basis, how much it needs for the foreseeable future, what the agency's strategy is for meeting its water needs, the challenges facing the agency, and any other information necessary to provide a general understanding of the agency's plan.” Cal. Water Code § 10630.5
PWP has diverse sour ces of water to meet its water demands: local groundwater from the Raymond Basin, stream water from Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon which recharges the groundwater in the Raymond Basin, and imported water from The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).
20 Raymond Basin was the first groundwater basin adjudicated in California; this occurred in December 1944 with the purpose of alleviating overdraft of the basin. PWP holds the largest groundwater rights in the Raymond Basin. On average, groundwater produced from the Raymond Basin makes up about one third to one half of PWP’s total supplies and water from MWD makes up the remaining amount. A minor amount of water is delivered to PWP from interconnections with neighboring agencies; typically used when a PWP customer can be more efficiently served by a neighboring agency.
PWP is one of the founding members of MWD. MWD currently has 26 member agencies.
Imported water delivered to PWP at five interconnections is treated at MWD’s Weymouth Water Treatment Plant (Weymouth) in La Verne, which can receive water from both Northern California through the State Water Project (SWP) and the Colorado River through the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA). Under certain conditions, during outages at Weymouth, PWP can receive some treated water from MWD’s Jensen Water Treatment Plant. Sufficient connection capacity exists in the MWD system to meet total existing and projected PWP demands.
PWP continuously evaluates opportunities to diversify its supplies while also focusing on sustaining and maximizing use of its existing local water resources. See Section 6 for details on water supplies.
Based on the analyses conducted in this UWMP, PWP anticipates sufficient water supplies to meet its projected demands through 2050, in all hydrologic year types (normal, single-dry, and multiple dry years). Supply and demand projections are summarized in Table 1-1, Table 1-2, and Table 1-3. In general, imported water supplies from MWD would be purchased in volumes needed to meet the difference between demands and local supplies. See section 7 for details on water service reliability.
Table 1-1: Normal Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 Water from MWD 16,146 15,842 15,312 14,973 15,039
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Demand Totals 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Notes:
MWD has determined it has supply capabilities sufficient to meet projected water demands.
21 Table 1-2: Single-Dry Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533 Water from MWD 19,933 19,604 19,032 18,666 18,738
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
MWD has determined it has supply capabilities sufficient to meet water demands under a single dry year condition and period of drought lasting five consecutive water years.
Table 1-3: Multiple Dry Year Supply and Demand Projections (AFY) 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
1st Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
2nd Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD 21,314 22,050 22,044 22,017 21,966
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
3rd Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD 21,314 22,050 22,044 22,017 21,966
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
4th Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD 21,314 22,050 22,044 22,017 21,966
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
5th Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD 21,314 22,050 22,044 22,017 21,966
Water from other sources 100 100 100 100 100
Supply Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
MWD has determined it has supply capabilities sufficient to meet water demands under a single dry year condition and period of drought lasting five consecutive water years.
Details on these fundamental findings are presented in this 2025 UWMP. 22 Section 2: Urban Water Management Plan Preparation
2.1 Basis for Preparing the Plan
In accordance with the CWC, PWP has prepared this UWMP as it supplies over 26,000 AFY to more than 38,000 service connections. The 2025 UWMP shall be updated and submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) by July 1, 2026. A summary of the PWP system is provided in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1: Public Water System Covered by this Plan
[DWR Table 2-1]
Public Water
System
Number
Public Water System
Name
# of Municipal
Connections 2025
Volume of Water
Supplied 2025 (AF)
CA 1910124 Pasadena Water and Power 38,637 26,401
A water supplier may report on a fiscal-year or calendar-year basis but must clearly state in its UWMP the type of year that is used for reporting. The type of year should remain consistent throughout the Plan. DWR prefers that agencies report on a calendar year basis in order to ensure UWMP data is consistent with data submitted in other reports to the State. This UWMP provides data consistent with a calendar year, in acre-feet, as summarized in Table 2-2.
Table 2-2: Supplier Identification
[DWR Table 2-3]
Type of Supplier
Supplier is a wholesaler supplier
Supplier is a retail supplier
Fiscal or Calendar Year
UWMP Tables are in calendar years
UWMP Tables are in fiscal years
Units of Measure Used in this UWMP
Unit: Acre-Feet (AF)
2.1.1 Organization of Document
This UWMP is organized as follows:
Section 1: Introduction and Lay Description
Section 2: Urban Water Management Plan Preparation
23 Section 3: System Description
Section 4: Water Use Characterization
Section 5: SBX7-7 Baseline, Targets, and Compliance
Section 6: Water Supply Characterization
Section 7: Water Service Reliability and Drought Risk Assessment Section 8: Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Summary)
Section 9: Demand Management Measures
References
Appendices
A checklist documenting compliance of this Plan with the Act requirements is provided in Appendix A. Urban water suppliers are required to report and submit UWMP data in standardized tables developed by DWR (Submittal Tables). The DWR Submittal Tables prepared for this UWMP are included in Appendix B.
2.2 Coordination and Outreach
Coordination and outreach are required during preparation of the UWMP, as established in the following CWC excerpts:
• 10620(d)(3) Each urban water supplier shall coordinate the preparation of its plan with other appropriate agencies in the area, including other water suppliers that share a common source, water management agencies, and relevant public agencies, to the extent practicable.
• 10621(b) Every urban water supplier required to prepare a plan pursuant to this part shall, at least 60 days before the public hearing on the plan required by Section 10642, notify any city or county within which the supplier provides water supplies that the urban water supplier will be reviewing the plan and considering amendments or changes to the plan.
• 10642 Each urban water supplier shall encourage the active involvement of diverse social, cultural, and economic elements of the population within the service area prior to and during the preparation of both the plan and the water shortage contingency plan.
Prior to adopting either, the urban water supplier shall make both the plan and the water shortage contingency plan available for public inspection and shall hold a public hearing or hearings thereon…After the hearing or hearings, the plan or water shortage contingency plan shall be adopted as prepared or as modified after the hearing or hearings.
24 2.2.1 Plan Preparation
The City began preparation of this Plan in October 2025. A notice regarding intent to update the UWMP and other notices were sent to relevant local agencies in January 2026 more than 60 days prior to the public hearing. Table 2-3 summarizes coordination and notification during development of this UWMP. Copies of notices are provided in Appendix C.
Table 2-3: Coordination and Notification for Plan Preparation [To be updated between public draft and final]
Sent Notice
of Intent to
Update
Received
Copy of
Draft
Commented
on Draft
Contacted for
Assistance
Sent Notice
of Public
Hearing
City of Alhambra
City of Arcadia
City of Glendale
City of Sierra Madre
City of South
Pasadena
Foothill Municipal
Water District
Huntington Library and
Art Gallery
Kinneloa Irrigation
District
La Cañada Irrigation
District
Las Flores Water
Company
Lincoln Avenue Water
Company
Los Angeles County
Public Works
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts
Metropolitan Water
District of Southern
California (Wholesaler)
Pasadena Cemetery
Association
Raymon Basin
Management Board
Rubio Cañon Land and
Water Association
San Gabriel County
Water District
25 Sent Notice
of Intent to
Update
Received
Copy of
Draft
Commented
on Draft
Contacted for
Assistance
Sent Notice
of Public
Hearing
Southern California
Association of
Governments
Sunny Slope Water
Company
Valley Water Company
Local groundwater supplies require coordination with the Raymond Basin Management Board.
PWP is a member agency of MWD and must coordinate its imported water demands with that agency. The City’s wastewater collection and treatment is provided by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. Finally, since PWP provides water service to several adjacent areas outside of the City’s boundaries, it must coordinate with those communities as well.
2.2.2 Public Outreach
Pursuant to CWC 10621(b), PWP provided notice prior to its public hearing to adopt the UWMP and the draft UWMP was made available for public review prior to the public hearing via the PWP website. A Notice of public hearing will be published in local newspapers, pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. Copies of the public outreach materials will be included in Appendix C.
Table 2-4 pr esents a timeline for public participation during the development of the UWMP.
Table 2-4: Public Participation Timeline [To be updated between public draft and final] Milestone Date Public Participation Task
Public Draft UWMP TBD Draft UWMP released for public review Public Hearing June 8, 2026 Review contents of Draft UWMP and take com
ments during City Council meeting
2.2.3 Plan Adoption
The Pasadena Water and Power 2025 Urban Water Management Plan will be adopted by the Pasadena City Council at a noticed public hearing held on June 8, 2026. This UWMP includes all information necessary to meet the requirements of Water Conservation Act of 2009 (Wat.
Code, §§ 10608.12-10608.64) and the Urban Water Management Planning Act (Wat. Code, §§ 10610-10656). The adoption resolution will be provided in the Final UWMP as Appendix D. 26 2.2.4 Plan Availability
The Final UWMP will be submitted electronically to DWR within 30 days of adoption, and by July 1, 2026.
Final copies of the UWMP will also be provided to the California State Library and County of Los Angeles within 30 days of adoption.
In addition, the plans will be available to the public via PWP’s website:
https://pwp.cityofpasadena.net/uwmp/
27 Section 3: System Description
3.1 General Description
The City of Pasadena is located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County. The City encompasses approximately 23 square miles with notable scenic, cultural and academic landmarks that include the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon, Rose Bowl Stadium, California Institute of Technology, Art Center College of Design, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The City is situated between the Arroyo Seco to the west and Eaton Wash to the east and overlies the Raymond Groundwater Basin. This combination of surface and groundwater resources provided the basis for Pasadena’s establishment and early development. In 1912, the City purchased and consolidated three private water companies, forming an independent Water Department. One of the founding members of MWD in 1941, Pasadena became the first member agency to receive imported water from MWD. In 1967, the water and power departments were merged to form the Pasadena Department of Water and Power.
PWP is a public agency managed as a department of the City, providing water and electricity service to the community. PWP’s water service area encompasses approximately 26 square miles, including the City of Pasadena and portions of the unincorporated areas of Altadena, East Pasadena, and San Gabriel. Approximately 15% of PWP’s service population is located outside the City’s legal boundary. According to the California Department of Finance in 2025, the PWP service area population was approximately 165,500.
PWP’s water system consists of over 500 miles of pipelines, 12 active wells, 22 booster stations, 30 pressure reducing stations, two treatment facilities, interconnections with other agencies, including five with MWD, and storage reservoirs with a total capacity of approximately 105 million gallons. The distribution system is divided into 23 pressure zones; 10 are gravity-fed by reservoirs, two are hydro-pneumatic zones, and 11 zones are fed from a higher-pressure zone using one or more pressure reducing stations. Additional details on PWP’s water system can be found in the 2020 Pasadena Water System and Resources Plan (Woodard & Curran 2020).
3.2 Land Use
Current land use in the PWP service area is predominantly single family residential, multi-family residential, mixed, and commercial, industrial and institutional (Figure 3-2). High-density residential, commercial and mixed land uses are concentrated along major corridors, such as Fair Oaks Avenue and Washington Boulevard, and in Special Districts such as Central Pasadena, East Colorado and South Fair Oaks.
Pasadena is considered largely built out. According to the 2015 City of Pasadena General Plan, most recently amended in 2022, future growth will occur through urban infill, which means increasing the number of residential units or mixed-use units per acre, typically by replacing single-story structures with multi-story structures (City of Pasadena 2022a). Additionally, based 28 on the City’s Guiding Principles which account for extensive community input, higher density development will be directed away from residential neighborhoods and into the Central District, Transit Villages, and Neighborhood Villages (Pasadena 2026a).
Factors that may impact land use in the future include the following:
• California Senate Bill 79 (SB 79): SB 79, signed into law in October 2025, creates less restrictive state zoning codes with the intent to allow for higher-density housing to be built near major public transportation stops. The purpose is to increase housing supply, with denser, taller buildings and encourage transit use. The new height and density standards will apply by July 1, 2026.
• SR-710 Stub Project: The State Route (SR) 710 northern interchange was constructed in the early 1970s and resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents as well as division of a residential community from an active central business district. In 2022, the portion of SR 710 that is contained within the City of Pasadena was relinquished to the City, which eliminates the possibility of a future 710 North freeway connection. The City, with support of The Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group, is now in the final phases of designing redevelopment plans for the relinquished area. The area spans approximately 50 acres in the southwestern portion of the City whose redevelopment will focus on restoring community connectivity with pedestrian-friendly spaces and may include new affordable housing (City of Pasadena 2025, 2026b, 2026c).
29 Figure 3-1: PWP Water Service Area Boundary
30 Figure 3-2: Land Use Map
31 3.3 Population, Demographics and Socioeconomics
3.3.1 Population
Table 3-1 shows the current and projected PWP service area population in five-year increments to year 2050.
The current population for the PWP service area is based on the 2025 State of California Department of Finance (DOF) estimate for the City of Pasadena (DOF 2025), adjusted to account for outlying areas within the PWP service area. It is estimated that City boundaries make up 85% of the service area and 15% of the service area is outside of city boundaries.
Adjustments are made accordingly to calculate service area population based on City population estimates.
Projections through 2050 are based on Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) growth rates projected for the City of Pasadena (SCAG 2024). SCAG projections for the City were available for 2035 and 2050. PWP population projections through 2035 are based on the growth rate calculated between the 2025 service area population estimate and the SCAG 2035 City population projection, adjusted to account for outlying areas within the PWP service area. Projections from 2035 to 2050 are based on the growth rate between 2035 and 2050 from SCAG projections.
Table 3-1: Current and Projected Population
[DWR Table 3-1]
2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Population Served 165,448 167,244 169,059 169,645 170,233 170,824
3.3.2 Demographics and Socioeconomics
In addition to land use changes, other factors including social, economic, and demographic factors may also affect water management and planning. Table 3-2 summarizes the demographic and socioeconomic indicators for the City of Pasadena. While PWP’s water service area extends beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of the City, general demographic characteristics of the City of Pasadena are considered to be representative of the PWP water service area.
32 Table 3-2: Summary of Service Area Demographics
Demographic Category Value
Age and Sex
Persons under 5 years, percent 4.7%
Persons under 18 years, percent 16.7%
Persons 65 years and over, percent 17.4%
Female persons, percent 50.7%
Race and Hispanic Origin
White alone, percent 39.2%
Black or African American alone, percent 8.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent 0.8%
Asian alone, percent 17.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent 0.3% Two or More Races, percent 16.9%
Hispanic or Latino, percent 34.0%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent 34.9%
Housing
Owner-occupied housing unit rate, 2022-2024 42.5%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2022-2024 $1,093,300 Median gross rent, 2022-2024 $2,265
Families & Living Arrangements
Persons per household, 2022-2024 2.30
Education
High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2022-2024 89.9% Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2022-2024 56.1% Economy, Income & Poverty
In civilian labor force, total, percent of population age 16 years+, 2022-2024 67.4% Median household income (in 2024 dollars), 2022-2024 $105,192 Persons in poverty, percent 13.3%
Source: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/pasadenacitycalifornia/BZA115223
3.4 Service Area Climate
Pasadena’s climate is characterized as Mediterranean, temperatures are mild in the winter, spring and fall, and hot and dry during summer months. Average temperatures range from 45°F to 91°F. Total annual rainfall averages about 20 inches per year. Most of the rainfall occurs between December and March. Average monthly climate data for the City of Pasadena are summarized in Table 3-3.
33 Table 3-3: Pasadena Monthly Average Climate Data Summary Month
Standard Monthly
Average ETo
(inches)1
Average Total Rainfall
(inches)2
Average
Temperature (°F)
Max Min
January 2.20 4.13 68 45
February 2.47 4.87 68 45
March 3.85 3.24 70 47
April 4.58 1.09 74 50
May 5.19 0.56 77 55
June 5.97 0.10 83 59
July 6.79 0.03 89 63
August 6.41 0.22 91 63
September 5.01 0.20 88 61
October 3.47 0.81 81 56
November 2.51 1.41 74 49
December 1.97 3.23 68 45
Source: California Irrigation Management System (CIMIS) monthly data from Station No. 159, Monrovia, October 1999 to December 2025. https://wwwcimis.water.ca.gov/
Notes:
1Monrovia CIMIS station ETo data collection ended in 2019. 22010 precipitation readings omitted due to data anomalies.
3.4.1 Potential Effects of Climate Change
A topic of increasing importance for water planners and managers is climate change and the potential impacts it could have on California’s future water supplies. With a range of potential scenarios and potential impacts, climate change is increasing the uncertainty for future demand conditions and local and imported water supply conditions, thereby posing additional water management challenges.
DWR’s California Water Plan Update 2023 considers how climate change may affect water availability, water use, water quality, and water-dependent ecosystems across the State. The California Water Plan identifies numerous climate change impacts related to water management, including the following:
• Higher temperatures, less snowpack, increasing evaporation, increased consumptive use by vegetation and humans
• Increased variability in precipitation and runoff patterns, creating challenges for existing water storage and delivery systems
• Greater extremes with longer and more intense droughts, sudden and severe flooding, and more frequent and catastrophic wildfires
• Increased sea level rise, increased threat of coastal flooding, and saltwater intrusion into coastal groundwater aquifers.
34 • Increased groundwater depletion and land subsidence in inland areas The 2023 California Water Plan Update also underscores that historical hydrology is no longer a reliable foundation for long-term planning. Instead, water agencies must also prepare for a future defined by volatility, extremes, and regional variability (DWR 2023).
In relation to SWP supplies, more frequent droughts, declining snowpack, and shifts in the timing of runoff into water supply reservoirs are reducing overall water availability. A major factor identified to impact Delta exports is the shift in the timing and type of precipitation, and the timing and volumes of surface runoff. More precipitation will fall in the form of rain rather than snow, thereby resulting in a shift to more runoff during winter and early spring seasons. Earlier snowmelt and more rain versus snow will also result in an increasing inability to capture that runoff for later use or utilize it when most needed with existing infrastructure (Wang et al. 2018, Calleguas 2026).
In recent years, SWP supplies have become increasingly variable, with substantial curtailments occurring during dry years. As a result of increasing hydrologic variability compounded with regulatory restrictions and operational changes, the SWP is not capable of delivering full contractor entitlements on a routine basis. Average deliveries have dropped to 50-60% of contracted amounts over the last two decades and during recent droughts (2014, 2021, 2022), SWP deliveries were as low as 5 percent. While some of the reductions since 2005 were also a result of more stringent Delta regulations and operational changes, long-term projections indicate continued curtailments in the future, largely due to climate influences.
Similarly the Colorado River is facing prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, and declining snowpack reducing water availability for all seven Colorado River Basin states: California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The Colorado River Basin has become permanently hotter and drier and after years of reduced flows, the river’s future is uncertain. MWD and the other Colorado River users are negotiating a new set of rules that will guide the river’s operations starting in 2027. The negotiations require decisions on how the river’s declining supplies should be shared, how to best mitigate the impacts of the reduced supplies, what changes to urban landscapes and rural farmlands must be implemented.
Regionally, climate change analyses presented in the 2016 U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation’s Los Angeles County Basin Study project similar impacts, including changes to historical patterns and distribution of total rainfall, intensities of storm events, and seasonal temperatures. Existing patterns could become more extreme, with more intense storms during wet periods and longer and hotter dry periods (2016b).
Regional climate change vulnerabilities were developed as part of the Greater Los Angeles Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (2017). Table 3-4 Shows vulnerabilities that are considered to impact the PWP service area and include the vulnerabilities listed in the Pasadena 2025 Electronic Annual Report to the Drinking Water Program (eAR) for the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
35 Table 3-4: Prioritized Climate Change Vulnerabilities in the PWP Service Area
Priority Vulnerability
High • Groundwater depletion
• Decrease in local surface water
• Destruction of infrastructure (reservoirs, pipelines, equipment) during wildfires and floods
• Decreased ability to meet water conservation goals
• Reduced resiliency to drought
• Disruption of power supply
• Municipal water demand would increase
• Reliance on surface water (from the Bay-Delta system and the Colorado River)
• Increase in wildfire risk and erosion and sedimentation which may impact water quality, flood control, and habitat
Medium • Invasive species can reduce water supply available, alter flood regimes, and alter wildfire regimes
• Increases in inland and flash flooding
• Peak demand volume surges, due to extreme heat
• Decrease in dilution flows
• Increase in source control or surface water treatment • Increased impacts to habitat and flow availability for species Low • Limited ability to meet higher peaks in water demand (both seasonally and annually)
• Habitat water demand would increase
Based on PWP 2025 eAR and Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan Table 2-8.
Studies have also been performed to assess potential climate change impacts, locally. PWP’s former Water Quality Manager, Dr. David Kimbrough, completed studies in relation to drinking water quality and to streamflow. The 2019 report Impact of Local Climate Change on Drinking Water Quality in a Distribution System found that water temperatures in the PWP distribution system increased as air temperature in the PWP service area increased, resulting in the loss of disinfectant residual and the increase in the activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. As such, warmer temperatures may contribute to additional challenges for maintaining drinking water quality. The 2017 report Local Climate Change in Pasadena, Calif., and the Impact on Streamflow shows that stream flows in the Arroyo Seco have increased over the last century, along with local air temperatures. However, while those changes may indicate a greater availability of water supply in the stream, the high velocities and destructive forces associated with the extreme flows create new challenges with capturing those additional supplies. 36 Section 4: Water Use Characterization
This chapter describes past, current, and projected water usage within PWP’s service area. All current and projected water use for the PWP service area over the planning horizon of this UWMP is potable water. Information on potential future recycled water supplies and use is provided in Section 6.6.
4.1 Water Use Sectors
The water use sectors applicable to PWP’s water system are characterized as follows:
Single-Family Residential – Applies to separately metered single-family detached residences, also called single-detached dwellings, or single-family with accessory dwelling unit.
Multi-Family Residential – Applies to multi-family dwellings served by a single meter, including properties permitted as work/live space when used for residential purposes.
Multi-family dwellings are apartments, condominiums or town houses with at least two dwelling units at the same physical location.
On average, over the last 15 years, over 60 percent of PWP’s demand comes from the residential (single-family and multi-family) sector.
Commercial – Water users that provide or distribute a product or service. Industrial – Water users that are typically manufacturers or processors of materials. Institutional/Governmental – Water users dedicated to public service. Under this sector PWP also includes water use from City Accounts, including parks and city buildings.
For billing purposes, PWP captures commercial, industrial and institutional (CII) uses under a combined category, known as “Commercial”.
Sales to other Suppliers – PWP has active interconnections with neighboring agencies to which it supplies small volumes of retail and emergency exports. These agencies include Cal-American Water Company, Foothill Municipal Water District, Kinneloa Irrigation District, Lincoln Avenue Water Company, Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association, City of Sierra Madre, City of South Pasadena, and Valley Water Company. Distribution System Losses – This category captures real and apparent losses within the water distribution system and storage facilities, up to the point of delivery to the customer’s system. Apparent losses are water losses due to unauthorized consumption and/or nonphysical losses attributed to inaccuracies associated with customer metering, or systematic data handling errors. Real losses are physical water losses from the distribution system. See also Section 4.4.
37 Other – PWP water uses not accounted for in above sectors. This category includes portable water meters, metered private fire service, unmetered private fire service, fire hydrant use.
Additional water use sectors that are listed in the water code, but which are not applicable to the PWP system include: saline water intrusion barrier, and agriculture. PWP does have dedicated irrigation meters, but these uses are currently captured under their respective categories, e.g. single family residential.
4.2 Past and Current Water Use
4.2.1 Historical Trends
Over the last 15 years, PWP’s total water use has shown a downward trend (see Figure 4 1) despite population growth. During that timeframe, the most notable decrease occurred after 2014 when increased water conservation efforts were implemented in response to drought conditions and statewide water use reduction mandates in 2014 and 2015. Since then, total water use has remained below 2014 levels despite population growth. This trend can be, in part, attributed to water conservation programs and demand management measures (DMMs) implemented by PWP. Additional details on these measures are provided in Section 9.
Figure 4-1: Historical Water Use (2011 – 2025)
1 Note:
1Based on net production.
38 Water use also fluctuates throughout the year in response to seasonal conditions. Based on water use data over the past 5 years, water use is typically lowest around February and peaks in summer months, with highest use around July and August. Average monthly water use trends are shown in Figure 4-2.
Figure 4-2: Average Monthly Water Use (2020 – 2025)1
Note:
1Based on net production.
4.2.2 Current Water Use
Current (2025) water use by sector is shown in Table 4-1. All water use was supplied by potable water.
39 Table 4-1: 2025 Actual Total Uses
[DWR Table 4-1]
Use Type
Volume
(AF)
Single-Family 12,207
Multi-Family 5,186
CII1 7,166
Other: Portable water meter and fire hydrant uses 44
Distribution System Water Losses 1,657
Sales to other Suppliers 142
Total 26,401
Notes:
1CII volume includes customers with Dedicated Irrigation Meters.
4.3 Projected Water Use
Water use in the PWP service area was projected through 2050 for this UWMP. This report includes demands being met by potable water.
4.3.1 Factors Considered in Water Use Projections
Various factors were taken into consideration for PWP’s water use projections analysis, including past and current demands, projected population changes, and potential future land use changes, future water conservation measures, and climate factors, as described in the following.
• Past and Current Demands: PWP’s water use projections are based, in large part, on demands over the last decade with the recognition that water use behaviors and use by water sector are likely to remain similar to trends observed over the last 10 years.
• Population Growth and Land Use Changes: Population projections for the PWP service area are based on projections obtained from SCAG for the City of Pasadena which indicate moderate population growth for the City. The City of Pasadena is largely built out with limited potential for new major developments. Future growth is anticipated to occur primarily through urban infill and higher density housing.
Factors that may impact land use in the future which were considered for this analysis include the following:
o California Senate Bill 79 (SB 79): This law largely aligns with the City’s ongoing programs to allow higher-density housing in more areas of the City and is not expected to result in significant impacts to water use projections. o SR-710 Stub Project: Projected water uses for the new development project are unknown given that alternatives are still being evaluated, however water conservation is a strong focus in ongoing planning efforts and given the relatively small area, this project is not anticipated to have significant impacts on water use in the planning period of this UWMP. 40 • Conservation Measures and Passive Savings: Since projections are based on historical water use, they account for conservation savings resulting from existing codes and regulations. Locally, these include water waste prohibitions outlined in Chapter 13 of the City’s Code of Ordinances and price effect conservation from the City’s tiered water rate structure, among others. Similarly, State and Federal codes and regulations that are currently in effect, such as plumbing codes and high efficiency device and appliance regulations, are also inherently accounted for in the projections due to ongoing conservation effects. Savings from these measures were not specifically estimated in this UWMP but were considered as part of this demand projections analysis.
• Urban Water Use Objectives: Making Conservation a California Way of Life statutes AB 1668 and SB 606 establish water use objectives and long-term standards for efficient water use for urban retail water suppliers, including PWP.
Standards apply to indoor residential water use, outdoor residential water use, CII water use, and water loss. Based on these standards, maximum water budgets are determined for each urban retail water supplier. An urban water use objective is the sum of standard-based budgets for a subset of water uses, such as residential outdoor use. The regulations were finalized in 2024 with more stringent standards between 2025 and 2040, with enforcement from the State Water Resources Control Board beginning in 2027. Water use objectives applicable to PWP were estimated based on available data to evaluate whether additional conservation savings will be necessary in the PWP service area over the planning horizon. Based on projections with existing conservation savings, the analysis indicates that additional conservation savings will be required to meet established objectives. These savings are accounted for in the demand projections.
• Climate Change: Climate change is of special concern for water resource management because of the range of potential scenarios and their potential impacts on water supplies and demands. Overall, warmer temperatures, increased evapotranspiration and changes in precipitation patterns that are expected with climate change, are anticipated to result in increasing water demands primarily to meet outdoor water needs. However, water waste prohibitions specific to outdoor water use and targeted demand reduction actions that may be implemented under future drought conditions may counteract climate change-related demand increases. As drought conditions become more frequent and intense and would generally lead to increased outdoor demands, PWP may increasingly respond to these drought conditions with additional water conservation and/or demand reduction measures. Additionally, the historical data utilized as a basis for water use projections provide a reference for future climate change impacts as they inherently reflect historical drought conditions and responses. As such, climate change impacts on water demands were not specifically quantified but are accounted for in the demand projections of this UWMP.
• Weather: Based on analysis of PWP’s historical water use over the last 3 decades, the average demands increase by approximately 8% in dry years versus wet or average hydrologic years. Therefore, projections assume an 8% increase during single-dry and multiple dry years.
41 4.3.2 Total Projected Water Use
Water use projections were calculated in a two-step process. The first step was to estimate future water use based on the status quo, which reflects current levels of conservation. These projections were based on population growth rates estimated for the PWP service area (see Section 3) in combination with the average per capita water use between 2015 and 2025 as the baseline. The 2015 to 2025 average is considered a reasonable baseline, as per capita water use showed a downward trend starting in 2015 and has remained below 2014 levels since then.
The demand distribution by water use sector was estimated based on proportional water demands by sector over the last 15 years. Those proportions have stayed relatively constant over that timeframe.
The second step was to adjust projected water demands assuming urban water use objectives (UWUO) are met. For these calculations, applicable urban water use budgets were estimated for residential uses and water loss. CII with dedicated irrigation meter budgets were not calculated due to data limitations, PWP is awaiting landscape measurement data from DWR.
The projections with UWUO were lower than status quo projections, indicating that additional conservation savings will be required in the future to meet the objectives. PWP currently meets real water loss standards, as such, additional conservation savings were not estimated for that use type.
Projections of total water use by sector, for normal years, are shown in Table 4-2. These projections account for additional conservation savings anticipated to be required to meet urban water use objectives.
Table 4-2: Projected Water Use – Normal Years (AF)
1 [DWR Table 4-2]
Use Type 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Single-Family 12,382 12,081 11,671 11,399 11,421
Multi-Family 4,700 4,586 4,430 4,327 4,335
CII2 8,447 8,539 8,569 8,598 8,628
Other3 19 19 19 19 19
Distribution System Water Losses 1,777 1,796 1,803 1,809 1,815 Sales to other Suppliers4 50 50 50 50 50
Total 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Notes:
1All water use projected to be met with potable water.
2CII volumes include customers with Dedicated Irrigation Meters. 3Includes uses from portable water meters, metered private fire service, unmetered private fire service, water fire hydrant, and/or other uses not captured in other sectors. 4Based on average exports since 2015.
Water use projections during dry years are summarized in Table 4-3. As noted above, dry year water use is projected to be 8% higher than normal year water use based on historical observations. Additionally, it is assumed single-dry year and multiple dry year water use to be the same.
42 Table 4-3: Projected Water Use – Dry Years (AF)1, 2
Use Type 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Single-Family 13,373 13,048 12,605 12,311 12,335
Multi-Family 5,076 4,953 4,785 4,673 4,682
CII3 9,123 9,222 9,254 9,286 9,319
Other4 20 21 21 21 21
Distribution System Water Losses 1,919 1,940 1,947 1,954 1,960 Sales to other Suppliers 54 54 54 54 54
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
1All water use projected to be met with potable water.
2 Demands are based on an 8% increase compared to normal years, for each sector. Single-dry years and multiple dry years are assumed to be the same.
3CII volumes include customers with Dedicated Irrigation Meters. 4Includes uses from portable water meters, metered private fire service, unmetered private fire service, water fire hydrant, and/or other uses not captured in other sectors.
4.3.3 Water Use for the Next Five Consecutive Dry Years UWMPs are required to include a five-year Drought Risk Assessment, in which water suppliers compare available water supplies with projected water use for a five-year drought period. Table 4-4 presents water use over the next five years, assuming drought conditions, i.e., dry year conditions. See Section 7.3 for additional details.
Table 4-4: Projected Five-Year Drought Water Use (2026 – 2030) (AF) Use Type 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Single-Family 13,229 13,258 13,287 13,315 13,373
Multi-Family 5,022 5,033 5,043 5,054 5,076
CII1 9,025 9,045 9,064 9,084 9,123
Other2 20 20 20 20 20
Distribution System Water Losses 1,899 1,903 1,907 1,911 1,919 Sales to other Suppliers 54 54 54 54 54
Total 29,249 29,312 29,376 29,439 29,566
Notes:
1CII includes customers with Dedicated Irrigation Meters. 2Includes uses from portable water meters, metered private fire service, unmetered private fire service, water fire hydrant, and/or other uses not captured in other sectors.
4.3.4 Water Use Projections for Lower-Income Households CWC Section 10631.1 requires that the UWMP water use projections include the projected water use for single-family and multi-family residential housing for lower-income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and as identified in the housing element of any city, county, or city and county in the service area of the supplier. 43 According to the household income distribution within the City, as described in Table A-6 of the City’s Housing Element (2022), approximately 40 percent of households fall within the state- defined income category of extremely low, very low or low. For purposes of estimating lower - income household water use projections within the PWP service area, it is assumed that the city-wide occurrence of lower-income households (i.e., 40 percent) is representative of the residential distribution within the PWP water service area and that this percentage will remain the same over the planning period, through 2050. Water use projections of lower-income households are accounted for in total water demands presented in this UWMP and are summarized in Table 4-5.
Table 4-5: Water Use Projections for Lower-Income Households Water Use 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Estimated Lower Income
Household Water Use (AF)1, 2 6,833 6,667 6,441 6,291 6,303 Notes:
1Calculated as 40% of residential (single family and multi-family) water use within the PWP service area, based on total of Extremely Low Income, Very Low Income and Low Income percentages presented in City General Plan 2021- 2029 Housing Element.
2Lower-income household water use projections are captured in total water demand projections presented in this UWMP.
4.4 Distribution System Water Losses
Like all water suppliers, PWP experiences water losses within its distribution system, which are calculated as the difference between the amount of water produced and the amount of water authorized for use. Losses include a combination of real and apparent losses. Real losses are physical losses from the pressurized system and storage tanks up to the point of customer consumption, i.e., customer meters. Apparent losses include all types of inaccuracies associated with customer metering, such as due to worn meters, as well as systematic data handling errors related to meter reading, billing, archiving and reporting, plus unauthorized consumption, such as theft or other illegal use.
Retail suppliers are required to report their distribution system water losses for each of the five years preceding the UWMP update. PWP’s Water Loss Audit report submittals to DWR are summarized in Table 4-6. As a note, audit results were reported in calendar years through 2022.
PWP subsequently switched to fiscal year reporting starting in 2023. Based on those analyses, over the last five years, system water losses have averaged around 6 percent of total water consumption.
Table 4-6: Water Loss Audit Reporting
[DWR Table 4-5]
Reporting Period Submitted to DWR (Yes/No) Link to WUEdata Submittal Calendar Year 2020 Yes 2020 Submittal Link
Calendar Year 2021 Yes 2021 Submittal Link
Calendar Year 2022 Yes 2022 Submittal Link
Fiscal Year 2023 Yes 2023 Submittal Link
Fiscal Year 2024 Yes 2024 Submittal Link
Fiscal Year 2025 Yes 2025 Submittal Link
44 4.4.1 Water Loss Performance Standard
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) Water Loss Performance Standard is composed of the real water loss standard and the apparent water loss standard.
The water loss standard does not have to be met until 2028, however, pursuant to Water Code Section 10631(d)(3)(C), Retail Suppliers are required to include data in their 2025 UWMPs demonstrating whether they met the water loss standard.
A comparison of results from the most recent (FY2025) American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Loss Audit to the 2028 standard is shown in Table 4-7, in gallons per service connection per day (gpscd). Based on the audit results, PWP meets its Real Water Loss Performance Standard but currently exceeds the Apparent Water Loss Performance Standard.
Compliance will be re-evaluated with PWP’s 2026 or 2027 annual water loss audits once those are available.
Table 4-7: Progress Towards 2028 Water Loss Standard
[based on DWR Table 4-6]
Real Water Loss Apparent Water Loss
State Water Board
2028 Standard
Real Water Loss
based on FY2025
Audit
State Water Board
2028 Standard
Apparent Water Loss
based on FY2025 Audit
28.4 gpscd 17.6 gpscd 18 gpscd 23.7 gpscd
Note: The Eaton Fire in January 2025 in Altadena destroyed homes and services in Pasadena water service area and the fire fighting and removal of the debris from the fire activities contributed to the increased apparent losses.
45 Section 5: SBX7-7 Baseline, Targets, and Compliance
The Water Conservation Act of 2009, also known as Senate Bill (SB) X7-7 or SBX7-7, mandated 20% reduction in urban per capita water use by 2020, statewide. SBX7-7 required each water supplier to establish water use targets, presented in gallons per capita per day (GPCD). In the 2020 UWMP, water agencies were required to compare actual 2020 GPCD against their 2020 target to demonstrate that the agency met its 2020 Compliance Target by December 31, 2020.
Consistent with these requirements, the City’s 2020 UWMP demonstrated that PWP met the 20% reduction by December 31, 2020. Table 5-1 shows that PWP met the SB X7-7 requirement.
Table 5-1: SBX7-7 2020 Target Progress
[based on DWR Table 5-1]
2020 Target GPCD Actual 2020 GPCD In Compliance?
169 153 Yes
46 Section 6: Water Supply Characterization
6.1 Overview
The City has diverse sources of water: local groundwater from the Raymond Basin, stream water from Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon which is recharged to, and pumped from, the Raymond Basin, and imported water from MWD. On average, groundwater produced from the Raymond Basin makes up from one third to nearly one half of PWP’s total supplies. Imported water from MWD makes up the other one half to two thirds of PWP’s supplies, approximately.
Additionally, a small volume of potable water is imported from neighboring agencies, making up less than one percent, on average. An overview of supplies utilized in 2025 is provided in Table 6-1. Current and potential supplies are discussed in more detail below.
Table 6-1: Water Supplies – 2025 Actual (AFY)
[DWR Table 6-8]
Water Supply Source 2025
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 12,075
Water from MWD 14,179
Water from other sources 146
Total2 26,401
Notes:
1Includes groundwater allocation and spreading credits
2Total does not equal sum of individual values in table due to rounding
6.2 Groundwater
6.2.1 Raymond Basin
The Raymond Basin is a 40-square-mile aquifer underlying the majority of the City and neighboring areas. See Figure 6-1. The basin is bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains to the north, the San Rafael Hills to the west, and the Raymond Fault to the south/southeast. The base of the water-bearing strata of the Raymond Basin is defined by impervious bedrock material that is not considered to yield significant quantities of water. Overlying the bedrock are unconsolidated alluvial materials consisting of boulders, gravel, sand, silt, and clay, which in some areas are more than 1,200 feet deep. This alluvium is the principal water-bearing unit in the Raymond Basin. Well yields in the alluvium range from a few hundred to several thousand gallons per minute (gpm). The alluvial aquifer system in the Raymond Basin consists of many individual interconnected water-bearing zones. The alluvial valley slopes to the south, ranging in elevation from 2,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL) near the San Gabriel Mountains to between 500 and 700 feet MSL at the Raymond Fault.
47 Figure 6-1: Raymond Basin
48 Groundwater generally flows southerly from areas of recharge at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains to areas of discharge along the Raymond Fault. Groundwater discharge in the Raymond Basin occurs through pumping and subsurface outflow across the Raymond Fault.
Current sources of groundwater recharge to the Raymond Basin include:
• Natural infiltration and percolation of rainfall and surface water • Percolation of applied water from irrigation and other return flows • Subsurface inflow from adjacent groundwater basins, bedrock areas, and the San Gabriel Mountains
• Artificial recharge through surface water infiltration • Percolation of water from septic tanks
The basin is divided into three subareas: the Monk Hill subarea in the northwest, the Pasadena subarea in the central portion of the basin, and the Santa Anita subarea in the east. While PWP produces groundwater from the Pasadena and Monk Hill subareas, the majority of PWP’s wells are in the Pasadena subarea.
6.2.2 Raymond Basin Judgement
Raymond Basin was the first groundwater basin adjudicated in California; this occurred in December 1944 with the purpose of alleviating overdraft of the basin. Under the adjudication, it was determined that certain parties had the right to extract water, of which the City was one.
The court allocated the rights to each party, based on a judgment of "safe yield”. The safe yield was determined to be 21,900 AFY but was increased in 1955 to 30,662 AFY. Today, there are 15 members to the Raymond Basin. A copy of the Judgement of 1984 is available at:
https://www.raymondbasin.org/_files/ugd/d1b21e_e7652bc3210142689891d96337670dce.pdf The authority to manage the basin, resolve future disputes and make binding judgments is vested in a Basin Watermaster. The Raymond Basin Watermaster is the Raymond Basin Management Board (RBMB), which is the representative of the parties (pumpers) of the Judgement. The City of Pasadena is a member of the 10-member board.
The City owns 42 percent of the water rights in the basin. The City’s decreed right was set at 12,807 AFY, divided between the Monk Hill (4,464 AFY) and Pasadena (8,343 AFY) subareas.
These decreed rights were set in 1955. Due to declining water levels in the basin, the RBMB implemented a resolution on July 1, 2009, that voluntarily reduced pumping from the Pasadena subarea. As a result, PWP’s pumping from the Pasadena subarea was reduced by 30%, down to 5,840 AFY. Since then, additional pumping adjustments have occurred. As of July 2024, PWP’s pumping from Monk Hill was reduced by 24%, down to 3,393 AFY. Current pumping rights, with voluntary reductions amount to 9,233 AFY plus spreading credits, which are described below.
6.2.3 Spreading Credits
The PWP service area is located within the Los Angeles River Watershed and overlies portions of three sub-watersheds. The small drainage area in the central part is directed to the Alhambra 49 Wash. The western portion of the service area drains to the Arroyo Seco and the eastern portion drains to Eaton Wash.
The City has pre-1914 rights to divert up to 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) of surface water from the Arroyo Seco and Millard Canyon streams and up to 8.9 cfs from the Eaton Wash. The 1984 Basin Judgment allows each pumper to take the surface water directly or recharge the Raymond Basin and then pump a portion of the recharged volume, as spreading credits, in addition to their decreed rights. In wet and normal years, PWP diverts runoff to recharge the Raymond Basin and receive spreading credits. Recharge occurs at the Arroyo Seco Spreading Grounds, which are owned and operated by PWP, and the Eaton Wash Spreading Grounds which are owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. PWP has diverted runoff for recharge to the Arroyo Seco since 1912 and to Eaton Wash Spreading Grounds since 1923. PWP receives spreading credits of the water recharged at the Arroyo Seco Spreading Grounds and Eaton Wash Spreading Grounds.
Runoff from the Arroyo Seco is highly variable depending on hydrologic conditions and seasonality. In wet years, runoff may exceed 40,000 AF, most of which flows past Devil’s Gate Dam to the Pacific Ocean. In dry years, runoff can be less than 1,000 AF. Since 2000, PWP has recharged approximately 1,700 AFY from Arroyo Seco and received spreading credits of approximately 1,200 AFY, on average. Eaton Canyon flows can also vary but are generally less.
On average, since 2000, PWP recharged approximately 850 AFY from Eaton Wash and received spreading credits of approximately 680 AFY. In total, since 2000, these recharge operations have provided PWP an average of nearly 1,900 AFY in credits, ranging from approximately 300 AF in 2015 to 5,300 AF in 2024.
The full amount of the City’s diversion rights from the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon is not typically realized due to stream flow variability, limitations of the City’s existing diversion infrastructure, and capacity limitations of the infiltration basins. Operational constraints currently exist which impact PWP’s ability to maximize existing diversion rights along the Arroyo Seco.
Efforts to rehabilitate and improve existing diversion and recharge facilities to increase recharge to the basin in the Arroyo Seco Canyon are in progress and are discussed in Section 6.9.1.
6.2.4 Groundwater Production
A typical average year would provide PWP with approximately 11,130 AFY in groundwater, which includes decreed rights with voluntary reductions and surface water spreading credits.
Groundwater volumes pumped over the last five years are summarized in Table 6-2. PWP has ongoing efforts to replace wells and improve its overall groundwater operations to improve pumping capacity and long-term reliability, including purchasing additional water from MWD during wet periods and turning off wells in calendar years 2022 and 2023.
Table 6-2: Groundwater Volume Pumped (2021-2025) (AF)
[DWR Table 6-1]
Groundwater Type Basin Name 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Alluvial Basin1 Raymond Basin 6,689 7,853 7,730 11,030 12,075 Notes:
1Volumes include groundwater pumping rights and spreading credits
50 Groundwater volumes projected over the planning period, for normal, dry and five-consecutive- year drought conditions are presented in Table 6-3. Projections assume full use of PWP’s pumping rights, adjusted for voluntary reductions, totaling 9,233 AFY for all year types, plus spreading credits, which differ based on hydrology. PWP assumes up to 1,897 AFY in spreading credits in future normal years which reflects approximate average credits over the last 25 years. Single-dry year estimates are based on total spreading credits in 2015, which is the minimum credits received since 1975. Five-year drought projections are based on spreading credits available during each year of the 2014-2018 drought period. See also Table 7-1 in Section 7.
Table 6-3: Groundwater Projections (AFY)
2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Normal Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 1,897 1,897 1,897 1,897 1,897
Total 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130
Single-Dry Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 300 300 300 300 300
Total 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533
Multiple Dry Years1
1st Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 556 556 556 556 556
Total 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789
2nd Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 556 556 556 556 556
Total 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789
3rd Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 556 556 556 556 556
Total 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789
4th Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 556 556 556 556 556
Total 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789
5th Year
Pumping Rights 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233 9,233
Spreading Credits 556 556 556 556 556
Total 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789
Notes:
1Volumes shown here reflect range of volumes available during 2014-2018 dry year sequence. Average of 2014-2018 spreading credits was used to reflect all 5 years.
6.2.5 Groundwater Quality
Groundwater contamination is an identified issue at all PWP wells and includes perchlorate, volatile organic compounds, nitrates, and 1,2,3-trichloropropane. PWP uses a combination of treatment and blending to ensure water delivered to customers meets drinking water quality standards established by the SWRCB and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Groundwater is blended for nitrates and treated for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Monk Hill subarea groundwater is also treated for perchlorate. 51 In the Monk Hill subarea, past research and development activities conducted by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory resulted in releases of rocket fuel and other chemicals to the environment, and contamination of the local groundwater with VOCs and perchlorate. The Monk Hill Treatment Plant (Monk Hill Plant) has been operating since 2011 to remove VOCs and perchlorate from PWP’s affected wells. The Monk Hill Plant has a capacity to treat four wells (7,000 gallons per minute [gpm]). The extent of plume containment is being monitored.
In the Pasadena subarea, the Wadsworth Treatment Plant removes 1,2,3-trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) from three PWP wells. 1,2,3-TCP, a VOC, is a manmade chemical. Because of the chemical’s carcinogenic risk at low-level exposures, the SWRCB set the maximum contaminant level (MCL) at 5 parts per trillion in 2017. The plant became operational in 2024 and has a total treatment capacity of 3,000 gpm.
6.2.6 Groundwater Operations
In recent years, PWP has been undertaking measures to address operational challenges at PWP facilities which have been preventing PWP from maximizing groundwater production.
PWP has wells approaching 100 years old with conditions that reduce their pumping capacity and/or future reliability. PWP has completed several improvements over the last five years which have enhanced PWP’s groundwater operations, including the following:
• Construction of two new wells: Parke and Explorer
• Construction of the new Wadsworth Groundwater Treatment Plant • Upgrade of Ross Booster Station
PWP is currently undertaking additional measures to enhance its recharge operations and upgrade related facilities. These projects will help increase recharge to the basin and increase available spreading credits. See Section 6.9.
Overall, these improvements enable PWP to enhance long-term reliability of its system by minimizing operational constraints and maximizing use of its available local resources.
6.3 Imported Water from MWD
PWP purchases imported water from MWD to supplement local groundwater and meet its water demands. Water, purchased from MWD, makes up from approximately one half to two thirds of PWP’s total supplies since 2000. MWD is the Southern California regional water wholesaler with primary sources of water from Northern California through the SWP and Colorado River through the CRA. PWP incorporated MWD’s imported supplies into its water supply portfolio to meet a portion of its water demands since 1941, when it became the first member agency to receive water from MWD. Over the last ten years, deliveries from MWD have averaged approximately 18,000 AFY.
PWP currently receives MWD water via five turnouts with MWD’s Upper Feeder. Turnout capacity is sufficient to meet existing and projected PWP demands. Water served to PWP is treated at MWD’s Weymouth Water Treatment Plant (WTP). In the case of outages at the Weymouth WTP, PWP could also receive treated water from MWD’s Jensen WTP, if available under certain conditions.
52 Projections of imported supplies available to PWP over the planning horizon of this UWMP are based on MWD’s projected ability to meet demands in its service area. According to MWD’s 2025 UWMP (MWD 2026), MWD has determined that it has sufficient supplies to meet expected member agency demands through the 2050 planning period under all hydrologic scenarios (normal year, single dry year, and a five-consecutive-year drought). Table 6-4 summarizes the volumes of MWD supplies projected for PWP over the planning period.
Table 6-4: Imported Water Supply Projections (AFY)
Year Type 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Normal Year 16,146 15,842 15,312 14,973 15,039
Single-Dry Year 19,933 19,604 19,032 18,666 18,738
Multiple Dry Years
1st Year 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
2nd Year 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
3rd Year 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
4th Year 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
5th Year 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Notes:
MWD has determined it has supply capabilities sufficient to meet water demands under all hydrologic year types.
MWD coordinated the preparation of its 2025 UWMP with its 26 member agencies, among other stakeholders and relevant agencies. PWP provided preliminary water use projections and projected local water supply availability to MWD for consideration in its 2025 UWMP water supply reliability analysis.
6.3.1 Imported Water for Groundwater Storage
In years of water supply surplus, which can result when there is higher than normal precipitation, MWD may have supplies available for local storage augmentation via in-lieu deliveries. Under MWD’s Cyclic Cost-Offset Program (CCOP), MWD provides a credit to help offset costs incurred by member agencies to take additional deliveries beyond their normal demands. The program allows MWD to store excess water and overcome operational constraints, while allowing member agencies to preserve their own water supplies and/or replenish local groundwater basins. In August 2023, MWD’s Board approved amendments to the CCOP, including an increase to the credit limits (MWD 2024).
PWP has an agreement with MWD for CCOP, which allows PWP to purchase water at an offsetting cost through in-lieu deliveries. Under the terms of the Cyclic Agreement, PWP has the option to take water deliveries, but no obligation. This Cyclic Agreement provides an opportunity to improve the reliability of the Raymond Basin, thereby contributing to the City’s long-term water supply reliability. PWP has utilized CCOP supplies in several years since the CCOP was initiated in 2019. Most recently between December 2022 and July 2023, PWP turned off several groundwater wells for in-lieu groundwater recharge through MWD’s CCOP. 53 6.3.2 Imported Water Supply Reliability
Based on MWD’s 2025 UWMP, MWD has determined that it has supply capabilities sufficient to meet expected member agency demands through the 2050 planning period under all hydrologic scenarios (normal year, single dry year, and a five-consecutive-year drought). However, MWD also acknowledges that there are risks and uncertainties such as climate change, regulatory actions, and infrastructure vulnerabilities that may impact supply.
MWD has invested significantly in the development of a diverse mix of water supplies and robust resource management program to ensure continued reliability of its supplies. MWD has undertaken numerous planning initiatives, including preparation of its Integrated Water Resources Plan (IRP), the Water Surplus and Drought Management (WSDM) Plan, and the Water Supply Allocation Plan (WSAP). These efforts enable MWD to meet water supply needs of its member agencies under various water year types and scenarios.
MWD adopted its first IRP in 1996, which focused on increasing regional supply reliability through a diverse water resource portfolio and conservation measures. The IRP emphasizes the goals of meeting agency demand under all foreseeable hydrologic conditions, while also promoting water use efficiency to increase reliability. In recognition of the significant uncertainty in long-term water supply planning, additional emphasis has been put on adaptive management planning. The 2020 IRP enhances MWD’s adaptive management planning by considering multiple scenarios of future demand and supply conditions and evaluating investments and actions necessary to maintain regional water reliability based on potential future uncertainties.
Updates to the existing IRP are in progress.
The WSDM Plan, approved in 1999, provides guidelines for supply strategy implementation depending on current demands and available supplies. The plan identifies a sequence of management actions to minimize the probability of severe shortages and reduce the possibility of extreme shortages and water allocations. As demand exceeds normal supplies, MWD will utilize surface and groundwater storage supplies, cease other deliveries, call for demand reductions, and purchase additional water. The region's ability to implement a long-term WSDM Plan results from the significant investments MWD and its member agencies have made in a variety of resources. These include increased local conservation and water recycling, improvements in the reliability of imported supplies, increased regional storage, and increased conjunctive use groundwater programs.
If supplies are still not sufficient after implementing shortage response actions guided by the WSDM, MWD may implement the WSAP. The WSAP is the established formula for allocating available water supplies to each of MWD’s retail and wholesale customers in the case of an extreme water shortage and establishes surcharges for excess water use. The WSAP was originally adopted by the MWD Board in 2008 and was last revised in 2014.
6.3.3 Delta Reliance
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 established that it is state policy to “reduce reliance” on the Delta in meeting the state’s future water supply needs by investing in improved regional supplies, conservation, and water use efficiency. Delta Plan Policy WR P1, Reduce Reliance on the Delta Through Improved Regional Water Self-Reliance (Delta Plan Policy WR P1, California Code Reg., tit. 23, § 5003) identifies UWMPs as the tool to demonstrate consistency with the policy for an urban water supplier that anticipates participating 54 in or receiving water from a proposed project (covered action) such as a multi-year water transfer, conveyance facility, or new diversion that involves transferring water through, exporting water from, or using water in the Delta. As such, a Supplier that carries out or takes part in a covered action should provide information in their UWMPs that can then be used in the certification of consistency process to demonstrate consistency with Delta Plan Policy WR P1.
DWR has suggested that any entity receiving imported water from the SWP should anticipate being part of a covered action.
MWD’s service area, as a whole, reduces reliance on the Delta through investments in non- Delta water supplies, local water supplies, and regional and local demand management measures. MWD’s member agencies coordinate reliance on the Delta through their membership in MWD, a regional cooperative providing wholesale water service to its 26 member agencies.
Accordingly, regional reliance on the Delta can only be measured regionally—not by individual MWD member agencies and not by the customers of those member agencies.
MWD’s member agencies do not directly control the amount of Delta water they receive from MWD. MWD manages a statewide integrated conveyance system consisting of its participation in the SWP, its CRA including Colorado River water resources, programs and water exchanges, and its regional storage portfolio. Along with the SWP, CRA, storage programs, and Metropolitan’s conveyance and distribution facilities, demand management programs increase the future reliability of water resources for the region. In addition, demand management programs provide system-wide benefits by decreasing the demand for imported water, which helps to decrease the burden on the district’s infrastructure and reduce system costs, and free up conveyance capacity to the benefit of all member agencies. Details on MWD’s Reduced Delta Reliance Reporting are provided in Appendix 10 of MWD’s 2025 UWMP.
6.3.4 Imported Water Quality
Water purchased from MWD is a blend of SWP and CRA water and consistently meets all state and federal drinking water regulations. As reported in PWP’s 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, all water obtained from MWD, via the Weymouth Plant, meets or exceeds the standards for public drinking water. With MWD’s ongoing source water protection programs, and rigorous treatment and monitoring processes in place, imported water quality is not anticipated to affect PWP’s water supply reliability.
6.4 Water Exchanges and Transfers
In addition to MWD, PWP has active interconnections with seven local agencies. Some of these interconnections are for emergency use only, while others allow for the delivery or receipt of water from one agency to the other, as needed and depending on supply availability. A summary of these interconnections is provided in Table 6-5. 55 Table 6-5: PWP Interconnections
Agency Type of Interconnections
Cal-American Water Company Emergency; export only
City of Sierra Madre Emergency
City of South Pasadena Emergency, Working; export only
Foothill Municipal Water District Emergency
Kinneloa Irrigation District Emergency, Working
Lincoln Avenue Water Company Emergency
Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association Emergency, Working Valley Water Company Emergency, Working; import only
PWP regularly imports small volumes of potable water from some of these connections for non- emergency use within its service area. In most cases, customers served by these supplies are located within pressures zones served by the neighboring agencies and are therefore more efficiently supplied with those imports. Over the last five years, non-emergency imports totaled approximately 100 AFY, on average. Water supply projections account for these imports and assume approximately 100 AFY during all water year types.
6.5 Surface Water and Stormwater
As noted above, PWP currently diverts surface runoff from the Arroyo Seco and the Eaton Wash for recharge to the Raymond Basin. See Section 6.2.3.
6.6 Wastewater and Recycled Water
Wastewater collection and treatment for PWP customers is provided by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. No wastewater is treated or disposed of within PWP’s service area. Table 6-6 documents wastewater collection in the PWP service area in 2025. 56 Table 6-6: Wastewater Collected Within the Service Area in 2025 (AF) [DWR Table 6-2]
Name of WW
Collection
Agency
WW Volume
Metered or
Estimated?
Volume of WW
Collected from
UWMP Service Area
2025
Name of WWTP and
Place ID Number
Is WWTP
Located Within
UWMP Area?
Los Angeles
County Sanitation
Districts
Estimated 19,286 AF1
• A.K. Warren Water
Resource Facility –
234156
• Whittier Narrows
Water Reclamation
Plant – 235826
• Los Coyotes WRP –
238646
• San Jose Creek
Water Reclamation
Plant - 260156
No
Notes:
1Actual CY 2025 sewer use across all four WWTPs, which is about 70% of the total water use in the water service area.
PWP does not currently use recycled water and does not include recycled water production or use within the service area in this UWMP. However, the cities of Pasadena, Los Angeles, and Glendale have been planning to increase local water supplies using advanced purified water.
The plan is to expand the Los Angeles-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant (“LAG Plant”) with a new state-of-the-art purification facility that would purify the tertiary treated recycled water from the effluent of the existing LAG Plant with advanced treatment technology with multistep treatment processes. In Pasadena, the advanced purified water will be used for non-potable water use and groundwater recharge in the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Spreading Basins to replenish the Raymond Basin.
Due to the uncertainty of the project timeline, and volumes available to PWP, this project is not currently accounted for in projected water supplies in this UWMP.
6.7 Desalinated Water
PWP is not planning to use desalinated water as part of its water supply portfolio within the planning horizon of this UWMP. PWP is located too far inland to feasibly desalinate ocean water, and there is currently no readily available supply of brackish groundwater or surface water within PWP’s service area.
6.8 Future Water Projects
Additional projects that may contribute to the amount of water supply available to PWP in the future are being evaluated by PWP and are described below. Given their planning status, these projects are not quantified as future supplies in the projections of this UWMP. 57 6.8.1 Arroyo Seco Canyon Project
PWP's existing diversion and intake structures in the Arroyo Seco were built in the 1920's and 1930's and continue to capture PWP’s water diversion rights. However, the facilities were damaged during the storms that followed the 2009 Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest, in the upper Arroyo Seco watershed. Prior to the fire, the headworks structure diverted stream flows to adjacent sedimentation basins, which provided less turbid water for the infiltration basins. Debris flows damaged the headworks and as a result, there is reduced spreading at the Arroyo Seco facilities.
The Arroyo Seco Canyon Project will remove the existing Arroyo Seco headworks, replace the intake structure and build a new diversion structure, and build a new sedimentation basin and new infiltration basins. The project would allow PWP to fully use its surface water rights of 25 cubic feet per second and recharge additional surface water during wet periods. The project’s Environmental Impact Report was approved by City Council in 2021.
6.8.2 Devil’s Gate Pump Back Project
This concept proposes to recharge the Monk Hill subarea with surface water from the Arroyo Seco stream collected from behind Devil’s Gate Dam, which is owned and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. The project includes installation of a new pumping system and controls at the dam and a new pipeline to the Arroyo Seco spreading basins.
Implementation of this project is estimated to result in an average of approximately 1,000 AFY of surface water recharged in the Monk Hill subarea.
6.9 Summary of Projected Water Supplies
The management of PWP’s supplies is governed by the availability of supplies in combination with the cost effectiveness of utilizing available supplies. In general, PWP prioritizes the use of groundwater rights and spreading credits, followed by imported water from MWD. Imported supplies may be prioritized in years of surplus imported supplies (e.g., when the Cyclic Cost-Offset Program is available, as discussed in Section 6.3). Moving forward, PWP will continue to evaluate opportunities to diversify its supply, while also focusing on sustaining existing sources and maximizing use of its local water resources.
Table 6-7 through Table 6-9 provide an overview of supplies anticipated to be available to PWP over the planning horizon of this UWMP, during normal, single-dry, and multiple dry years.
Table 6-7: Projected Water Supply – Normal Year (AFY)
[DWR Table 6-9]
Water Supply Source 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 Water from MWD2 16,146 15,842 15,312 14,973 15,039
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Notes:
1 See Table 6-3
2 See Table 6-4
3 See Section 6.4
58 Table 6-8: Projected Water Supply – Single-Dry Year (AFY) Water Supply Source 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533 9,533 Water from MWD2 19,933 19,604 19,032 18,666 18,738
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
1 See Table 6-3
2 See Table 6-4
3 See Section 6.4
Table 6-9: Projected Water Supply – Multiple Dry Years (AFY) Water Supply Source 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
1st Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD2 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
2nd Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD2 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
3rd Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD2 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
4th Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD2 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
5th Year
Groundwater – Raymond Basin1 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 9,789 Water from MWD2 19,677 19,348 18,776 18,410 18,482
Water from other sources3 100 100 100 100 100
Total 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
1 See Table 6-3
2 See Table 6-4
3 See Section 6.4
PWP’s supply reliability during normal, single dry, and multiple dry year conditions is discussed in more detail in Section 7.
59 6.10 Energy Use
This Section includes an assessment of the energy intensity of the water supply operations in PWP’s service area, i.e., within PWP’s operational control, as required by Water Code Section 10631.2 (a). Energy used to treat or transport imported water within the MWD system is not included. As summarized in Table 6-10, the system-wide energy intensity of PWP’s water supply was calculated as 1,900 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per million gallons (MG), or 619 kWh per AF.
Table 6-10: Energy Intensity for PWP’s Water Service Area [DWR Table O-1B]
Sum of All Water Management
Processes1
Volume of Water Entering Process (AF) 27,577
Energy Consumed (kWh)2 17,075,734
Energy Intensity (kWh/MG) 1,900
Notes:
1Based on the 12-month period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. 2Based on a combination of estimates and metered data.
60 Section 7: Water Service Reliability and Drought Risk Assessment
CWC Section 10635(a) requires every urban water supplier to assess water service reliability by comparing total long-term projected water use with the expected water supply during normal, dry, and multiple dry water years in five-year increments over the next 20 years, at a minimum.
This section summarizes the City’s water supply relative to demands over the 25-year planning period of this UWMP, under various hydrologic conditions. Additional details on PWP’s water use projections and water supply are provided in Chapter 4 and 5, respectively.
7.1 Constraints on Water Sources
7.1.1 Groundwater
PW
P is continuously undertaking efforts to improve the long-term reliability of its system and to sustainably manage the use of its local resources. Construction of new wells, well upgrades and planned improvements to its recharge operations will help to minimize operational constraints on PWP’s groundwater supplies. Additionally, groundwater treatment and blending operations are hel
ping to address existing groundwater quality concerns.
Potential future constraints on groundwater supplies may arise from impacts to recharge conditions. Hydrologic variability, which may increase with climate change, for example, could impact the amount and timing of recharge to the Raymond Basin in the future. These conditions coul
d impact groundwater levels and/or impact PWP’s recharge operations and spreading credits. Reduced precipitation and warmer temperatures could result in less runoff, a nd therefore recharge, at times, while more frequent flashier storm events could impact PWP’s ability to maximize diversions and recharge.
Hydrologic variability is accounted for in groundwater supply projections by estimating available spr
eading credits based on historical drought conditions.
7.1.2 Imported Wa t er
There are several
factors with potential to impact the reliability of MWD supplies, including impacts to one of MWD’s largest water supply sources, SWP supplies. Climate change impacts are anticipated to result in substantial reductions in Delta exports, especially under dry year conditions. Additional challenges that are impacting or may impact SWP supply availability include, but are not limited to, increasing environmental water demands and related regulatory restrictions on Delta exports.
Also, aging levees are susceptible to dam age during a potential major earthquake and could result in a significant and prolonged interruption of SWP supply. While all of these factors may pl
ace constraints on SWP water supplies in the future, MWD’s reliability assessment shows that its supplies are sufficient to meet its member agency water demands over the planning period under all hydrologic year types. Additionally, MWD has developed robust and comprehensive 61 water shortage response planning to address water supply constraints or shortages, should they occur.
Additional details on imported water supply reliability are provided in Section 6.3 and in Section
2.3 of MWD’s 2025 UWMP.
7.2 Water Service Reliability Assessment
7.2.1 Year Type Characterization
Water supply and demands comparisons are presented in this section for three hydrologic scenarios: a normal year, a single dry year, and a five-consecutive-year drought. These scenarios are defined as follows:
Normal Year: This condition is a year in the historical sequence that most closely represents average supply availability. For this analysis, normal year supply availability is based on the average over the 25-year timeframe ending in 2025. Single-Dry Year: This condition represents the year with the lowest water supply available. 2015 was the year with the lowest volume of spreading credits available to PWP since 1975 and is considered to be representative of future single-dry years. Five-consecutive-year drought: This scenario represents the driest five-year historical with the lowest supply available, which for PWP are the years from 2014 through 2018.
As noted previously, MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet member agency demands during all hydrologic year types. Therefore, PWP anticipates 100% availability of imported supplies in all hydrologic year types. Additionally, PWP projects 100% availability of its groundwater pumping rights (adjusted for voluntary reductions) in all hydrologic year types.
The primary variable in the water supply projections for all year types is the volume of spreading credits. Spreading credits, however, are highly dependent on hydrologic conditions (see discussions in sections 6.3.3 and 6.3.4). Table 7-1 summarizes the basis of water year data utilized for the reliability assessment related to spreading credits. Water availability assumptions for all sources are described in more detail in Section 6. 62 Table 7-1: Basis of Water Year Data – Spreading Credit Reliability Assessment [DWR Table 7-1]
Year Type Base Year
Available Supplies if Year Type Repeats1
Volume of Spreading Credits (AFY)2, 3
Average Year 2025 1,897
Single-Dry Year 2015 300
Consecutive Dry Years 1st Year 2014 556
Consecutive Dry Years 2nd Year 2015 556
Consecutive Dry Years 3rd Year 2016 556
Consecutive Dry Years 4th Year 2017 556
Consecutive Dry Years 5th Year 2018 556
Notes:
1Only spreading credits are shown here, as imported supplies and groundwater pumping rights are projected to be 100% available during all water year types.
2Average Year credits based on 25-year average through period ending 2025. 3Single-Dry Year credits reflect actual availability during specified base year. 4Consecutive Dry Year credits reflect the average of the period between 2014 to 2018.
7.2.2 Supply and Demand Comparisons
The following tables summarize the water supply versus demand evaluations for the different hydrologic year types. Assumptions about demands and supplies are provided in Chapters 4 and 6, respectively.
7.2.2.1 Water Service Reliability – Normal Year
As shown in Table 7-2, the City anticipates adequate supplies to meet demands from 2030 through 2050 under normal year supply conditions. Imported water would generally only be purchased as needed to make up the difference between demands and local supplies (groundwater and other imported supplies). Any local groundwater supplies that exceed demands would remain in the Raymond Basin.
Table 7-2: Normal Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) [DWR Table 7-2]
2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Supply Totals1 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Demand Totals2 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Notes:
1Supplies from Table 6-7.
2Demands from Table 4-2.
7.2.2.2 Water Service Reliability – Single-Dry Year
PWP’s water demands and supplies over the 25-year planning period were analyzed based on a potential repeat of conditions similar to 2015. As shown in Table 7-3, estimated supply is sufficient to meet single-dry year demands.
63 Table 7-3: Single-Dry Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) [DWR Table 7-3]
2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
1Single-dry year supplies from Table 6-8.
2Demands from Table 4-3.
7.2.2.3 Water Service Reliability – Multiple Dry Years
PWP’s water demands and supplies over the 25-year planning period were analyzed for the occurrence of five consecutive dry years, similar to conditions during the 2014-2018 drought period. Table 7-4 summarizes the projected supplies and demands under the multiple dry year scenario and shows that supplies are sufficient to meet demands.
Table 7-4: Multiple Dry Year Supply and Demand Comparison (AFY) [DWR Table 7-4]
2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
1st Year Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371 Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
2nd Year Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371 Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
3rd Year Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371 Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
4th Year Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371 Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
5th Year
Supply Totals1 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Demand Totals2 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Notes:
1Supplies from Table 6-9.
2Demands from Table 4-3.
7.2.3 Summary of Comparisons
As shown in the analyses above, PWP has adequate supplies to meet demands during normal, single-dry, and multiple dry years throughout the 25-year planning period.
7.3 Drought Risk Assessment
CWC Section 10635(b) requires every urban water supplier to include, as part of its UWMP, a drought risk assessment (DRA) for its water service to its customers as part of information considered in developing its demand management measures and water supply projects and programs. Additionally, CWC Section 10612 requires the DRA to be based on the driest five- 64 year historical sequence for the agency’s water supply. CWC Section 10635 also requires that the analysis consider plausible changes in climate, regulations, and other locally applicable criteria which may impact supplies and demands.
As described above, the main variable in PWP’s water supply availability is the volume of spreading credits. The drought period from 2014-2018 was the driest five-year sequence to date with respect to spreading credits and is therefore being used for the DRA. PWP’s DRA is presented in Table 7-5 which shows the total projected water supplies and total projected use for the next five years, from 2026 to 2030, assuming a 5 consecutive-year drought.
Table 7-5: Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment
[DWR Table 7-5]
2026 Total
Total Water Use (AF)1 29,249
Total Supplies (AF)2 29,249
2027
Total Water Use (AF)1 29,312
Total Supplies (AF)2 29,312
2028
Total Water Use (AF)1 29,376
Total Supplies (AF)2 29,376
2029
Total Water Use (AF)1 29,439
Total Supplies (AF)2 29,439
2030
Total Water Use (AF)1 29,566
Total Supplies (AF)2 29,566
Notes:
1See Table 4-4.
2 MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet
water demands during all hydrologic year types.
Similar to the results of the reliability analyses for dry year scenarios in previous sections, DRA projections indicate sufficient supplies to meet demands. This analysis accounts for MWD’s DRA presented in its 2025 UWMP which shows that MWD’s available supplies are expected to meet projected demands on MWD (MWD 2026).
Due to the sufficiency of supplies projected during this drought scenario, the WSCP is not anticipated to be implemented. Accordingly, no WSCP-specific demand reductions nor WSCP- specific supply augmentation actions would be taken. Conditions under which the WSCP would be implemented are described in the attached WSCP (Appendix E). 65 Section 8: Water Shortage Contingency Plan
8.1 Overview
In accordance with requirements of Section 10632 of the CWC, PWP updated its WSCP as part of this UWMP update. The WSCP was prepared as a separate stand-alone document which may be amended, as needed, independently of the UWMP. This section summarizes PWP’s WSCP and a copy of the WSCP is included in Appendix E.
Water supplies may be significantly reduced or interrupted for a number of reasons, including as a result of severe droughts, an earthquake which damages water delivery or storage facilities, a regional power outage, or a major water quality impairment within the PWP water service area all of which could impact local supplies or imported water supply deliveries from MWD.
The 2025 WSCP provides a comprehensive guidance document for responding to water shortage events and relies on reliability analyses prepared in this UWMP, for both local and imported supplies.
8.2 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment
As of July 2022, provisions in Water Code Section 10632.1. require that an urban water supplier, such as PWP, conduct an annual water supply and demand assessment (Annual Assessment), by July 1 of each year, and submit to DWR. In its WSCP, PWP outlines the procedures for conducting its Annual Assessment, including:
• The written decision-making process that PWP will use each year to determine its water supply reliability.
• The key data inputs and assessment methodology used to evaluate PWP’s water supply reliability for the current year and one dry year.
8.3 Water Shortage Levels
PWP’s WSCP outlines the six standard water shortage levels established in the California Water Code that convey the relative severity of a water supply shortage and trigger specific water use restrictions and demand reduction actions, depending on the shortage severity. Table 8-1 presents the WSCP shortage levels with a cross-reference between the standard six levels and the City’s four shortage levels. The six water shortage levels correspond to progressively increasing estimated shortage conditions compared to normal reliability and align with response actions PWP together with the City of Pasadena would implement to address the estimated severity of the identified shortage.
Procedures for determining and declaring a water shortage level are detailed in the WSCP.
66 Table 8-1: Cross-reference for Standard vs Supplier Shortage Levels [DWR Table 8-1]
Standard Shortage
Levels1
Percent Shortage
Range1
Suppliers Shortage
Levels
Percent Shortage
Range
1 Up to 10% 1 Up to 10%
2 Up to 20% 2 Up to 30% 3 Up to 30%
4 Up to 40% 3 Up to 40%
5 Up to 50% 4 (emergency condition) >40% 6 >50%
Note:
1Percent shortage range refers to gap between normally available supplies and normally expected customer water use.
8.4 Water Shortage Response Actions
Water shortage response actions generally include water supply-side or demand-side actions, as well as voluntary and mandatory measures. The WSCP describes PWP’s water shortage response actions, including but not limited to the following:
• Supply augmentation actions
• Voluntary and mandatory demand reduction measures
• Enhanced communication with customers
• Public outreach
• Operational changes
The WSCP also summarizes efforts to assess and prepare for catastrophic events, which include but are not limited to PWP’s Emergency Response Plan, Risk and Resilience Assessment, and seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan.
8.5 Additional WSCP Content and Procedures
Additional items addressed in the WSCP include the following:
• Discussion on financial consequences of actions during shortages • Monitoring and reporting procedures
• WSCP refinement and update procedures
• Plan adoption and availability details
67 Section 9: Demand Management Measures
The purpose of this section of the UWMP is to describe efforts that PWP has undertaken and plans to undertake to promote conservation and reduce demands on water supplies. This discussion includes descriptions of Demand Management Measures (DMMs) that PWP (a) has implemented over the past five years (since 2020) to meet its urban water use reduction targets and (b) plans to implement to continue to promote conservation and meet water use objectives.
Water Code Section 10631 requires the following:
(e) Provide a description of the supplier’s water demand management measures. This description shall include all of the following:
(1)(A) For an urban retail water supplier, as defined in Section 10608.12, a narrative description that addresses the nature and extent of each water demand management measure implemented over the past five years. The narrative shall describe the water demand management measure that the supplier plans to implement to achieve its water use targets pursuant to Section 10608.20.
(B) The narrative pursuant to this paragraph shall include descriptions of the following water demand management measures:
(i) Water waste prevention ordinances.
(ii) Metering.
(iii) Conservation pricing.
(iv) Public education and outreach.
(v) Programs to assess and manage distribution system real loss. (vi) Water conservation program coordination and staffing support. (vii) Other demand management measures that have a significant impact on water use as measured in gallons per capita per day, including innovative measures, if implemented.
PWP recognizes the importance of implementing demand management measures to effectively manage its water demands and has continuously implemented a water conservation program since 1991. Narrative descriptions of PWP’s DMMs are provided below.
9.1 Water Waste Prevention Ordinances
The City maintains permanent water waste and conservation standards that are in effect at all times and are outlined in Pasadena Municipal Code Title 13, chapter 13.10, Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans. Permanent water conservation requirements that apply at all times, including under normal supply conditions, include:
• Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is limited to 3 days per week year round, on a schedule to be 68 determined by the department general manager, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system.
• Limits on Watering Hours: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is prohibited between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on any day, except by use of a hand- held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system. • No Watering During Periods of Rain: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area during and within 48 hours after periods of rain is prohibited. • No Water Flow or Runoff: Watering or irrigating any lawn, landscape or other vegetated areas in a manner that causes or allows runoff such that water flows onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots or structures is prohibited.
• No Watering Turf on Public Street Medians: Watering ornamental turf on public street medians with potable water is prohibited. This ban is consistent with California's ban on non-functional turf.
A ban on watering non-functional turf was enacted by the State of California with Assembly Bill 1572 and will begin phased implementation starting in 2027. Per the legislation, PWP will incorporate the necessary restrictions into the City’s permanent water waste and conservation standards by the January 1, 2027 deadline. • No Washing Down Hard or Paved Surfaces: Washing down hard or paved surfaces, including, but not limited to, sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking areas, tennis courts, patios or alleys, is prohibited except as follows: (i) where necessary to alleviate safety or sanitary hazards and then only by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device; or (ii) when using a low-volume high-pressure cleaning machine equipped to recycle any water used, or a low-volume high-pressure water broom. • Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: Loss or escape of water through breaks, leaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system for any period of time after such escape of water should have reasonably been discovered and corrected and in no event more than 7 days of receiving notice from the Department is prohibited.
• Recirculating Water Required for Water Fountains and Decorative Water Features: Operating a water fountain or other decorative water feature that does not use re-circulated water is prohibited.
• Limits on Washing Vehicles: Using water to wash a vehicle, including, but not limited to, any automobile, truck, van, bus, motorcycle, boat or trailer, whether motorized or not, is prohibited, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container or a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device. This subsection does not apply to any commercial car washing facility. • Drinking Water Served Upon Request Only: Eating or drinking establishments, 69 including but not limited to a restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria, bar or other public place where food and drinks are sold, served or offered for sale, are prohibited from providing drinking water to any person unless expressly requested by the patrons. • Restaurants Required to Use Water Conserving Dish Wash Spray Valves: Food preparation establishments, such as restaurants, cafes and cafeterias, are prohibited from using non-water conserving dish wash spray valves. • Commercial Lodging Establishments Shall Provide Guests Option to Decline Daily Linen Services: Hotels, motels and other commercial lodging establishments must provide customers the option of not having towels and linens laundered daily.
Commercial lodging establishments must prominently display notice of this option in each guestroom using clear and easily understood language. • No Installation of Single Pass Cooling Systems: Installation of single pass cooling systems is prohibited in buildings requesting new water service. • No Installation of Non-Recirculating Equipment in Commercial Car Wash and Laundry Systems: Installation of non-recirculating water systems is prohibited in new commercial conveyor car washes and new commercial laundry systems. • Commercial Car Wash Systems: All commercial conveyor car wash systems must have installed operational re-circulating water systems or must have secured a waiver of this requirement from the City.
• Multifamily Properties: All master-metered multifamily properties with four or more dwelling units are required to certify (through a process determined by the department) that showerheads and aerators are retrofitted to meet current California Green Building Code standards.
PWP also implements its Water Waste Enforcement Program to actively patrol the City to identify water waste and enforce compliance with Pasadena’s Water Waste Ordinance.
Information about the watering restrictions and ordinance are distributed to all Pasadena customers through Home Water Reports, e-newsletters, direct email, door hangers, community newsletters, workshops and bill inserts. Pasadena residents are also encouraged to report water waste and are able to do so 24/7 from any smart device using Pasadena’s Citizen Service app.
9.2 Metering
PWP’s system is fully metered. In addition, all newly established accounts are required to have a water meter, thereby eliminating the possibility of new unmetered accounts. PWP maintains a written plan to test, repair, and replace meters to ensure that meters are functioning as intended and that water use is accurately measured.
PWP is planning system-wide implementation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) with expected rollout over the next four years. These meter upgrades will improve water use efficiency by facilitating timely leak detection and providing detailed usage data and remote meter readings.
70 9.3 Conservation Pricing
The City’s tiered rate pricing through 2028, is summarized below in Table 9-1.
Table 9-1: PWP Variable Water Charges
Source:
https://library.municode.com/ca/pasadena/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT13UTSE_CH13.20WASERA_13.2
0.030SECHRA
71 9.4 Public Education and Outreach
PWP has an active public education and outreach program based on the premise that providing customers with pertinent information will lead to more efficient water use. PWP provides outreach related to water conservation to both the residential and CII customer sectors using numerous methods, including the following:
• Advertising and announcements in newspapers, magazines, radio, and local access television
• Social media
• Dedicated webpages to water conservation and water efficiency • E-newsletters
• “Pasadena In Focus” newsletter and talk show
• Bill inserts
• Press releases
• Bi-monthly email newsletter for PWP commercial customers, “The Conduit” • Workshops, presentations and other special events
• School programs
Through online and social media posts, PWP provides information on water shortage and conservation news, upcoming workshops, rebate announcements, conservation tips, self-audits, a link to report water waste, and conservation tools and resources with links to external water conservation websites. PWP also works closely with neighboring water agencies and MWD, to ensure consistent regional water conservation messages.
Workshops, presentations, and other educational outreach events have provided residents, businesses and schools with hands on demonstrations and information about water conservation. At all events, water conservation materials and information on PWP’s programs and Water Shortage Ordinance are provided. Annually, PWP hosts events throughout the month of May, in celebration of Water Awareness Month. Water Awareness Month events include:
• Tours of water facilities, including treatment plants, reservoirs, and the Arroyo Seco • Workshops
• Conservation pop-up events
• Town Halls providing an overview of PWP’s water and an opportunity for customers to ask questions
• Other community outreach opportunities
Additionally, workshops are offered on a regular basis and have included the following topics:
• Gardening with native and fire-wise plants
72 • Sheet mulching and composting
• Efficient irrigation, including drip irrigation and weather-based irrigation controllers • Turf removal and drought tolerant landscape
• Healthy soils and planting techniques
• Greywater and onsite water reuse
• Watershed wise designs
• Rainwater capture/harvesting
PWP has been conducting school education programs since 1999. Upon request, PWP provides water-related class presentations for students in grades K through 12 and distributes educational materials to public schools. At class presentations and events, water conservation messages are distributed using age-appropriate materials including coloring books, pens, pencils, and other items to encourage conservation. PWP hosts a calendar art contest, in partnership with MWD, depicting water conservation messages and images for all grade levels; PWP also provides field trips to students to its water quality laboratory and reservoirs.
9.5 Programs to Assess and Manage Distribution System Real Loss
PWP annually conducts system water audits by comparing the total volume of authorized water use to the total water supply entering the system, in accordance with the AWWA Method. Based on audits performed over the last five years, system water losses have averaged around 6 percent of total water consumption. Links to PWP’s Water Loss Audit report submittals to DWR for those years are provided in Section 4.4.
As part of its capital improvements program (CIP), PWP regularly invests in replacing aging pipelines and meters, among other upgrades to reduce system losses. PWP will continue to implement system upgrades to reduce system water losses and to work towards meeting the State Water Board Water Loss Performance Standard by 2028.
9.6 Water Conservation Program Coordination and Staffing Support
Since 2001, PWP has had a designated team responsible for developing, promoting, and implementing PWP’s conservation programs and initiatives. 73 9.7 Other DMMs
9.7.1 Residential Water Efficiency Programs
PWP offers a variety of programs and services to help residential customers improve their water use efficiency, including in-home evaluations with personalized installations, efficiency audits, and rebates.
Home Improvement Program
Under the Home Improvement Program, PWP provides no-cost services to PWP residential customers including water and energy use evaluations, adjustments to irrigation controllers, and programming of thermostats. Evaluations may include leak detection tests, an assessment/inventory of water fixtures, and identification of opportunities for installing water efficient fixtures. In addition, the evaluator will install free energy and water efficiency products, such as low-flow showerheads and aerators, and will make recommendations for additional water and energy-related improvements. Recommendations for improving energy and water use will also be provided in a customized Home Evaluation Report.
The plumbing retrofits provided through this program are also intended to upgrade fixtures and devices in single- and multi-family residences constructed prior to 1992. 1992 marks the implementation of building standards to require water saving fixtures in new construction; therefore, homes constructed after 1991 should already have water saving devices and fixtures in place. On June 1, 2015, the Pasadena City Council adopted by proclamation the requirement that all multifamily properties retrofit their showerheads and aerators to water efficient ones.
Multifamily properties are inspected for compliance as part of the Planning Department’s Quadrennial Inspection Program for Multifamily dwellings.
Home Water Reports
PWP also offers Personalized Home Water Reports to PWP residential water customers through the WaterSmart Customer Portal. These reports provide detailed analytics on current and historical water use, including a comparison of the property’s water use with similar homes, and customized recommendations to help customers save water, that integrates available PWP water savings incentives.
Landscape and Irrigation Surveys
PWP also provides free onsite surveys specific to landscape and irrigation efficiency. The services include assessing customer irrigation practices, checking for leaks and/or breaks, and providing information on water efficient irrigation devices. PWP will also assess landscape, plant watering needs and offer recommendations for drought tolerant plant recommendations and turf removal. Numerous resources are available on PWP’s website for drought tolerant landscaping and, as described below, PWP also offers rebates for landscape irrigation system improvements.
Greywater Program
Since 2015, PWP has been offering its free a Laundry-to-Landscape (“L2L”) Greywater Program to its customers. L2L greywater systems allow single family residential customers to reuse the 74 water from their washing machine, in their landscaping, helping to reduce their overall water usage and providing a second use for this water. The program incentivize greywater system installations for use in onsite drip irrigation systems with free direct installations available to all single-family residential customers. Additionally, PWP offers a rebate to cover the permitting fees for a Simple Greywater System. Simple Greywater Systems discharge less than 250 gallons per day, and collect water from bathtubs, showers, and bathroom washbasins for irrigation purposes.
9.7.2 Residential Rebate Programs
PWP partners with MWD to provide rebates to its residential and commercial customers. In 2008, MWD initiated the SoCal WaterSmart Program for residential water conservation replacing previous rebate programs offered by individual water service providers throughout MWD’s service area. This program, sponsored by MWD, sets uniform rebate requirements across the MWD service area, and provides a clearinghouse for processing rebates for all MWD member agency customers. Local agencies have the option of increasing baseline rebate amounts to their customers through the program. PWP has increased baseline rebates for select qualifying products. Eligible customers include single-family and multi-family (with 4 or less units) residential customers. Current rebates are summarized in Table 9-2.
Table 9-2: Residential Rebates
Rebate Type
Rebate Amount
per Unit
Past
Participation
(FY20-25)
Lifetime
Savings (AF)
Rain Barrel $100 700 6.66
Cisterns (200-1,000+gallons) $350-$600 7 0.28
Rotating Nozzle Sprinkler
Heads $7 1028 21.96
Hose Bib Irrigation Controller $60 1 0.18
Residential Leak Detection
(on the meter or on consumer
property)
$150 - $200 77 38.50
Weather-Based Irrigation
Controller
Up to $250 for <1 acre or
$60/station for >1 acre 632 260.56
Soil Moisture Sensor System Up to $250 for <1 acre or
$60/station for >1 acre 0 0
High Efficiency Clothes Washer $300 1465 684.98
High Efficiency Toilets $100 107 45.59
Turf Removal $2/sqft,
up to 5,000 sqft
1,098,709
sqft removed 1704.91
Tree Removal $100 (5 trees/project) 8 0
75 9.7.3 Conservation Programs for Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Accounts
PWP, in partnership with MWD, has also implemented a commercial rebate program, designed specifically for customers in the CII sector including multi-family residences, with 5 or more units. In the CII sector, the program provides rebates for water saving plumbing fixtures, medical/dental equipment, food service equipment, and landscaping equipment. Current CII rebates are listed in Table 9-3.
Table 9-3: Commercial/Industrial/Institutional Rebates
Rebate Type Rebate Amount per unit
Past
Participation
(FY20-25)
Lifetime
Savings (AF)
Plumbing Flow Control Valve $10/valve 310 26.04
Laminar Flow Restrictors $15/restrictor 0 0
Premium High Efficiency Toilet $200 598 125.58
Zero Water/Ultra Low Water
Urinal $300 0 0
Weather Based Irrigation
Controller $60 17 2.59
Central Computer Irrigation
Controller $60 0 0
Soil Moisture Sensor System $60 0 0
Hose Bib Irrigation Controller $60 0 0
High Efficiency Nozzles for
Large Rotary Sprinklers $20/set 2563 461.34
Rotating Nozzles for Pop-up
Spray Heads (Retrofits) $7 421 5.56
In Stem Flow Regulator $2 0 0
pH Cooling Tower Controller $3,000 1 3.22
Cooling Tower Conductivity
Controller $1,000 1 3.22
Dry Vacuum Pump $150 0 0
Connectionless Food Steamer $600/compartment 0 0
Ice-Making Machines $1,000 0 0
Irrigation Master Valve $150 0 0
Irrigation Flow Sensor $150 0 0
Combination Master Valve and
Flow Sensor $300 0 0
Food Defrosting Equipment $900 0 0
76 Rebate Type Rebate Amount per unit
Past
Participation
(FY20-25)
Lifetime
Savings (AF)
Turf Removal
(commercial, HOA, multi-family
of 5 units or more)
$2/sqft, up to 50,000 sqft 965,011 sqft
removed 1254.51
Tree Rebate $100 (5 trees/project) 23 0
9.8 Planned DMMs to Meet Water Use Targets
Going forward, PWP plans to continue implementation of its DMMS, as described above.
Details of its programs may however be modified, depending on customer response, new information, and new requirements.
As indicated in Section 4, additional water conservation will be necessary to meet established urban water use objectives over the planning period. PWP will be working over the coming years to develop and implement measures necessary to stay within established budgets. 77 References
California Irrigation Management System (CIMIS). Monthly data from Station No. 159, Monrovia, October 1999 to December 2025. Available at: https://wwwcimis.water.ca.gov/ Calleguas Municipal Water District (Calleguas). 2026. Webpage: Focus on the Future, Building Resilience for Continued Water Reliability. Available at https://www.calleguas.com/projects-programs/focus-on-the-future/ Department of Finance (DOF). 2025. E-1 Cities, Counties and State Population and Housing Estimates with Annual Percent Change – January 1, 2024 and 2025. May. Available at:
https://dof.ca.gov/media/docs/forecasting/Demographics/estimates-e1/E- 1_2025_InternetVersion.xlsx
Department of Water Resources, Natural Resources Agency, State of California (DWR et al.). 2023. California Water Plan Update 2023. December. Available at: https://water.ca.gov/- /media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water- Plan/Docs/Update2023/Final/California-Water-Plan-Update-2023.pdf Kimbrough, D. E. 2019. Impact of Local Climate Change on Drinking Water Quality in a Distribution System. Water Quality Research Journal. Volume 54, Issue 3. March.
Available at: https://iwaponline.com/wqrj/article/54/3/179/66198/Impact-of-local-c limate- change-on-drinking-water
Kimbrough, D.E. 2017. Local Climate Change in Pasadena, Calif., and the Impact on Streamflow. Journal - American Water Works Association, 109: E416-E425. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5942/jawwa.2017.109.0114
Leadership Committee of the Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Management Region (GLAC). 2017. The Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. Approved 2017 Amendments. Available at:
https://content.pw.lacounty.gov/core-service-areas/water-resources/greater-los-angeles- irwm/update2013/
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). 2026. Public Review Draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan. February.
MWD. 2024. 2024 Annual Operating Plan. February. Available at:
https://bda.mwdh2o.com/Member%20Agency%20Materials%20%20Secure/1_MA%20M anagers%20Meetings/2024/02_February%2028,%202024/03_MWD_AOP24_FINAL%2 0(web%20sigle%20page).pdf
Pasadena Water and Power Department (PWP). 2025. 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. Available at:
https://77c6073e.flowpaper.com/WQRPasadenaCAFinalFINALs/#page=1 PWP. 2021. 2020 Urban Water Management Plan. June.
78 PWP. 2020. Water System and Resources Plan. December. Available at:
https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/water-and-power/wsrp/
Pasadena, City of. 2026a. Webpage: General Plan. Available at:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/planning-division/community-planning/general-plan/ Pasadena, City of. 2026b. 710 Revisioning Project. Available at:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/city-manager/710-revisioning-project/#background Pasadena, City of. 2026c. Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group. Available at:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/city-manager/reconnecting-communities-710-advisory- group/
Pasadena, City of. 2025. ArcGIS Story Maps: Reconnecting Pasadena 710 Master Plan Process. Document and Refine Phase. Fall 2025. Available at:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7e9908d4f5e4432aa28169a02cd1ac2a Pasadena, City of. 2022a. City of Pasadena General Plan. Land Use Element. Amended May
25. Available at: Land-Use-Element-2022-05-25.pdf
Pasadena, City of. 2022b. 2021-2029 Housing Element. Adopted July 18, 2022. Available at:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021-2029- Pasadena-Housing-Element.pdf?v=1764789116771
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). 2024. SCAG 2024 RTP/SCS ("Connect SoCal 2024") Growth Projections. Available at: scag2024-frtp-sed.xlsx United State Census Bureau. QuickFacts. Pasadena City, California. Accessed February 17, 2026. Available at: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Pasadena city, California U.S Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). 2016a. SECURE Water Act Section 9503(c) Report to Congress. Chapter 3: Colorado River Basin. March. Available at: https://www.usbr.gov/climate/secure/docs/2016secure/2016SECUREReport- chapter3.pdf
U.S Drought Monitor. 2026. Time Series for Los Angeles County. Available at:
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/TimeSeries.aspx
USBR. 2016b. Los Angeles Basin Study, Summary Report. November. Available at:
https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/docs/fy2017/LABasinStudySummaryReport.pdf Wang, Jianzhong, Hongbing Yin, Erik Reyes, Tara Smith, Francis Chung (California Department of Water Resources). 2018. Mean and Extreme Climate Change Impacts on the State Water Project. California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment. Publication number:
CCCA4‐EXT‐2018‐004.
Woodard & Curran. 2020. Water System and Resources Plan. Prepared for City of Pasadena, Water and Power. December. Available at: https://pwp.cityofpasadena.net/wp- content/uploads/2021/09/WSRP-Final-Report-Dec-2020-Rev-9.21.21.pdf 79 City of Pasadena
Water and Power
2025 Urban Water Management Plan
Appendix A through EPrepared by
May 2026
Public Review Draft
80 Appendix A: DWR Checklist
81 Retail
(x = required) Order 2025 Gui debook
Location
Water Code
Section Summary as Applies to UWMP Subject Relevant
Submittal Table 2025 UWMP Location
x 1 Chapter 1 10615 A plan shall describe and evaluate sources of supply, reasonable and practical efficient uses, reclamation and demand management activities. Introduction and overview n/a Section 4; Section 6; Section 6.6 (Wastewater and Recycled Water); Section 9
x 1 Chapter 1 10630.5
Each plan shall include a simple description of the Supplier’s plan including water availability, future requirements, a strategy for meeting needs, and other pertinent information. Additionally, a Supplier may also choose to include a simple description at the beginning of each chapter.
Plan preparation n/a Section 1.3
x 2.1 Section 2.1 10620(b) Every person that becomes a Supplier shall adopt UWMP within one year after it has become a Supplier. Plan preparation n/a Sections 2.1, 2.2.3 x 2.5 Section 2.5 10644 Supplier shall report the Public Water Systems number, volume of delivered water, and number of connections that are included in this UWMP.
Plan preparation 2-1 UWMP Table 2-1 (page 2-1); Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 2-1
x 2.5 Section 2.5 10644 Supplier shall report if this UWMP is an individual UWMP and whether the Supplier belongs to a regional UWMP or regional alliance.
Plan preparation 2-2 Section 2.1; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 2-2
x 2.5 Section 2.5 10644 Supplie r shall report whether the data is in fiscal or calendar years and the units of measure used for reporting water volumes. Plan preparation 2-3 UWMP Table 2-2 (page 2-1); Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 2-3
x 2.4 Section 2.4 10642 Provide supporting documentation that the Supplier has encourage d active involvement of diverse social, cultural, and economic elements of the population within the service area prior to and during the preparation of the plan and contingency plan. Plan preparation n/a Se ction 2.2; Appendix C x 2.4 Section 2.4.2 10620(d) (3) Coordinate the preparation of its plan with other appropriate agencies in the area, including other Suppliers that share a common source, water management agencies, and relevant public agencies, to the extent practicable.
Plan preparation n/a Section 2.2; Appendix C
x 2.4 Section 2.4.1 10631(h) Retail Suppliers will include documentation that they have provided their Wholesale Supplier(s)—if any—with water use projections from that source.
Plan preparation 2-4 R Section 6.3; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 2-4R
n/a 2.4 Section 2.4.1 10631(h) Wholesale Suppliers will provide their Suppliers with identification and quantification of the existing and planned sources of water available from the Wholesale Supplier to the Supplier during various water year types.
Plan preparation 2-4 W n/a
x 3 Chapter 3.0 10631(a) D escribe the Supplier service area. System description n/a Section 3 x 3.3 Section 3.3 10631(a) Describe the climate of the Supplier’s service area. System description n/a Section 3.4 x 3.4 Section 3.4.1 10631(a) P rovide the current and projected service area populations for 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045 and optionally 2050. System description 3-1 Section 3.3; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 3-1
x 3.4 Section 3.4.2 10631(a) Describe other social, economic, and demographic factors affecting the Supplier’s water management planning. System description n/a Section 3.1; Section 3.3.2 x 3.5 Section 3.5 10631(a) D escribe the land uses within the service area… include the current and projected land uses within the existing or anticipated service area affecting the Supplier’s water management planning. Describe the land uses within the service area. System description and baselines n/a Section 3.2 and Figure 3-2 x 4.2 Sections 4.2.3 and
4.2.4 10631(d)(1) Quantify past, current, and projected water use, identifying the uses among water use sectors. System water use 4-1 an d 4-2 Section 4; Appendix B DWR Submittal Tables 4-1 and 4-2
x 4.3 Section 4.3.1 10631(d) (3)(A) Report the distribution system water loss for each of the five years preceding the plan update. System water use 4-5 Section 4.4; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 4-5
x 4.3 Section 4.3.2 10631(d) (3)(C) Retail Suppliers shall provide data to show the distribution loss standards were met. System water use 4-6 Section 4.4.1; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 4-6
x 4.2 Section 4.2.5.4 10631.1(a ) Include projected water use needed for lower income housing projected in the service area of the Supplier. System water use 4-3 Section 4.3.4; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 4-3
x 4.2 Section 4.2.5.3 10631(d) (4)(A) In projected water use, include estimates of water savings from adopted codes, plans, and other policies or laws. System water use 4-3 Section 4.3; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 4-3
x 4.2 Section 4.2.5.3 10631(d) (4)(B) Provide citations of codes, standards, ordinances, or plans used to make water use projections. System water use 4-3 Section 4.3; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 4-3
x 4.2 Section 4.2.5.3 106 31(d)(4)(B)(ii)
To the extent that a Supplier reports the information described in subparagraph (A), an urban water Supplier shall… Indicate the extent that the water use projections consider savings from codes, standards, ordinances, or transportation and land use plans.
Water use projections that do not account for these water savings shall be noted of that fact.
System water use 4-3
Section 4.3; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table
4-3
x 4.2 Section 4.2.5.6 10635(b) D emands under climate change considerations must be included as part of the drought risk assessment. System water use n/a Section 4.3.1; 4.3.3 n/a 5.1 Section 5.1 10608.36 Wholesale Suppliers shall include an assessment of present and proposed future measures, programs, and policies to help their Retail Suppliers achieve targeted water use reductions.
Baselines and targets n/a n/a
x 5.2 Section 5.2 10608.4
Retail Suppliers shall report on their compliance in meeting their water use targets. Reporting requirements will vary depending on whether the Supplier:
- Was considered an urban retail water supplier in 2020, - Me
t its 2020 target in 2020, or
- Wa
s part of a merger or consolidation since 2020.
Chapter 5 Subsections 5.2.1, 5.2.2, and 5.2.3 address each of these situations.
Baselines and targets 5-1 Section 5; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 5- 1 x 6.1 Section 6.1 10631(b) (2) When multiple sources of water supply are identified, describe the management of each supply in relationship to other identified supplies. System supplies n/a Section 6.9
x 6.1 Sections 6.1 and 6.2 10631(b) (1) Provide a discussion of anticipated supply availability under a normal, single dry year, and a drought lasting five years, as well as more frequent and severe periods of drought, including changes in supply due to climate change. System supplies n/a Sections 6.1 to 6.3; Section 6.9; Section 7 x 6.2 Section 6.2.2 10631(b) (4)(C)
Indicate whether groundwater is an existing or planned source of water available to the Supplier. If groundwater is identified as an existing or planned source of water… (include) a detailed description and analysis of the location, amount and sufficiency of groundwater pumped by the Supplier for the past five years.
Water supplies and recycled water 6-1 Section 6.2; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-1
x 6.2 Section 6.2.2 10631(b) (4)(A) Indicate whether a groundwater sustainability plan or groundwater management plan has been adopted by the Supplier or if there is any other specific authorization for groundwater management. Include a copy of the plan or authorization. System supplies n/a Section 6.2.2 1 82
Retail
(x = re quired) Order 2025 Gu idebook
Location
Water Code
Section Summary as Applies to UWMP Subject Relevant
Submittal Table 2025 UWMP Location
x 6.2 Section 6.2.2 10631(b)(4)(B) Describe the groundwater basin. System supplies n/a Section 6.2.1, Figure 6-1 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.2 10631(b )(4)(B) Indicate if the basin has been adjudicated and include a copy of the court order or decree and a description of the amount of water the Supplier has the legal right to pump. System supplies n/a Section 6.2.2; Link to judgement provided. x 6.2 Section 6 .2.2 10631(b )(4)(B) For unadjudicated basins… (include) information as to whether DWR has identified the basin as a high- or medium-priority basin in the most current official departmental bulletin… Water supplies and recycled water n/a n/a. The basin is adjudicated. x 6.2 Section 6 .2.2 10631(b )(4)(B) For unadjudicated basins… describe efforts by the Supplier to coordinate with sustainability or groundwater agencies to achieve sustainable groundwater conditions. Water supplies and recycled water n/a n/a. The basin is adjudicated. x 6.2 Section 6. 2.2. 10631(b )(4)(C) If groundwater is identified as an existing or planned source of water… (include) a detailed description and analysis of the location, amount and sufficiency of groundwater pumped by the Supplier for the past five years. System supplies n/a Section 6.2, Section 6.2.4, Tables 6-2 and 6-3 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.2 10631(b )(4)(D) Provide a detailed description and analysis of the amount and location of groundwater that is projected to be pumped. System supplies 6-9 Section 6.2.4, Table 6-3; Appendix B DWR Submittal table 6-9
x 6.1 Section 6 .1 10631(b ) Identify and quantify the existing and planned sources of water available for 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045 and optionally 2050. System supplies 6-8 and 6-9 Section 6.9; Appendix B DWR Submittal Tables 6-8 and 6-9
x 6.2 Section 6 .2.7 10631(c ) Describe the opportunities for exchanges or transfers of water on a short-term or long-term basis. System supplies n/a Section 6.4 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(a ) Describe the wastewater collection and treatment systems in the Supplier’s service area with quantified amount of collection and treatment and the disposal methods. System supplies (recycled water) 6-2 Section 6.6, Table 6-6; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-2
x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(b ) Describe the quantity of treated wastewater that meets recycled water standards, is being discharged, and is otherwise available for use in a recycled water project. System supplies (recycled water) 6-3 Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-3 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(c ) Describe the recycled water currently being used in the Supplier's service area. System supplies (recycled water) 6-4 Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-4 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(d ) Describe and quantify the potential uses of recycled water and provide a determination of the technical and economic feasibility of those uses. System supplies (recycled water) 6-4 Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-4 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(e ) Describe the projected use of recycled water within the Supplier's service area at the end of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, and describe the actual use of recycled water in comparison to uses previously projected. System supplies (recycled water) 6-4 and 6-5 Appendix B DWR Submittal Tables 6-4 and 6- 5 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.5 10633(f ) Describe the actions that may be taken to encourage the use of recycled water and the projected results of these actions in terms of acre-feet of recycled water used per year. System supplies (recycled water) 6-6 Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 6-6 x 6.2 Section 6.2.5 10633(g) Provide a plan for optimizing the use of recycled water in the Supplier's service area. System supplies (recycled water) n/a Section 6.6 x 6.2 Section 6 .2.6 10631(g ) Describe desalinated water project opportunities for long-term supply. System supplies 6-7 Section 6.7 x 6.2 Section 6. 2.10 10631(f ) Describe the expected future water supply projects and programs that may be undertaken by the water Supplier to address water supply reliability in average, single-dry, and for a period of drought lasting five consecutive water years. System supplies 6-7 Section 6.8 x 6.3 Section 6.3 and
Appendix O 10631.2(a) The UWMP must include energy information, as stated in the code, that a Supplier can readily obtain. System suppliers, energy intensity O-1A, O-1B, O-1C, and O-2
Section 6.10; Appendix B DWR Submittal
Table O-1B
x 7.1 Section 7 .1 10634 Provide information on the quality of existing sources of water available to the Supplier and the manner in which water quality affects water management strategies and supply reliability. Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 6.2.5; Section 6.3.4 x 7.2 Section 7 .2 10635(a )
Service Reliability Assessment: Assess the water supply reliability during normal, dry, and a drought lasting five consecutive water years by comparing the total water supply sources available to the Supplier with the total projected water use over the next 20 years.
Water supply reliability assessment 7-2, 7-3, and 7-4 Section 7.2, Tables 7-2, 7-3, 7-4; Appendix B DWR Submittal Tables 7-2, 7-3, 7-4
x 7.2 Section 7 .2.3 10620(f ) Describe water management tools and options to maximize resources and minimize the need to import water from other regions.
Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 6.2.6; Section 6.3.3; Section 6.8 x 7.3 Section 7 .3 10635(b ) Provide a drought risk assessment as part of information considered in developing the demand management measures and water supply projects.
Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 7.3
x 7.3 Section 7 .3 10635(b )(1) Include a description of the data, methodology, and basis for one or more supply shortage conditions that are necessary to conduct a drought risk assessment for a drought period that lasts five consecutive years.
Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 7.2.1, Table 7-1; Section 7.3 x 7.3 Section 7 .3 10635(b )(2) Include a determination of the reliability of each source of supply under a variety of water shortage conditions. Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 7.2.1; Section 7.2.2; Section 7.3 x 7.3 Section 7 .3 10635(b )(3) Include a comparison of the total water supply sources available to the Supplier with the total projected water use for the drought period.
Water supply reliability assessment 7-5 Section 7.3, Table 7-5; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 7-5
x 7.3 Section 7 .3 10635(b )(4) Include considerations of the historical drought hydrology, plausible changes on projected supplies and demands under climate change conditions, anticipated regulatory changes, and other locally applicable criteria.
Water supply reliability assessment n/a Section 3.4.1; Section 7.1; Section 7.2; Section 7.3
x 8 Chapter 8 10632(a ) Provide a water shortage contingency plan (WSCP) with specified elements below. Water shortage contingency planning n/a Section 8; Appendix E: 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP)
x 8 Chapter 8 10632(a )(1) Pr ovide an analysis of water supply reliability (from Guidebook Chapter 7 ) in the WSCP. Wa ter shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 1 x 8.2 Section 8 .2 10632(a )(2)(A) Provide the written decision-making process and other methods that the Supplier will use each year to determine its water reliability.
Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 2
x 8.2 Section 8 .2 10632(a )(2)(B) Provide data and methodology to evaluate the Supplier’s water reliability for the current year and one dry year pursuant to factors in the code.
Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 2, Table 2-1 x 8.3 Section 8 .3 10632(a )(3)(A)
Define six standard water shortage levels of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% shortage, and greater than 50% shortage. These levels shall be based on supply conditions, including percent reductions in supply, changes in groundwater levels, changes in surface elevation, or other conditions. The shortage levels shall also apply to a catastrophic interruption of supply.
Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 3
x 8.3
Section 8 .3 10632(a )(3)(B) Suppliers with an existing WSCP that uses different water shortage levels must cross reference their categories with the six standard categories.
Water shortage contingency planning 8-1 WSCP Table 3-1; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 8-1
x 8.4 Section 8 .4 10632(a )(4)(A) Suppliers with WSCPs that align with the defined shortage levels must specify locally appropriate supply augmentation actions. Water shortage contingency planning 8-2 WSCP Section 4, Table 4-1; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 8-2
x 8.4 Section 8 .4 10632(a )(4)(B) Specify locally appropriate demand reduction actions to adequately respond to shortages. Water shortage contingency planning 8-3 WSCP Section 4, Table 4-2; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 8-3
2 83
Retail
(x = re quired) Order 2025 Gu idebook
Location
Water Code
Section Summary as Applies to UWMP Subject Relevant
Submittal Table 2025 UWMP Location
x 8.4 Section 8 .4 10632(a )(4)(C) Specify locally appropriate operational changes. Water shortage contingency planning 8-2 WSCP Section 4 x 8.4 Section 8 .4 10632(a )(4)(D) Specify additional mandatory prohibitions against specific water use practices that are in addition to State-mandated prohibitions are appropriate to local conditions. Water shortage contingency planning Table 8-3 WSCP Section 4, Table 4-2; Appendix B DWR Submittal Table 8-3
x 8.4 Section 8 .4 10632(a )(4)(E) Estimate the extent to which the gap between supplies and demand will be reduced by implementation of the action. Water shortage contingency planning 8-2 and 8-3 WSCP Section 4, Tables 4-1 and 4-2;
Appendix B DWR Submittal Tables 8-2 and 8-
3 x 8.4 Section 8.4.6 10632.5 The UWMP shall include a seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan. Water shortage contingency plan n/a WSCP Section 4.2 x 8.5 Section 8 .5 10632(a )(5)(A) Suppliers must describe that they will inform customers, the public and others regarding any current or predicted water shortages. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 2, Page 2-2; WSCP Section 5 x 8.5 Section 8 .5 10632(a)(5)(B),
10632(a)(5)(C)
Suppliers must describe that they will inform customers, the public and others regarding any shortage response actions triggered or anticipated to be triggered and other relevant communications. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 5 x 8.6 Section 8 .6 10632(a )(6) Retail Supplier must describe how it will ensure compliance with and enforce provisions of the WSCP. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 6 x 8.7 Section 8 .7 10632(a )(7)(A) Describe the legal authority that empowers the Supplier to enforce shortage response actions. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 6, WSCP Appendix A x 8.7 Section 8 .7 10632(a )(7)(B) Provide a statement that the Supplier will declare a water shortage emergency per Water Code Chapter 3. Water Shortage Emergencies . Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 3, Page 3-2 x 8.7 Section 8 .7 10632(a )(7)(C) Provide a statement that the Supplier will coordinate with any city or county within which it provides water for the possible proclamation of a local emergency. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 5 x 8.8 Section 8 .8 10632(a )(8)(A) Describe the potential revenue reductions and expense increases associated with activated shortage response actions. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 7 x 8.8 Section 8 .8 10632(a )(8)(B) Provide a description of mitigation actions needed to address revenue reductions and expense increases associated with activated shortage response actions. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 7 x 8.8 Section 8 .8 10632(a )(8)(C) Retail Suppliers must describe the cost of compliance with Water Code Chapter 3.3, Excessive Residential Water Use During Drought . Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 7 x 8.9 Section 8 .9 10632(a )(9) Retail Suppliers must describe the monitoring and reporting requirements and procedures that ensure appropriate data are collected, tracked, and analyzed for purposes of monitoring customer compliance. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 8 x 8.10 Section 8. 10 10632(a )(10) Describe reevaluation and improvement procedures for monitoring and evaluation the WSCP to ensure risk tolerance is adequate and appropriate water shortage mitigation strategies are implemented. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 8 x 8.11 Section 8. 11 10632(b ) Analyze and define water features that are artificially supplied with water, including ponds, lakes, waterfalls, and fountains, separately from swimming pools and spas. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Page 4-3, Table 4-2 x 8.12 Section 8. 12 10632(c ) Make available the WSCP to customers and any city or county where it provides water within 30 days after adoption of the plan. Water shortage contingency planning n/a WSCP Section 9 x 9.1 Sections 9.1 10631(e )(1) Retail Suppliers shall provide a description of the nature and extent of each demand management measure implemented over the past five years. The description will address specific measures listed in code. Demand management measures n/a Section 9 n/a 9.2 Sections 9.2 10631(e )(2) Wholesale Suppliers shall describe specific demand management measures listed in code, their distribution system asset management program, and Supplier assistance program. Demand management measures n/a n/a x 10 Chapter 1 0 10608.26( a) Retail Suppliers shall conduct a public hearing to discuss adoption, implementation, and economic impact of water use targets (recommended to discuss compliance).
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a Section 2.2.2
x 10.2 Section 10. 2.1 10621(b ) Notify, at least 60 days prior to the public hearing, any city or county within which the Supplier provides water that the Supplier will be reviewing the UWMP and considering amendments or changes to the plan.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation 10-1 Section 2.2
x 10.4 Section 10. 4 10621(f ) Ea ch urban water Supplier shall update and submit its 2025 plan to DWR by July 1, 202 6. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation n/a Section 2.2.4
x 10.2 Sections 10.2.2, 10.3,
and 10.5 10642 Provide supporting documentation that the Supplier made the UWMP and WSCP available for public inspection, published notice of the public hearing, and held a public hearing about the UWMP and WSCP.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a Section 2.2, Appendix C; WSCP Section 9 x 10.2 Section 10. 2.2 10642 The Supplier is to provide the time and place of the hearing to any city or county within which the Supplier provides water. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation 10-1 Section 2.2
x 10.3 Section 10. 3.2 10642 Pr ovide supporting documentation that the UWMP and WSCP has been adopted as prepared or modified. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation n/a Section 2.2.3, Appendix D; WSCP Section 9, WSCP Appendix C
x 10.4 Section 10. 4 10644(a ) Provide supporting documentation that the Supplier has submitted their UWMP to the California State Library. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation n/a Section 2.2.4
x 10.4 Section 10. 4 10644(a )(1) Provide supporting documentation that the Supplier has submitted their UWMP to any city or county within which the Supplier provides water no later than 30 days after adoption.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a Section 2.2.4
x 10.4 Sections 10.4.1 and
10.4.2 10644(a)(2) The UWMP, or amendments to the UWMP, submitted to DWR shall be submitted electronically. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation n/a Section 2.2.4
x 10.7 Section 10. 7.2 10644(b ) If revised, submit a copy of the WSCP to DWR within 30 days of adoption. Plan adoption, submittal, and implementation n/a Section 2.2
x 10.5 Section 10. 5 10645(a ) Provide supporting documentation that, not later than 30 days after filing a copy of its UWMP with DWR, the Supplier has or will make the plan available for public review during normal business hours.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a Section 2.2.4
x 10.5 Section 10. 5 10645(b ) Provide supporting documentation that, not later than 30 days after filing a copy of its WSCP with DWR, the Supplier has or will make the plan available for public review during normal business hours.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a WSCP Section 9
x 10.6 Section 10. 6 10621(c ) If Supplier is regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, include its plan and contingency plan as part of its general rate case filings.
Plan adoption, submittal, and
implementation n/a n/a
3 84
Appendix B: DWR Submittal Tables
85 CA1910124 Pasadena Water and
Power 38,637 26,401
38,637 26,401
Submittal Table 2-1 Retail: Public Water Systems
Add additional rows as needed
NOTES:
Volume of Water
Supplied 2025 (AF)
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Total
Public Water System
Number
Public Water System
Name
Number of Municipal
Connections 2025
86 Select
One
Name of Regional Alliance or
RUWMP (Drop Down List)
NOTES:
Submittal Table 2-2: Plan Identification
Type of Plan
Individual UWMP
If Water Supplier is also a member of a SB X7-7
Regional Alliance, select name from the drop-down.
Regional Urban Water Management Plan (RUWMP)
If Supplier selected RUWMP, select name from the
drop-down.
87 Supplier is a wholesale supplier
Supplier is a retail supplier
UWMP Tables are in calendar years
UWMP Tables are in fiscal years
Unit AF
Submittal Table 2-3: Supplier Identification
Type of Supplier (select one or both)
Fiscal or Calendar Year (select one)
If using fiscal years provide month and date that the fiscal year begins (mm/dd)
Units of measure used in UWMP
(Select from the drop down list).
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent
throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
NOTES:
88 Submittal Table 2-4 Retail: Water Supplier Information Exchange Water Code Section 10631(h)
The retail Supplier has informed the following wholesale supplier(s) of projected water use.
Wholesale Water Supplier Name
Add additional rows as needed
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
NOTES:
89 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050(opt)
165,448 167,244 169,059 169,645 170,233 170,824
Submittal Table 3-1 Retail: Population - Current and Projected Water Code Section 10631(a)
Population
Served
NOTES:
90 Use Type
Drop down list
May select each use multiple times
These are the only use types that will be recognized by the WUEdata online submittal tool
Potable or Non-Potable
(OPTIONAL)
Drop down list
Volume (AF)
Single Family Potable 12,207
Multi-Family Potable 5,186
Commercial Captures CII. Includes customers with
Dedicated Irrigation Meters. Potable 7,166
Other (optional) Portable water meter and fire
hydrant uses Potable 44
Distribution System Water Loss Potable 1,657
Sales/Transfers/Exchanges to other
Suppliers Potable 142
26401
0 26,401Total
Submittal Table 4-1 Retail: Total Uses for Potable and Non-Potable Water — Actual Water Code Section 10631(d)(1)
NOTES:
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3. 2025 Actual Water Use
Add additional rows as needed
Subtotal Potable
Subtotal Non-Potable
Additional Description
(as needed)
91 Use Type
Drop down list
May select each use multiple times
These are the only Use Types that will be recognized
by the WUEdata online submittal tool
Potable or Non-Potable
(OPTIONAL)
Drop down list
2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF) 2050 opt (AF)
Single Family Potable 12,382 12,081 11,671 11,399 11,421 Multi-Family Potable 4,700 4,586 4,430 4,327 4,335
Commercial CII. Includes customers with
Dedicated Irrigation Meters. Potable 8,447 8,539 8,569 8,598 8,628 Other (optional) See note Potable 19 19 19 19 19
Distribution System Water Loss Potable 1,777 1,796 1,803 1,809 1,815 Sales/Transfers/Exchanges to other Suppliers Potable 50 50 50 50 50 27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
0 0 0 0 0
27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Add additional rows as needed.
Submittal Table 4-2 Retail: Total Uses for Potable, and Non-Potable Water — Projected Water Code Section 10631(d)(1)
Projected Water Use
(Report To the Extent that Records are Available)
Additional Description
(as needed)
NOTES: "Other" may include uses from portable water meters, metered private fire service, unmetered private fire service, water fire hydrant, and/or other uses not captured in other sectors.
Total
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Subtotal Non-Potable
Subtotal Potable
92 Are Future Water Savings Included in Projections?
Drop down list (y/n) Yes
If "Yes" to above, state the section or page number, in the cell to the right, where citations of the codes, ordinances, or otherwise are utilized in demand projections are found.
Optional Suppliers may complete Optional Submittal Table 4-4 R to quantify the expected savings.
Section 4.3.1,
Pag 4-5
Are Lower Income Residential Demands Included In Projections? Drop down list (y/n) Yes
Optional If the method for accounting Lower Income Residential Demands has been included, provide page number where this accounting can be found.
Section 4.3.4,
Pages 4-7, 4-8
Submittal Table 4-3 Retail: Inclusion in Water Use Projections Water Code Section 10631 (a), 10631 (d)(4)(A), and 10631 (d)(4)(B) NOTES:
DWR NOTES: Additional guidance is provided in Appendix K. 93 2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF) 2050 opt (AF) NOTES: Passive savings were not specifically calculated.
Optional Submittal Table 4-4 Retail: Passive Water Savings Projections Water Code Section 10631(d)(4)(A)
Passive savings
Add additional rows as needed
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Description
(Codes, Standards, Ordinances, or Plans)
94 Public Water System ID # Reported
in Table 2-1 R Reporting Period Submitted to DWR Water
Loss Audit Program (yes/no)
2020 Yes
2021 Yes
2022 Yes
2023 Yes
2024 Yes
Submittal Table 4-5 Retail: Water Loss Audit Reporting
Water Code Section 10631(d)(3)(A)
DWR NOTES: Suppliers will provide a link to the WUEdata submittals of their Water Loss Audit Reports.
NOTES: Audit results were reported in calendar years through 2022 and then in fiscal years starting in 2023. Links are provided below for the last 6 reports, starting in 2020. Active links also found on UWMP page 4-8.
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/6923108756/AWWA%20Water %20Audit%20Pasadena%20CY2020%20FINAL%20A%2Exls
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/7373685538/AWWA Water Audit Pasadena FINAL v5 CY2021.xlsx;
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/5626996695/CY 2022 AWWA Water Audit v6 A.xlsx;
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/1048856437/FY23%20Water%2 0Audit%20in%202026%20v6%2Exlsx;
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/6863095939/FY 2024 AWWA Water Audit v6 FINAL.xlsx;
https://wuedata.water.ca.gov/public/awwa_uploads/7440525650/FY25%20Water%2 0Audit%20Report%20REVISED%20in%202026%2Exlsx
Report submittal status for all five years for each Public Water System as available.
Add rows as needed
95 2028 Real Water Loss
Standard per Unit per
day
Units for Real
Water Loss
Drop down list
Number of Units
(Connections or Miles
corresponding with
units selected)
Volume of Total Real
Loss
(from AWWA Water
Loss Audit)
(AF)
2028 Apparent Water
Loss Standard per
Unit per Day
Units for
Apparent Water
Loss
Number of
Connections
Volume of Total
Apparent Loss
(from AWWA Water
Loss Audit)
(AF)
CA1910124 Yes 28.4
Gallons per
Service
Connection per
Day (GPSCD)
38637 763.667 17.6 18
Gallons per
Service
Connection per
Day (GPSCD)
38637 1026.507 23.7
Gallons per
Service
Connection per
Day (GPSCD)
Gallons per
Service
Connection per
Day (GPSCD)
Submittal Table 4-6 Retail: Progress Towards 2028 Water Loss Standard Water Code Section 10631(d)(3)(C)
NOTES:
Apparent Water Loss
Did the Water Board Calculate a
Water Loss Standard for this
Public Water System? (y/n)
If no, Supplier will not complete
this row.
Real Water Loss
Water Board's Calculated Water Loss Standards
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) for Water Loss MUST remain consistent with units reported in Submittal Table 2-3. The units reported in Submittal Table 2-3 are used in this table's calculations.
Public Water
System ID #
Reported in
Submittal Table 2-1
R
Add additional rows as needed.
Most Recent AWWA Water Loss Audit
Real Water
Loss Per Unit
per Day
Most Recent AWWA Water Loss Audit
Apparent Water
Loss Per Unit per
Day
State Water Board Standard State Water Board Standard
96 Actual 2025 GPCD
(From SB X7-7
Compliance Form)
Did Supplier meet
the 2020 Target in
2025?
No Individual Target 169 153 Yes NA
Submittal Table 5-1 Retail: SB X7-7 2020 Target Progress Water Code Section 10608.40
NOTES:
Did Supplier
Achieve Targeted
Reduction for
2020?
Actual 2020 GPCD2020 Target
Regional Alliance
Target or
Individual
Target?
Drop down list
DWR NOTES:
Suppliers calculating a 2025 GPCD will need to complete and submit SB X 7-7 Compliance Tables to verify the use of SB X7-7 Methodologies.
Suppliers that were part of a merger or consolidation since 2020 see Chapter 5 and Appendix P for guidance.
NA=Not Applicable
Check the box if the Supplier was not an Urban Water Supplier during or before the 2020 UWMP reporting cycle.
Proceed to the next table.
Only for suppliers that did not meet the
Target in 2020
See DWR NOTES below.
Was Supplier part of a
merger or
consolidation since
2020?
97 Groundwater Type
Drop Down List
May use each category
multiple times
Potable or
Non-Potable
(OPTIONAL)
Drop down list
Location or Basin Name 2021 (AF) 2022 (AF) 2023 (AF) 2024 (AF) 2025 (AF) Alluvial Basin Raymond Basin 6,689 7,853 7,730 11,030 12,075 6,689 7,853 7,730 11,030 12,075
Add additional rows as needed
Submittal Table 6-1 Retail: Groundwater Volume Pumped
Water Code Section 10631(4) and 10631(4)(c)
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
NOTES
Total
Check the box if the Supplier does not pump groundwater.
Proceed to the next table.
Check the box if all or part of the groundwater described below is desalinated. (OPTIONAL) 98 Name of Wastewater
Collection Agency
Wastewater
Volume Metered
or Estimated?
OPTIONAL
Drop Down List
Volume of Wastewater
Collected from UWMP
Service Area 2025 (AF)
Name of Wastewater Treatment
Plant (WWTP) and Place ID
Number
Drop down list
Is WWTP Located
Within UWMP
Area?
Drop Down List
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts Estimated 4,822 A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility, Place ID 234156 No
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts Estimated 4,822
Whittier Narrows Water
Reclamation Plant, Place ID
235826
No
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts Estimated 4,822 Los Coyotes WRP, Place ID 238646 No
Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts Estimated 4,822
San Jose Creek Water
Reclamation Plant, Place ID
260156
No
19,286
Check the box if there is no wastewater collection system.
Proceed to the next table.
NOTES: Total volume of wastewater received is based on actual CY 2025 sewer use, which is about 70% of the total water use in the water service area. Total volume was divided evenly across all WWTPs to obtain estimate for each facility.
Submittal Table 6-2 Retail: Wastewater Collected Within Service Area Water Code Section 10633(a)
Percentage of 2025 service area population served by wastewater collection system (OPTIONAL)
Percentage of 2025 service area served by wastewater collection system (OPTIONAL) DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Additional Guidance: See Appendix M, Section M.21 for detailed guidance on this table.
Wastewater Collection Recipient of Collected Wastewater Total Wastewater Received from UWMP
Service Area in 2025:
Add additional rows as needed
99 Treatment Level
Drop down list
Volume
(AF)
Treatment Level
Drop down list
Volume
(AF)
Treatment Level
Drop down list
Volume
(AF)
Treatment Level
Drop down list
Volume
(AF)
Treatment Level
Drop down list
Volume
(AF)
Name of other
entity
0 - 0 0 0 0 0
Submittal Table 6-3 Retail: Wastewater Treatment and Outcomes Within UWMP Service Area Water Code Section 10633(b)
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
IPR: Indirect Potable Reuse would have the treatment level of its end use requirement in the Level of Treatment drop-down.
Additional Guidance: See Appendix M, Section M.21 for detailed guidance on this table.
Water Recycled Outside of
UWMP Service Area
(enter data as applicable)
Effluent Discharge that is
not a Permitted Recycled
Water Use
(enter data as applicable)
Required Discharge for
Instream Flow
(enter data as applicable)
Delivered to Another Entity for Additional
Treatment
(enter data as applicable)
Add additional rows as needed
2025 Outcomes of Treated Wastewater
Check the box if no wastewater is treated or disposed of within the UWMP service area.
Proceed to the next table.
Does This Plant
Treat
Wastewater
Generated
Outside the
UWMP Service
Area?
(OPTIONAL)
Drop down list
Wastewater Treatment
Plant Name and Place ID
Number
Drop down list
Total 2025
Volume of
Water
Treated (AF)
NOTES:
Total
2025 Volume of
Wastewater
Received from
UWMP Service
Area
(As Reported in
Submittal Table
6-2 R) (AF)
Water Recycled Within
UWMP Service Area
(enter data as applicable)
100
Volume Narrative page number
(OPTIONAL)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Total
Use Type
Drop down list
Potable or Non-Potable
(after treatment if treated)
(OPTIONAL)
Drop down list
Additional Information
(as needed)
Add additional rows as needed
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Additional Guidance: See Appendix M, Section M.21 for detailed guidance on this table.
Potential recycled water use: a description of the feasibility of these uses must be included in the narrative.
Multiple Producers: If you have multiple recycled water producers, submit a separate table for each.
NOTES:
2050 (AF)2025 (AF) 2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF) Subtotal Potable
Subtotal Non-Potable
Check box if recycled water is not used and is not planned for use within the service area of the supplier. The supplier will only complete the column on "Potential Recycled Water Use" and submit an accompanying narrative on the feasibility of that potential recycled water use.
Submittal Table 6-4 Retail: Recycled Water Direct Beneficial Uses Within Service Area Water Code Section 10633 (c),(d),(e)
Potential Recycled Water Use
Name(s) of Facility/ies Producing (Treating) the Recycled Water (OPTIONAL) :
Name of Supplier Operating the Recycled Water Distribution System (OPTIONAL) :
Volume of Supplemental Water Added in 2025 (OPTIONAL) :
Source of 2025 Supplemental Water (OPTIONAL) :
101
2020 Projection
for 2025 (AF)
2025 Actual
Use (AF)
0 0
Submittal Table 6-5 Retail: 2020 UWMP Recycled Water Use Projection Compared to 2025 Actual
Water Code Section 10633(e)
Check the box if recycled water was not used in 2025 nor previously projected for use in 2020.
Proceed to the next table.
Add additional rows as needed
NOTES:
Total
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure reported in Submittal Table 2-3 Additional Guidance:
See Appendix M, Section M.21 for detailed guidance on this table.
Use Type
Drop Down list
102
Section 6.6, pages 6-10 and 6-
11 Name of Action Description Expected Increase in Recycled Water Use (AF)
0 0
Total (AF)
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) MUST remain consistent with units reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
The unit conversion to Acre Feet addresses the Water Code's requirement that this value be provided in acre-feet.
NOTES:
Submittal Table 6-6 Retail: Methods to Encourage Future Recycled Water Use Water Code Section 10633(f)
Check the box if the Supplier does not plan to expand recycled water use in the future. Supplier will not complete the table below but will provide narrative explanation.
Provide page location of narrative in the UWMP
Add additional rows as needed
Unit Conversion to AF
Planned Implementation Year
103
Section 6.8, pages 6-11
and 6-12
Drop Down
List
(yes/no)
If Yes, Supplier Name
Planned for Use in
Year Type
Drop Down List
NOTES:
Submittal Table 6-7 Retail: Expected Future Water Supply Projects or Programs Water Code Section 10631(f)
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
Check the box if some or all of the supplier's future water supply projects or programs are not compatible with this table and are described in a narrative format.
Check the box if there are no expected future water supply projects or programs that provide a quantifiable increase to the agency's water supply.
Proceed to the next table.
Planned
Implementation
Year
Add additional rows as needed
Joint Project with other suppliers? Expected
Increase in
Water Supply
to Supplier
(This may be a
range) (AF)
Provide page location of narrative in the UWMP
Name of Future Projects
or Programs
Additional Description
(as needed)
Potable or Non-Potable
(after treatment if treated)
(OPTIONAL)
Drop Down list
104
Water Supply
Drop down list
May use each category multiple times.
These are the only water supply
categories that will be recognized by the
WUEdata online submittal tool
Potable or Non-Potable
(after treatment if treated)
(OPTIONAL)
Drop Down list
Actual Volume
(AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes' below
(AF)
Groundwater (not desalinated) Raymond Basin Potable 12,075 Purchased or Imported Water From MWD Potable 14,179
Purchased or Imported Water From Neighboring Agencies Potable 146 26,401 0
0 0
26,401 0
Submittal Table 6-8 Retail: Water Supplies — Actual
Water Code Section 10631(b)
2025
NOTES:
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table identifies the unit of measure selected in Submittal Table 2-3.
Total Entitlement: e.g. Water Right, Groundwater Allocation, Contracted Amount.
Add additional rows as needed
Total
Subtotal Potable
Subtotal Non-Potable
Additional Description
(as needed)
105
Water Supply
Reasonably
Available
Volume (AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes'
below (AF)
Reasonably
Available
Volume (AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes'
below (AF)
Reasonably
Available
Volume (AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes'
below (AF)
Reasonably
Available
Volume (AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes'
below (AF)
Reasonably
Available
Volume (AF)
Total Entitlement
(OPTIONAL)
See 'DWR Notes'
below (AF)
Groundwater (not
desalinated)
Raymond
Basin Potable 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130 11,130
Purchased or Imported
Water From MWD Potable 16,146 15,842 15,312 14,973 15,039 Purchased or Imported
Water
From
Neighboring
Agencies
Potable 100 100 100 100 100
27,376 0 27,072 0 26,542 0 26,203 0 26,269 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27,376 0 27,072 0 26,542 0 26,203 0 26,269 0
Submittal Table 6-9 Retail: Water Supplies — Projected
Water Code Section 10631 (b)
Projected Water Supply (Report to the Extent Practicable) Drop down list
May use each category multiple
times. These are the only water
supply categories that will be
recognized by the WUEdata online
submittal tool
Additional
Detail on
Water
Supply
Potable or Non-Potable
(after treatment if treated)
(OPTIONAL)
Drop Down list
2050 (opt)
Add additional rows as needed
Total
NOTES:
2030 2035 2040 2045
Subtotal Non-Potable
Subtotal Potable
DWR NOTES:
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
Total Entitlement: e.g. Water Right, Groundwater Allocation, Contracted Amount. 106
Water Delivery Product
drop down list
(If delivering more than one type of product recommend
using Table O-1C)
Retail Potable
Deliveries
Start Date of Reporting Period 7/1/2024
End Date of Reporting Period 6/30/2025
Is upstream embedded energy in the values reported? No
Units of Measure for Water AF Total Utility
See DWR NOTES Hydropower Net Utility
27,577 27,577 17,075,734 17,075,734 1,900 - 1,900 Quantity of Self-Generated Renewable Energy
0 kWh
Data Quality (Estimate, Metered Data, Combination of Estimates and Metered Data) Combination of Estimates and Metered Data
Data Quality Narrative:
Narrative:
Energy Intensity (kWh/vol. converted to MG)
Optional Submittal Table O-1B: Recommended Energy Reporting - SINGLE DELIVERY PRODUCT - TOTAL UTILITY APPROACH Total power usage from booster stations and wells was compared to total water production for the FY25 period.
Only for Water Delivery Products Under the Urban Water Supplier's Operational Control
Sum of All Water Management
Processes Non-Consequential Hydropower
DWR NOTES:
Total Utility:The volume of water entered in the “Total Utility” column should equal the volume of water entering the distribution system (excluding recycled water); in most cases, this is the total volume calculated in UWMP Table 4-1: 2025 Actual Total Uses for Potable and Non-Potable Water. Note if recycled water is included in your Submittal Table 4-1, you must exclude it from your volume in this table.
NOTES:
Energy data captured from boosters and wells
Volume of Water Entering Process
Energy Consumed (kWh)
107
% of Average Supply
Average Year 2025 100%
Single-Dry Year 2015
Consecutive Dry Years 1st Year 2014
Consecutive Dry Years 2nd Year 2015
Consecutive Dry Years 3rd Year 2016
Consecutive Dry Years 4th Year 2017
Consecutive Dry Years 5th Year 2018
1897
300
Year Type
Base Year
If not using a calendar
year, type in the last
year of the fiscal,
water year, or range
of years, for example,
water year 2024-
2025, use 2025
Optional Submittal Table 7-1 Retail: Basis of Water Year Data (Reliability Assessment) Available Supplies if
Year Type Repeats
Check the box if quantification of available supplies is not compatible with this table and is provided elsewhere in the UWMP.
Location: [insert location from UWMP]
Volume Available (AF)
Quantification of available supplies is provided in this table as either volume only, percent only, or both.
556
556
NOTES: Tables reflects availabity of spreading credits only. Imported supplies and groundwater pumping rights are projected to be 100% avilable during all water year types. See UWMP Section 7.2.1. Consecutive dry year volumes represent average from 2014 to 2018.
556
556
556
DWR NOTES: Supplier may use multiple versions of Submittal Table 7-1 R if different water sources have different base years and the supplier chooses to report the base years for each water source separately. If a Supplier uses multiple versions of Submittal Table 7-1 R, in the "Note" section of each submittal table, state that multiple versions of Submittal Table 7-1 R are being used and identify the particular water source that is being reported in each submittal table.
Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. This table reports the units of measure reported in Submittal Table 2-3. 108
2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF) 2050 (AF)
Supply totals
(autofill from Submittal Table 6-
9 R)
27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Use totals
(autofill from Submittal Table 4-
2 R)
27,376 27,072 26,542 26,203 26,269
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation
benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings
benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions
Submittal Table 7-2 Retail: Normal Year Supply and Use Comparison Water Code Section 10635 (a)
NOTES: No WSCP actions planned as no shortfall is projected. MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet demands during all hydrologic year types.
DWR NOTES : Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
109
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply
augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction
savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
2050 (AF)
DWR NOTES : Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
NOTES: No WSCP actions planned as no shortfall is projected. MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet demands during all hydrologic year types.
Submittal Table 7-3 Retail: Single Dry Year Supply and Use Comparison Water Code Section 10635(a)
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions
2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF)
110
2030 (AF) 2035 (AF) 2040 (AF) 2045 (AF) 2050 (AF)
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
Supply totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Use totals 29,566 29,237 28,665 28,299 28,371
Surplus/(shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
Submittal Table 7-4 Retail: Multiple Dry Years Supply and Use Comparison Water Code Section 10635(a)
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions
Third year
Fifth year
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP ActionsFourth year
NOTES: No WSCP actions planned as no shortfall is projected. MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet demands during all hydrologic year types.
First year
OPTIONAL WSCP Actions Second year
111
2026 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,249
Total Supplies (AF) 29,249
Surplus/Shortfall w/o WSCP Action 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit (AF)
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit (AF)
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
2027 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,312
To
tal Supplies (AF) 29,312
Surplus/Shortfall w/o WSCP Action 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit (AF)
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit (AF)
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
2028 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,376
Total Supplies (AF) 29,376
Surplus/Shortfall w/o WSCP Action 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit (AF)
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit (AF)
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
2029 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,439
Total Supplies (AF) 29,439
Surplus/Shortfall w/o WSCP Action 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit (AF)
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit (AF)
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
2030 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,566
Total Supplies (AF) 29,566
Surplus/Shortfall w/o WSCP Action 0
WSCP - supply augmentation benefit (AF)
WSCP - use reduction savings benefit (AF)
Revised Surplus/(shortfall)
NOTES: No WSCP actions planned as no shortfall is projected. MWD anticipates having sufficient supplies to meet demands during all hydrologic year types.
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
Submittal Table 7-5 Retail: Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment Water Code Section 10635(b)(3)
OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions (use reduction and supply augmentation) OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions (use reduction and supply augmentation) OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions (use reduction and supply augmentation) OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions (use reduction and supply augmentation) OPTIONAL Planned WSCP Actions (use reduction and supply augmentation) 112
Standard
Shortage
Levels
Percent Shortage
Range
Suppliers
Shortage
Levels
Percent
Shortage Range
1 Up to 10% 1 Up to 10%
2 Up to 20% 2 Up to 30%
3 Up to 30% 2 Up to 30%
4 Up to 40% 3 Up to 40%
5 Up to 50% 4 > 40%
6 >50% 4 > 40%
Submittal Table 8-1: Cross-reference for Standard vs
Supplier Shortage Levels
Water Code Section 10632(a)(3)(B)
Check the box if the Supplier uses the Standard
six levels of water shortage.
Proceed to the next table.
NOTES:
113
Yes
Volume or
Percentage
Drop down
Shortage Gap
Reduction Value
(May be a range) (AF)
1-6 Other Purchases Percentage >50 Purchase of additional MWD supplies in the case of local groundwater disruption
6 Other Actions (describe) Percentage up to 10 Maximize available local groundwater supply, increase production
Submittal Table 8-2 Retail: Supply Augmentation and Other Actions Water Code Section 10632(a)(4)(A),(C) and (E)
Add additional rows as needed
NOTES:
Is the Supplier completing this table using the standard six levels? (yes/no) How much is this going to reduce the
shortage gap?
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3.
Shortage
Level
Supply Augmentation Methods and
Other Actions by Water Supplier
Drop down list
These are the only categories that will be
accepted by the WUEdata online submittal tool
Additional Explanation or Reference
(OPTIONAL)
114
No
Volume or Percentage
Drop down
Shortage Gap
Reduction Value
(May be a range) (AF)
1 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation
to specific days Percentage 3
Limits on watering days - one day per week
November 1 - March 31; 3 days per week April 1 -
October 31
Yes
1 Other - Customers must repair leaks,
breaks, and malfunctions in a timely
manner
Percentage 2 Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 72 hours of notification. Yes
1 Increase Water Waste Patrols Percentage 10
Increase Water Waste Patrols to actively patrolling
areas showing high water use
Yes
1 Expand Public Information Campaign Percentage 2 No
2 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation
to specific days Percentage 1
Limits on watering days - one day per week
November 1 - March 31; 2 days per week April 1 -
October 31
Yes
2 Other - Customers must repair leaks,
breaks, and malfunctions in a timely
manner
Percentage 2 Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 48 hours of notification. Yes
2 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as
fountains
Percentage 1 Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
2 Increase Water Waste Patrols Percentage 10
Increase patrol shifts to cover a 24 hour period with
50% coverage across city neighborhoods
Yes
2 Expand Public Information Campaign Percentage 2 No
3 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation
to specific days
Percentage 5 Limits on watering days - one day per week Yes 3 Other - Customers must repair leaks,
breaks, and malfunctions in a timely
manner
Percentage 2 Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 36 hours of notification. Yes
3 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as
fountains
Percentage 1 Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
3 Increase Water Waste Patrols Percentage 10
Increase patrols shifts to cover a 24 hour period with
50% coverage across city neighborhoods
Yes
3 Expand Public Information Campaign Percentage 2 No
4 Landscape - Prohibit all landscape
irrigation
Percentage 10 Yes
4 Other - Customers must repair leaks,
breaks, and malfunctions in a timely
manner
Percentage 2 Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 24 hours of notification. Yes
4 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as
fountains
Percentage 1 Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
4 Other water feature or swimming pool
restriction Percentage 1
Refilling of more than 1 foot and initial filling of
single family residential swimming pools or outdoor
spas is prohibited.
Yes
4 Expand Public Information Campaign Percentage 2 No
Is the Supplier completing this table using the standard six levels? (yes/no) Submittal Table 8-3 Retail: Demand Reduction Actions
Water Code Section 10632(a)(4)(B),(D), and (E)
Add additional rows as needed
How much is this going to reduce the shortage
gap?
Shortage
Level
Demand Reduction Actions
Drop down list
These are the only categories that will be
accepted by the WUEdata online submittal
tool. Select those that apply.
Additional Explanation or Reference
(OPTIONAL)
NOTES: Shortage gap reduction values are in %.
Penalty, Charge, or
Other
Enforcement?
For Retail Suppliers Only
Drop Down List
DWR NOTES: Units of measure (AF, CCF, MG) must remain consistent throughout the UWMP as reported in Submittal Table 2-3. 115
City Name 60 Day Notice
Drop Down (yes/no)
Notice of Public
Hearing
Drop Down (yes/no)
Alhambra Yes Yes
Arcadia Yes Yes
Glendale Yes Yes
Sierra Madre Yes Yes
South Pasadena Yes Yes
County Name
Drop Down List
60 Day Notice
Drop Down (yes/no)
Notice of Public
Hearing
Drop Down (yes/no)
Los Angeles County Yes Yes
Submittal Table 10-1 Retail: Notification to Cities and Counties Water Code Section 10621(b) and 10642
Add additional rows as needed
Add additional rows as needed
NOTES: List of additional entities notified is shown in UWMP Table 2-
3. 116
Appendix C: Coordination and Outreach Materials
117
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Dennis Ahlen
Director of Public Works & Utilities
City of Alhambra
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
118
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Paul Cranmer
Director of Public Works
City of Arcadia
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
119
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Daniel Hernandez
Director of Public Works
City of Glendale
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
120
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Steve Mcgee
Director of Public Works
City of Sierra Madre
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
121
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Anteneh Tesfaye
Deputy Director of Public Works
City of South Pasadena
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
122
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Nina Jazmadarian
General Manager
Foothill Municipal Water District
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
123
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
James Brumder
Associate Director of Garden Operations
Huntington Library and Art Gallery
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
124
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Justin Bailey
General Manager
La Canada Irrigation District
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
125
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Jennifer Betancourt Torres
General Manager
Lincoln Avenue Water Company
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
126
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Mark Pestrella
Director
Los Angeles County Public Works
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
127
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Robert Ferrante
General Manager
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
128
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
David Sumi
Senior Resource Specialist
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water S
hortage Contingency Plan
I
n compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
129
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 20, 2026
Keith Brown
Operations Manager
Pasadena Cemetery Association
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water S
hortage Contingency Plan
I
n compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
P
rincipal Engineer
130
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Kelly Gardner
Executive Officer
Raymond Basin Management Board
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
131
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Lisa Yamashita Lopez
General Manager
Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
132
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Jim Prior
General Manager
San Gabriel County Water District
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
133
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Kome Ajise
Executive Director
Southern California Association of Governments
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
134
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Ken Tcheng
General Manager
Sunny Slope Water Company
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
135
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Chris Burt
Facilities Supervisor
Kinneloa Irrigation District
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
Tom Majich,
General Manager
Kinneloa Irrigation District
[email protected]
136
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
William Kimberling
General Manager
Las Flores Water Company
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
137
P A S A D E N A W A T E R A N D P O W E R
150 S. Los Robles Avenue ● Suite 200 ● Pasadena, CA 91101
January 21, 2026
Bob Fan
General Manager
Valley Water Company
[email protected]
Subject: 2025 Update of the City of Pasadena’s Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
In compliance with the California Water Code, Division 6, Part 2.6, Chapter 3, Section 10621, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) is initiating the preparation and revision of the City of Pasadena’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). This document is required of all “urban water suppliers” at least once every 5 years to evaluate long-term water supply reliability and to remain eligible for state water-related grants and loans.
The 2025 UWMP will include updated projections of water demands, conservation strategies, and water supply planning in the PWP service area. PWP welcomes written input from land use agencies, water suppliers, and other stakeholders regarding assumptions about future population growth, demand management, and water supply planning.
The draft UWMP will be made available for public review in April 2026. A public hearing will follow at least 60 days thereafter. PWP will issue a formal Notice of Public Hearing.
Concurrent with the UWMP Update, PWP will update Pasadena’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) consistent with Water Code Sections 10632 and 10635. The WSCP outlines how the City will respond to water shortages of up to and exceeding 50%, including provisions for health, safety, and fire protection priorities.
For questions or to provide comments, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Roumiana Voutchkova, P.E.
Principal Engineer
138
Appendix D: UWMP Adoption Resolution [to be inserted]
139
Appendix E: Water Shortage Contingency Plan
140
2775 North Ventura Road, Suite 202
Oxnard, California 93036
805-973-5700
City of Pasadena
Water and Power
2025 Water Shortage
Contingency Plan
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT
May 2026
Prepared for
Pasadena Water and Power
150 South Los Robles Avenue, Suite 200
Pasadena, CA 91101
141
Table of Contents
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ii List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... ii List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... iii Section 1 Water Supply Reliability Analysis ............................................. 1-1 Section 2 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment
Procedures ................................................................................. 2-1 Section 3 Water Shortage Levels .............................................................. 3-1 Section 4 Water Shortage Response Actions ........................................... 4-1
4.1 Shortage Response Action Effectiveness ........................................... 4-6
4.2 Catastrophic Supply Interruption Plan ................................................. 4-6 Section 5 Communication Protocols ......................................................... 5-1 Section 6 Compliance and Enforcement ................................................... 6-1 Section 7 Financial Consequences of a WSCP ......................................... 7-1 Section 8 WSCP Monitoring and Refinement Procedures ........................ 8-1 Section 9 Plan Adoption and Availability .................................................. 9-1 References ....................................................................................................... i
142
List of Tables
Table 1-1: Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment ...................................................................... 1-2 Table 2-1: Timeline for Annual Assessment Actions ................................................................ 2-2 Table 3-1: Cross-Reference for Standard vs Supplier Shortage Levels .................................. 3-1 Table 4-1: Supply Augmentation and Other Actions ................................................................ 4-2 Table 4-2: Demand Reduction Actions by Water Shortage Level ............................................ 4-5 Table 4-3: Potential Response Actions for Catastrophic Events .............................................. 4-7 Table 6-1: Penalties for Violating Water Use Prohibitions ....................................................... 6-1 Table 7-1: Drought Rate Percentages1 .................................................................................... 7-1
List of Appendices
Appendix A: Pasadena Municipal Code Title 13, Chapter 13.10 Appendix B: City of Pasadena Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Appendix C: WSCP Adoption Resolution [to be inserted]
143
List of Acronyms
City City of Pasadena
CRA Colorado River Aqueduct
DWR Department of Water Resources
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ERP Emergency Response Plan
LHMP Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
MWD The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California PWP Pasadena Water and Power
RRMB Raymond Basin Management Board
SCADA Supervisory Control Data and Acquisition
SWP State Water Project
UWMP Urban Water Management Plan
WSCP Water Shortage Contingency Plan
144
Section 1 Water Supply Reliability Analysis
This plan documents the Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) for the City of Pasadena (City) Water and Power (PWP), which was prepared per requirements of the Urban Water Management Act, Section 10632 of the California Water Code. This 2025 WSCP is a stand- alone document which may be amended, as needed.
The purpose of the WSCP is to document the process used by PWP to anticipate water supply disruptions and provide a plan of action to be followed in the event of a water supply shortage.
Water supplies may be significantly reduced or interrupted for a number of reasons, including as a result of severe droughts, an earthquake which damages water delivery or storage facilities, a regional power outage, or a major water quality impairment within the PWP water service area, all of which could impact local supplies or imported water supply deliveries from The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).
The WSCP was prepared in parallel to PWP’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) update and relies on reliability analyses prepared therein. Details on PWP’s water supplies, demands, and water reliability findings are found in PWP’s 2025 UWMP.
The City has various sources of water: local groundwater, stream water from Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon, and imported water from MWD. The City also serves a small number of customers through interconnections with neighboring agencies. Currently, PWP relies on local groundwater from the Raymond Basin for one third to one half of its total water supplies. The Raymond Basin, which comprises of 15 member agencies, was the first adjudicated groundwater basin in California. The City has groundwater pumping rights within the basin and is also credited with additional pumping rights for infiltrating surface water from the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon streams. PWP manages its pumping rights, spreading credits, and long-term storage to maintain a reliable local source.
PWP purchases MWD imported water to supplement local pumped groundwater to meet customer driven water demands. Imported water, purchased from MWD, makes up from approximately half to two-thirds of PWP’s water supplies and is projected to be a reliable source of water supply. MWD is the Southern California regional water wholesaler to 26 member agencies, including the City. MWD’s primary sources of water are from the State Water Project (SWP) supplies and the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA).
According to MWD’s 2025 UWMP, MWD has sufficient supplies to meet expected member agency demands through the 2050 planning period under all UWMP hydrologic scenarios (normal year, single dry year, and a five-consecutive-year drought). PWP’s reliability analyses reflect MWD’s ability to meet all of PWP’s demands.
As a result of its planning efforts, MWD is expected to be able to provide reserve supplies to member agencies to help avoid severe water shortages during periods when imported water aqueducts may be out of service. MWD regularly updates various planning documents that guide its operations, long-term reliability, and emergency response, including the following:
• Integrated Water Resources Plan
• Water Shortage Contingency Plan
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• Water Surplus and Drought Management Plan
• Water Supply Allocation Plan
• Emergency Storage Objective
• Seismic Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan
Based on the analyses conducted as part of the 2025 UWMP, PWP anticipates sufficient availability of water supplies through 2050 to meet its projected demands, in all hydrologic year types (normal, single-dry and multiple-dry years). Additionally, the drought risk assessment conducted for the 2025 UWMP, which evaluates supply reliability in the event of a 5-year consecutive drought starting in 2026, also shows that supplies would be sufficient to meet demands. The drought risk assessment is summarized in Table 1-1. Additional details are found in Section 7 of the 2025 UWMP.
Table 1-1: Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment
2026 Total
Total Water Use (AF) 29,249
Total Supplies (AF) 29,249
2027
Total Water Use (AF) 29,312
Total Supplies (AF) 29,312
2028
Total Water Use (AF) 29,376
Total Supplies (AF) 29,376
2029
Total Water Use (AF) 29,439
Total Supplies (AF) 29,439
2030
Total Water Use (AF) 29,566
Total Supplies (AF) 29,566
Additional details on PWP’s water supply reliability are found in its UWMP. The City’s water supplies are projected to be reliable for the foreseeable future, due to diversification of local groundwater and imported water. However, unforeseeable catastrophic events could result in unplanned interruptions of water supplies and water supply shortages, which could require activation of water shortage contingency measures outlined in this WSCP.
Potential disruptions to groundwater supplies could occur as a result of unforeseen water quality impairments, large-scale power outages, damage/loss of pumping or delivery infrastructure, among other conditions. An unplanned interruption to MWD imported supplies could result from a catastrophic earthquake damaging the aqueducts that transport imported water. This damage would impact MWD’s ability to supply water to its member agencies, 146
including PWP. In the case of unplanned interruption of supplies that result in a water shortage, PWP would implement actions described in this WSCP. 147
Section 2 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment
Procedures
As of July 2022, provisions in Water Code Section 10632.1. require that an urban water supplier, such as PWP, conduct an annual water supply and demand assessment (Annual Assessment), by July 1 of each year, and submit to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). The Annual Assessment should include information on the anticipated shortage, triggered shortage response actions, compliance and enforcement actions, and communication actions consistent with the supplier’s WSCP. An urban water supplier that relies on imported water from the State Water Project or the Bureau of Reclamation shall submit its Annual Assessment within 14 days of receiving its final allocations, or by July 1 of each year, whichever is later. The Annual Assessment procedures are to be included in the supplier’s WSCP.
This section outlines the procedures for performing the Annual Assessment by PWP and includes the following:
• The written decision-making process that PWP will use each year to determine its water supply reliability
• The key data inputs and assessment methodology used to evaluate PWP’s water supply reliability for the current year and one dry year, including all of the following:
o Current year unconstrained demand, considering weather, growth, and other influencing factors, such as policies to manage current supplies to meet demand objectives in future years, as applicable.
o Current year available supply, considering hydrological and regulatory conditions in the current year and one dry year. The annual supply and demand assessment may consider more than one dry year solely at the discretion of the urban water supplier.
o Existing infrastructure capabilities and plausible constraints. o A defined set of locally applicable evaluation criteria that are consistently relied upon for each annual water supply and demand assessment. o A description and quantification of each source of water supply.
Although the Annual Assessment must be submitted to DWR by July 1 of every year, an early Annual Assessment allows suppliers and customers to identify uncertainties and prepare for any anticipated water supply constraints in the coming months. Therefore, developing procedures, including decision-making processes, that facilitate early analysis and adoption are important for preparing for and mitigating water shortages.
Water supply projections and hydrologic conditions are significant components in deciding when a water shortage response is needed. The severity of a water supply shortage can determine the shortage level declared and the necessary level of response from the City and PWP’s customers. Water reliability analyses performed in PWP’s 2025 UWMP are summarized in Section 1 of this WSCP and are the starting point for preparing the Annual Assessment. 148
As imported water may be more than half of PWP’s supplies, MWD’s shortage plans and declared water shortage stages play major roles in PWP’s water shortage plan. Therefore, the primary factor triggering a water shortage determination by PWP would be a determination of water shortage and related water supply curtailments made by MWD. As such, PWP’s Annual Assessment will highly depend on coordination with MWD to evaluate imported water supply conditions. In addition to confirming MWD water supply projections, PWP will also evaluate local groundwater supply conditions.
Table 2-1 outlines PWP’s approximate target timeframes for performing the Annual Assessment.
Table 2-1: Timeline for Annual Assessment Actions
Target Date Action
Oct-Feb
• Coordinate with MWD to evaluate imported water supply conditions • Evaluate groundwater supply conditions
• Monitor demand trends
Mar
• Obtain updates on MWD supply projections
• Prepare initial assessment of total PWP water supplies vs unconstrained demands
• Make initial estimate of potential shortage
• If shortage anticipated, form Water Shortage Task Force Apr
• Confirm MWD supply assessment and evaluate PWP’s potential supply shortfall based on MWD’s anticipated water supply condition/stage and available local supplies
• I f necessary, initiate public outreach, coordinate drought messaging with neighboring retail water agencies and MWD, as appropriate May-June
• Continue public outreach
• Prepare draft Annual Assessment
• Finalize Annual Assessment and submit to DWR
July-Sept
• If necessary, recommend City Council make a determination that a water shortage exists and implement demand reduction and other shortage response actions as outlined in the WSCP
• Monitor customer response to water shortage messaging and other actions
By starting to plan in October, PWP will get an early snapshot of conditions, assess the resources necessary to mitigate a supply shortage and start outreach to customers to manage demand. Major actions are proposed in March, when an initial estimate of a potential supply shortage is made. Final annual assessment is completed by June. Depending on the findings, a water shortage may be declared by City Council and demand reductions implemented in accordance with the City’s ordinance and the stages outlined in this WSCP.
DWR guidance for the Annual Assessment is to consider the expected water use in the current year – assuming a dry year, based on recent water use, and before any potential response actions a supplier may trigger under its WSCP.
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Expected customer demands will be estimated in-line with the methodologies and assumptions described in PWP’s UWMP, unless more current data or improved methodologies are available.
Planned water use for the current year will primarily be estimated based on demands of the most recent complete calendar year, historical demand trends for each water use sector, weather, growth, policies to manage supplies, or other factors as described below.
Generally, hotter temperatures, higher evapotranspiration rates, and low rainfall lead to higher water use, primarily due to increased irrigation. To account for weather impacts on demands during the current year, PWP will consider the following:
1) Seasonal trends in PWP water demands with a focus on differences between winter and summer demands, and between demands in wet and dry years 2) Historical (10 years minimum) trends in demands, taking into account drought conditions 3) Weather and drought prognoses for the current year
Sources of information on drought conditions for the current year are anticipated to include the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook available from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/sdo_summary.php).
Additional sources of drought forecasts, based on the Climate Prediction Center’s data, may include U.S Drought Monitor (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ConditionsOutlooks/Outlooks.aspx) and Drought.gov (https://www.drought.gov/forecasts).
Demand estimates for the current year will take into consideration growth in the PWP service area. These estimates will be based on the long-range projections documented in the current UWMP which account for anticipated development. To the extent possible, data will be normalized to reflect demands without temporary conservation measures or WSCP response actions in order to estimate unconstrained demands. Levels of water savings from select WSCP actions are estimated in Section 4 of this WSCP, which will be referenced as needed. Water use changes in response conservation measures implemented during previous droughts may also be evaluated.
PWP will evaluate current year water supply availability and the potential for a water supply shortfall based on the combined local groundwater supplies and MWD’s anticipated imported water. Projected groundwater supplies are based on pumping rights, spreading credits, and groundwater storage. PWP anticipates adequate imported water supplies to meet its demands during average, single-dry, and multiple-dry years throughout the 25-year planning period. MWD projections take into account hydrological and regulatory conditions that may affect the availability of imported water supplies.
PWP’s monthly reports submitted to the Raymond Basin Management Board (RBMB) and MWD’s monthly supply and operation updates and Water Supply Conditions Report will be primary sources of data for assessing water supply conditions. Each source of water supply will be quantified as part of the Annual Assessment.
In assessing the reliability of PWP’s water supplies, it is important to consider existing infrastructure capabilities and plausible constraints for meeting expected water demands in the coming year. Potential constraints may include capacity of active wells, treatment systems, distribution infrastructure, water quality, or other conditions. 150
Section 3 Water Shortage Levels
A water shortage means that available water supply is insufficient to meet expected customer water use at a given point in time. A water shortage can result from various circumstances, such as unexpected short-term events on the order of days or weeks to multi-year droughts. Short- term supply interruptions may occur as the result of an earthquake, water system failures, fire, contamination, regional power outage, or other causes. In contrast, drought is a gradual phenomenon under which impacts generally increase with the length of a drought, and as available stored water supplies are depleted. Regardless of the cause, if a potential water shortage is identified, PWP will manage and mitigate the shortage by implementing measures outlined in this WSCP and based on the water shortage levels described below.
The Urban Water Management Plan Act requires water agencies to plan for increasing levels of temporary or prolonged shortages of up to and greater than 50% of normal supplies. Water Code Section 10632(a)(3) requires suppliers to include six standard water shortage levels that represent shortage conditions compared to normal reliability.
Pasadena Municipal Code Title 13, chapter 13.10, Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans was originally adopted on June 1, 2009, and most recently amended on February 6, 2017, with Ordinance No. 7298. The City’s ordinance describes four levels of water supply shortage and related response actions, in addition to permanent water conservation requirements, which are effective at all times. A copy of the ordinance is included in Appendix A.
Table 3-1 presents a cross-reference of the City’s existing four water supply shortage levels to the required six standard water shortage levels with the relative severity of the water supply shortage and a summary of associated response actions. Details on response actions to the increasing water-supply shortage levels are described in Section 4.
Table 3-1: Cross-Reference for Standard vs Supplier Shortage Levels [DWR Table 8-1]
Standard Shortage
Levels1
Percent Shortage
Range1
Suppliers Shortage
Levels
Percent Shortage
Range
1 Up to 10% 1 Up to 10%
2 Up to 20% 2 Up to 30% 3 Up to 30%
4 Up to 40% 3 Up to 40%
5 Up to 50% 4 (emergency condition) >40% 6 >50%
Note:
1Percent shortage range refers to gap between normally available supplies and normally expected customer water use.
In the event of a water shortage, PWP would recommend the City Council determine that a water shortage exists and which water shortage level to declare to appropriately respond to the existing water conditions. The City Council would hold a public hearing during which it would determine the necessary water conservation target, and which level of water supply shortage is appropriate to address the water shortage.
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A declaration of water shortage emergency would occur per California Water Code Division 1, Section 350, which states:
“The governing body of a distributor of a public water supply, whether publicly or privately owned and including a mutual water company, shall declare a water shortage emergency condition to prevail within the area served by such distributor whenever it finds and determines that the ordinary demands and requirements of water consumers cannot be satisfied without depleting the water supply of the distributor to the extent that there would be insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation, and fire protection.”
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Section 4 Water Shortage Response Actions
Water shortage response actions generally include water supply-side and/or demand-side actions, including voluntary and mandatory measures. This section describes PWP’s water shortage response actions, including all of the following:
• Local supply augmentation actions.
• Local demand reduction actions to adequately respond to shortages. • Local operational changes.
• M andatory prohibitions against specific water use practices that are in addition to state- mandated prohibitions and appropriate to the local conditions. • For each action, an estimate of the extent to which the gap between supplies and demand will be reduced by implementation of the action.
In the event of a water shortage, supply augmentation may include use of additional MWD supplies, additional groundwater, and/or purchased water from emergency interconnections, as described below.
Currently, local groundwater meets approximately one third to one half of PWP’s customer water demands and the remaining demands are met with imported water from MWD. In the event that local groundwater supplies become unavailable, PWP would seek to increase its demands on MWD for imported water supplies, as available, to make up the shortfall.
If imported water supplies from MWD are disrupted, PWP would rely on local groundwater supplies and additional conservation to meet demands to the maximum extent possible. Under normal conditions, PWP can utilize during the current fiscal year up to 10% of its decreed rights from the next fiscal year with approval of the Raymond Basin. PWP would coordinate with the Raymond Basin Management Board to evaluate options for pumping above its current allocation, if needed to meet immediate demands.
Depending on the emergency, PWP would evaluate use of its existing emergency interconnections with neighboring water purveyors. PWP currently has active interconnections through which it can receive emergency supplies with the following local agencies:
• City of Sierra Madre
• Foothill Municipal Water District
• Kinneloa Irrigation District
• Lincoln Avenue Water Company
• Valley Water Company
• MWD
While the emergency interconnections could allow PWP to receive potable water under emergency conditions, it is important to note that, similar to PWP, neighboring purveyors may 153
also receive imported water supplies from MWD to meet their potable demands. Therefore, depending on the nature of the water supply disruption, the other purveyors may be equally impacted by the water emergency and unable to deliver supplemental supplies to PWP.
Potential supply augmentation actions that could be considered during a water shortage condition are summarized in Table 4-1.
Table 4-1: Supply Augmentation and Other Actions
[DWR Table 8-2]
Shortage Level Supply Augmentation
Methods and Other Actions by
Water Supplier
Reduction in
Shortage Gap
Additional Explanation or
Reference Standard City
1-6 1-4 Other purchases >50%
Purchase of additional supplies
in the case of local
groundwater disruption
6 4 Other actions (describe) up to 10%
Maximize available local
groundwater supply, increase
production
The City maintains permanent water waste and conservation standards that are in effect at all times and are outlined in Pasadena Municipal Code Title 13, chapter 13.10, Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans. Permanent water conservation requirements that apply at all times, including under normal supply conditions, include:
• Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is limited to 3 days per week year round, on a schedule to be determined by the department general manager, except by use of a hand- held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system. • Limits on Watering Hours: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is prohibited between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on any day, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand- held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system.
• No Watering During Periods of Rain: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area during and within 48 hours after periods of rain is prohibited.
• No Water Flow or Runoff: Watering or irrigating any lawn, landscape or other vegetated areas in a manner that causes or allows runoff such that water flows onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots or structures is prohibited. • No Watering Turf on Public Street Medians: Watering ornamental turf on 154
public street medians with potable water is prohibited.
This ban is consistent with California's ban on non-functional turf. Starting January 1, 2027, enactment of Assembly Bill 1572 will prohibit the use of potable water for irrigating purely decorative grass on state and local government properties. The ban on watering non-functional turf with potable water will apply to commercial, industrial, and institutional properties starting in 2028 and Homeowner Association common areas starting in 2029. Per the legislation, PWP will incorporate the necessary restrictions in the City’s permanent water waste and conservation standards by the January 1, 2027, deadline.
• No Washing Down Hard or Paved Surfaces: Washing down hard or paved surfaces, including, but not limited to, sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking areas, tennis courts, patios or alleys, is prohibited except as follows:
(i) where necessary to alleviate safety or sanitary hazards and then only by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device; or (ii) when using a low-volume high- pressure cleaning machine equipped to recycle any water used, or a low- volume high-pressure water broom.
• Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: Loss or escape of water through breaks, leaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system for any period of time after such escape of water should have reasonably been discovered and corrected and in no event more than 7 days of receiving notice from the Department is prohibited. • Recirculating Water Required for Water Fountains and Decorative Water Features: Operating a water fountain or other decorative water feature that does not use re-circulated water is prohibited.
• Limits on Washing Vehicles: Using water to wash a vehicle, including, but not limited to, any automobile, truck, van, bus, motorcycle, boat or trailer, whether motorized or not, is prohibited, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container or a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device. This subsection does not apply to any commercial car washing facility.
• Drinking Water Served Upon Request Only: Eating or drinking establishments, including but not limited to a restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria, bar or other public place where food and drinks are sold, served or offered for sale, are prohibited from providing drinking water to any person unless expressly requested by the patrons.
• Restaurants Required to Use Water Conserving Dish Wash Spray Valves: Food preparation establishments, such as restaurants, cafes and cafeterias, are prohibited from using non-water conserving dish wash spray valves.
• Commercial Lodging Establishments Shall Provide Guests Option to Decline Daily Linen Services: Hotels, motels and other commercial lodging establishments must provide customers the option of not having towels and linens laundered daily. Commercial lodging establishments must prominently 155
display notice of this option in each guestroom using clear and easily understood language.
• No Installation of Single Pass Cooling Systems: Installation of single pass cooling systems is prohibited in buildings requesting new water service. • No Installation of Non-Recirculating Equipment in Commercial Car Wash and Laundry Systems: Installation of non-recirculating water systems is prohibited in new commercial conveyor car washes and new commercial laundry systems.
• Commercial Car Wash Systems: All commercial conveyor car wash systems must have installed operational re-circulating water systems or must have secured a waiver of this requirement from the City. • Multifamily Properties: All master-metered multifamily properties with four or more dwelling units are required to certify (through a process determined by the department) that showerheads and aerators are retrofitted to meet current California Green Building Code standards.
In addition to the permanent water waste and conservation requirements effective at all times, the City’s Municipal Code also describes four levels of water supply shortage and related response actions. The additional actions for each water shortage level are presented in Table 4-2, with estimates on anticipated water use reductions. PWP proposes additional measures, including increased water waste patrols and expanded public information campaigns that are also shown in the table. In the event of a City level 4 water shortage, PWP also has the ability to limit new potable water services, per the City’s Municipal Code, Section 13.10.052, item 5.
Implementation of this measure will not reduce existing demands during an extreme shortage but will help to ensure that no additional demands are added during this period.
During a water shortage scenario, operational changes are implemented to enhance water waste enforcement and increase outreach to customers. Staff is augmented with temporary workers who are deployed to enforce the water waste restrictions throughout the service area.
Staff works in shifts over 24 hours to ensure that any water waste is documented and customers notified. Reports are tracked to execute the appropriate level of action from a 1st violation notice to a 4th notification and subsequent fine. Administrative staff is assigned to track all reports and issue notifications and fines. Additionally, staff time and funding are dedicated to create more outreach materials to inform and engage with customers of the water waste shortage and restrictions.
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Table 4-2: Demand Reduction Actions by Water Shortage Level [Based on DWR Table 8-2]
Shortage Level
Demand Reduction Actions
Reduction
in Shortage
Gap Additional Explanation or Reference
Penalty, Charge,
or Other
Enforcement? Standard City
1 1 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation to
specific days 3% Limits on watering days - one day per week November 1 - March 31; 3 days per week April 1 - October 31 Yes
1 1 Other - Customers must repair leaks, breaks,
and malfunctions in a timely manner 2% Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 72 hours of notification. Yes
1 1 Increase Water Waste Patrols 10% Increase Water Waste Patrols to actively patrolling areas showing high water use Yes
1 1 Expand Public Information Campaign 2% No
2-3 2 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation to
specific days 1% Limits on watering days - one day per week November 1 - March 31; 2 days per week April 1 - October 31 Yes
2-3 2 Other - Customers must repair leaks, breaks,
and malfunctions in a timely manner 2% Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 48 hours of notification. Yes
2-3 2 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as fountains 1% Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
2-3 2 Increase Water Waste Patrols 10% Increase patrol shifts to cover a 24-hour period with 50% coverage across city neighborhoods Yes
2-3 2 Expand Public Information Campaign 2% No
4 3 Landscape - Limit landscape irrigation to
specific days 5% Limits on watering days - one day per week Yes 4 3 Other - Customers must repair leaks, breaks,
and malfunctions in a timely manner 2% Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 36 hours of notification. Yes
4 3 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as fountains 1% Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
4 3 Increase Water Waste Patrols 10% Increase patrols shifts to cover a 24-hour period with 50% coverage across city neighborhoods Yes
4 3 Expand Public Information Campaign 2% No
5-6 4 Landscape - Prohibit all landscape irrigation 10% Yes 5-6 4 Other - Customers must repair leaks, breaks,
and malfunctions in a timely manner 2% Obligation to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 24 hours of notification. Yes
5-6 4 Water Features - Restrict water use for
decorative water features, such as fountains 1% Filling or re-filling of ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited. Yes
5-6 4 Other water feature or swimming pool
restriction 1% Refilling of more than 1 foot and initial filling of single-family residential swimming pools or outdoor spas is prohibited. Yes 5-6 4 Expand Public Information Campaign 2% No
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4.1 Shortage Response Action Effectiveness
During the course of a declared water shortage, PWP will reevaluate water supply conditions, and estimates of actual demand reductions will be made by evaluating customer consumption data. Under normal conditions, PWP uses multiple methods to account for water use from water supply production data. Water supply conditions are recorded on a weekly basis. Well production, MWD imported water, and surface water spread are recorded by the Water Engineering Division of PWP. Data is rolled into monthly production totals and added to the water supply report. All data is stored on PWP’s network and is accessible by all employees with access to the network. PWP also has a Supervisory Control Data and Acquisition (SCADA) system that produces instantaneous data and logs data in the system.
During water shortage scenarios, a comparison is performed between current weekly production and projected monthly base demand. The analysis is reviewed by the Water Resources and Planning group to verify demand reduction. Monthly reports, similar to normal operating conditions, are shared with the Water Resources and Planning Manager and executive management for review. If the executive management determines water demand reduction goals are not being met, and no available tools remain (drought enforcement, notices, outreach, etc.), the General Manager will inform the City Manager that a recommendation by the City Council is in order. Ultimately, the City Council will take corrective actions, as necessary, to adjust the water shortage emergency level to increase conservation. If dictated by the type of emergency situation, production figures can be reported to the Water Resources and Planning Manager on an expedited and frequent basis, and the General Manager and subsequently the City Council, on a weekly basis.
4.2 Catastrophic Supply Interruption Plan
PWP is also prepared for a catastrophic event that may result in complete loss of supply from its normal sources. It is likely that a complete loss of supply would be short-term in nature, lasting from a day to a week or so, until some reduced supply is restored from normal sources. Major catastrophic events that may affect PWP’s major water sources are extreme (worst case) drought, earthquake, region-wide power outage, contamination, or loss of imported water due to imported water system unplanned shutdowns.
To prepare for potential catastrophic events, PWP has developed an emergency response plan and contingency plan to respond to supply interruptions, operates a water quality control laboratory to ensure rapid testing of water quality, continuously implements security upgrades, has back-up power and communications equipment, and has developed points of contacts and chains of command during emergency situations. As PWP is also a power provider, maintains emergency generators, and works closely with Edison in the County unincorporated portions of PWP’s service area, power can quickly be restored during catastrophic interruptions.
Additionally, PWP is prepared to deal with secondary effects of emergency events, such as a loss of power, decline in water quality, or a communication system shutdown. PWP’s emergency planning procedures are designed to maintain safe water supplies to meet basic customer needs and reduce the impacts of any catastrophic supply interruptions to the greatest extent possible.
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PWP maintains relationships with large users within its service area, known as Key Accounts. This includes colleges, schools, parks, hotels, golf courses, and City departments. During emergencies, PWP may request large users to reduce or stop water use which can quickly reduce water demands during an emergency.
The City also operates an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that can be activated quickly by the Disaster Emergency Services Director (often the City Manager). Life- saving and emergency resources are available through the EOC. In addition, departments such as PWP, also activates a Department Operations Center (DOC) to communicate and coordinate between the EOC and staff on the ground addressing emergencies.
Table 4-3 summarizes potential emergency response actions if a catastrophic event were to impact PWP’s ability to deliver water.
Table 4-3: Potential Response Actions for Catastrophic Events Type of
Catastrophe Response Actions
Extreme
Drought
1. City Council enacts up to Level 4 water supply shortage water conservation measures.
2. Determination by Council if additional water conservation measures are needed to achieve necessary reductions in demand.
Earthquake
1. If power is lost use alternative means of inter-PWP communications.
2. If power is lost restore localized power to critical facilities (pumps, boosters, and water treatment facilities) with emergency generators.
3. Inspect reservoirs, boosters, pumps, and wells for structural damage.
4. Enact Boil Water, Do Not Drink, or Do Not Use orders based on water quality testing, if necessary.
5. Implement customer communication & outreach protocols for catastrophic events.
6. City Council enacts up to Level 4 water supply shortage water conservation measures.
7. Determination by City Council if additional water conservation measures are needed to achieve necessary reductions in demand.
8. Check with neighboring agencies if supplies are available using emergency interconnections.
9. Establish and maintain communications with MWD.
Region-Wide
Power Outage
1. Use alternative means of inter-PWP communications.
2. Restore localized power to critical facilities (pumps, boosters, and water treatment facilities) through the PWP’s Power Division and/or with emergency generators.
3. Enact Boil Water, Do Not Drink, or Do Not Use orders based on water quality testing, if necessary.
4. Implement customer communication & outreach protocols for catastrophic events.
5. City Council enacts up to Level 4 water supply shortage water conservation measures.
6. Determination by City Council if additional water conservation measures are needed to achieve necessary reductions in demand.
7. Check with neighboring agencies if supplies are available using emergency interconnections.
8. Establish and maintain communications with MWD.
Water 1. Enact Boil Water, Do Not Drink, or Do Not Use orders based on water quality testing, if necessary.
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Type of
Catastrophe Response Actions
Contamination 2. Implement customer communication & outreach protocols for catastrophic events.
3. Consider increasing disinfection of water.
4. Check with neighboring agencies if uncontaminated supplies are available using emergency interconnections.
5. Establish and maintain communications with MWD.
Loss of
Imported Water
1. City Council enacts up to Level 4 water supply shortage water conservation measures.
2. Determination by City Council if additional water conservation measures are needed to achieve necessary reductions in demand.
3. Check with neighboring agencies if supplies are available using emergency interconnections.
4. Establish and maintain communications with MWD.
America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 Section 2013(b) requires community water systems serving populations greater than 3,300 to develop or update an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) that incorporates findings of their risk and resilience assessment. In 2025, PWP updated and submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) both plans.
PWP completed a seismic vulnerability assessment in 2006 and has been implementing recommended projects since then. In 2020 and 2025 PWP re-evaluated the seismic vulnerability of the water system in several planning documents. Additionally, the 2025 City of Pasadena Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) includes a risk assessment of seismic hazards and related mitigation strategies. A copy of the City’s LHMP is included in Appendix B. 160
Section 5 Communication Protocols
PWP will inform customers, the public and other relevant stakeholders regarding any current or predicted water shortages, associated shortage response actions, and other relevant communications using the following outreach methods:
• PWP Website and Social Media, along with City of Pasadena Website and Social Media • Press Releases
• Advertising and Public Radio
• Citywide Direct Mailer
• News Articles Through City/PWP Publications
• Direct Outreach to City Departments, Field Reps, Large Customers, and Community Groups
• PWP Customer Service Team (626-744-4005)
• City of Pasadena Citizen Service Center (626-744-7311) • PWP Water Emergency Line (626-744-4138)
During the event of a water shortage emergency, PWP will declare the event using the above methods and coordinate with City of Pasadena and County of Los Angeles officials for the proclamation thereof.
DWR will be informed on PWP’s water shortage projection as part of the Annual Assessment submittal. Other local and/or regional agencies, such as neighboring retail water agencies and MWD will be informed directly, to alert them of the potential need for assistance and/or otherwise make them aware of the anticipated water conditions, as needed. 161
Section 6 Compliance and Enforcement
Violations of the water conservation requirements during normal water and shortage conditions range from a written notice to monetary penalties and are summarized in Table 6-1. Violations and penalties are described in Pasadena Municipal Code starting in Section 13.10.065 (see Appendix A).
Table 6-1: Penalties for Violating Water Use Prohibitions Number of Violations in a
12-Month Period
Penalty
All Residential customers and
meters less than 1 ½ - inch
Non-Residential meters 1
½ inch or larger
1 Written notice Written notice
2 $100 $200
3 $200 $400
4 $350 $700
5 and subsequent violations $500 $1,000
Monetary penalties are collected by adding the fine to a customer’s bill and are payable at the same time and in the same manner as such bill or by any other method of collection and payment established by PWP. After receiving notice of an alleged violation, customers have the right to a hearing by the PWP General Manager, or his or her designee.
As an alternative to paying a fine, a customer, with the concurrence of the PWP General Manager, may waive the right to a hearing and elect one of the following options:
1. Complete a water efficiency training class offered by PWP
2. Complete all recommendations presented in a landscape audit
3. Retrofit inefficient fixtures or irrigation systems; and/or
4. Complete other water savings programs PWP may establish for the customer in a timely fashion.
A timetable shall be established for completing the selected option jointly by the customer and PWP. If a customer fails to complete the option to the satisfaction of PWP or within the given timeframe, then the customer must pay the monetary penalty. A customer may not select the same option more than once in a twelve-month period.
If necessary to achieve compliance with the water prohibitions, the City’s water waste ordinance allows PWP to install flow restrictors of one gallon per minute for services up to one-inch meters, and comparably sized restrictors for larger meters with a minimum 48- hours advance notice. A customer is responsible for the cost of installation and removal of any water flow restrictors with payment due prior to removal of the restrictor. Service may be discontinued for continuing or willful violations of the ordinance, in addition to any penalties and/or the installation of a water flow restrictor.
The ordinance al so allows the General Manager of PWP to request water conservation plans and quarterly follow-up reports from commercial and industrial water users using 162
25,000 billing units or more per year. Plans must include recommendations for conserving water and progress to date in implementing water savings.
The implementation of each stage of action is triggered by a City Council vote. In the event of a water shortage, PWP recommends that the City Council make a determination that a water shortage exists and the appropriate stage for implementation, corresponding to the degree of the shortage given projected supplies and demands. Prior to implementation of a water shortage level, a public hearing is held by the City Council to determine 1) whether a water shortage exists, 2) the necessary water conservation target needed to address the shortage, and 3) the appropriate stage to implement to address the shortage. Implementation of a WSCP stage occurs immediately upon publication of the City Council’s decision.
During the water shortage, the City Council may discontinue stages or implement any other stage, as necessary. After the City Council determines a water shortage is no longer in effect, the water shortage stage in effect is terminated. The percent supply reduction as presented in Table 3-1 is an estimation of the water supply reduction that would trigger City Council to implement each stage of action. Implementing the WSCP based on a City Council decision, rather than a predefined water shortage percentage, gives PWP greater flexibility to adaptively implement water shortage stages and the associated response.
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Section 7 Financial Consequences of a WSCP
The Act requires an analysis of impacts on a water supplier's revenues and expenditures associated with implementation of WSCP, as well as anticipated mitigation actions needed to address financial impacts.
Implementation of the WSCP may result in financial consequences, including reductions in revenue, as well as increased expenses associated with implementing the water shortage response actions described herein. Increased expenses related to implementing water shortage response actions may result from activities such as hiring additional staff; increased staff costs for tracking, reporting, and enforcement; purchasing emergency short-term supplies at higher costs than normal supplies; and/or increased public information costs. PWP anticipates reduced revenues during a drought emergency as a result of a decrease in water sales.
The City has in place a mitigation action to address revenue reductions and expense increases associated with activated shortage response actions. The City water service charges and rates include fixed charges and variable charges. The charges for all water delivered shall be subject to an adjustment to reflect changes in revenue requirements during a declared drought by either City Council or the Governor of the State of California. If the City Council declares drought levels, PWP’s General Manager has the option to add the drought rate percentage to the variable charge. The adjustment shall be the product of a percentage multiplied by the variable charges in this ordinance; more information can be found in Chapter 13.20.030 of the City of Pasadena’s Municipal Code. Table 7-1 shows the drought rate percentages that may be implemented, according to water supply shortage level and billing tier.
Table 7-1: Drought Rate Percentages1
Water Shortage Level
Standard City Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
1 1 0% 11% 17%
2 2 0% 29% 51%
3 10% 52% 77%
4 3 35% 89% 127%
5 4 58% 152% 175%
6 125% 178% 225%
Note:
1Increases shown as a percentage to the variable rate
Cost of Compliance with Excessive Water Use Prohibition:
Water Code requires retail suppliers to report on the cost of compliance with implementing Water Code Section 366, which requires that retail suppliers prohibit excessive water use from individually- metered or submetered residential customers through either rate structures or excessive water use ordinances. PWP already has both a rate structure based on volumetric use and has a water waste ordinance. In addition, PWP complies with the state’s mandates to:
• Report monthly water conservation and production reports 164
• Validated water loss audit reports, annual water supply and demand assessments
• Electronic annual reports on water quality and system capacity. • Consumer Confidence Report
• Water Diversion Reporting
PWPs data collection, infrastructure, and staffing already handle extensive reporting and it is unlikely that the cost of compliance with implementing Water Code Section 366 could be separated from the costs of general water resources reporting typically performed by PWP.
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Section 8 WSCP Monitoring and Refinement Procedures
In order to monitor customer compliance and verify that demand reduction goals are being met, PWP will regularly review customer consumption data. PWP monitors customer compliance with the Water Shortage Level by tracking customer water use, using the WaterSmart Software, which identifies customer’s usage and percent reduction and increase over previous months. During a state declared drought emergency, PWP deploys its water waste patrol to enforce the watering restrictions in shifts over a 24-hour period. Staff documents all water waste and issues notifications and may issue fines to those violating the ordinance, as described in previous sections.
PWP collects weekly data on water production and provides monthly monitoring reports to the State Water Resources Control Board, which identifies the water shortage level, population, total potable water production, residential use percentage, commercial-industrial-institutional water use and estimated residential gallons per capita per day. PWP tracks all water production by fiscal year, and percentage reduction versus prior baseline years.
WSCP refinement procedures are used to ensure shortage risk tolerance is adequate and appropriate water shortage mitigation tactics are implemented when required.
PWP plans to update and refine the WSCP at least every five years in conjunction with the UWMP updates, unless a shorter time frame is deemed appropriate. Tracking will be implemented with each future WSCP to evaluate the effectiveness of the water shortage response actions on demand levels. The evaluation will document programmatic shortage responses and compare the expected percent demand reductions against actual reductions.
Shortage response actions in the WSCP will be revised based on results of the evaluation. The success of customer outreach and communications will also be assessed to inform the next WSCP revision. The WSCP development follows the following steps:
1. Implementation
2. Monitoring
3. Performance Indicators
4. Assessment and Evaluation
5. Process to Refine and Improve the Plan
6. Adoption by City Council
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Section 9 Plan Adoption and Availability
Prior to adopting the WSCP, PWP must make the WSCP available for public inspection and shall hold a public hearing, upon which the WSCP can be adopted. While the WSCP must be included as part of the UWMP when the UWMP is submitted to DWR the WSCP may be amended independently of the UWMP, as needed. Any amendments shall be adopted pursuant to Water Code Article 3 Sections 10640 -10645.
This WSCP was adopted by the Pasadena City Council on June 8, 2026. A copy of the Resolution is provided in Appendix C. The WSCP will be made available for public review per the requirements of the Water Code, no later than 30 days after adoption. 167
References
Kennedy Jenks Consultants. 2026. 2025 Urban Water Management Plan Update. Prepared for Pasadena Department of Water and Power.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). 2026. Public Review Draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan. February.
Pasadena, City of. 2017. Code of Ordinances. Chapter 13.10 – Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans. Available at:
https://library.municode.com/ca/pasadena/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT13UT SE_CH13.10WAWAPRWASUSHPL#TOPTITLE
Pasadena, City of. 2025. 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. Available at:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/Local-Hazard- Mitigation-Plan.pdf
Pasadena, City of. 2025. Risk and Resilience Assessment for Pasadena Water and Power.
Pasadena, City of. 2025. Emergency Response Plan.
2020. Water System and Resources Plan. Prepared for City of Pasadena, Water and Power.
December. Available at: https://pwp.cityofpasadena.net/wp- content/uploads/2021/09/WSRP-Final-Report-Dec-2020-Rev-9.21.21.pdf
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Appendix A: Pasadena Municipal Code Title 13, Chapter 13.10 169
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Chapter 13.10 - WATER WASTE PROHIBITIONS AND WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGE PLANS Sections:
13.10.010 - Short title.
This chapter shall be known as the city of Pasadena Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans.
(Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 2, 6-1-2009)
13.10.015 - Policy and purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a water conservation and supply shortage program that will reduce water consumption within the city of Pasadena and its service territory through conservation, enable effective water supply planning, assure reasonable and beneficial use of water, prevent waste of water, and maximize the efficient use of water within the city of Pasadena and its service territory to avoid and minimize the effect and hardship of water shortage to the greatest possible extent.
This chapter establishes permanent water waste and conservation standards intended to alter behavior related to water use efficiency at all times and further establishes four levels of water supply shortage response actions to be implemented during times of declared water shortage or declared water shortage emergency, with increasing restrictions on water use in response to worsening drought or emergency conditions and decreasing supplies. (Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 3, 6-1-2009)
13.10.020 - Definitions.
The following words and phrases whenever used in this chapter shall have the meanings defined in this section:
"Billing unit" means the unit of water used to apply water rates for purposes of calculating water charges for a customer's water usage and equals one hundred cubic feet (HCF) or 748 gallons.
"Customer" means any person, persons, association, corporation, or governmental agency supplied and billed for water service by the department. 11/12/25, 10:37 AM Pasadena, CA Code of Ordinances
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"Department" means the City of Pasadena Water and Power Department. "Groundwater" means any water extracted through an excavation or structure created in the ground within the City of Pasadena.
"Newly planted drought tolerant landscape" means a landscape area which has been planted or replanted with native plants with relatively low water requirements or plants that are well adapted to arid climate, within the prior six (6) months. "Person" means any individual person or persons, corporation, public or private entity, governmental agency or institution, including all agencies and departments of the City of Pasadena, or any other user of water provided by the department. "Potable water" means water that is suitable for drinking. "Recycled water" means the reclamation and reuse of non-potable water for beneficial use. "Single pass cooling systems" means equipment where water is circulated only once to cool equipment before being disposed.
"Water conservation target" means the necessary percentage reduction in the department's total water sales to eliminate or mitigate a water supply shortage. (Ord. 6425 § 1, 1991; Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 4, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 2, 3-13-2017)
13.10.025 - Authorization.
The various officers, departments, commissions, and agencies of the city are authorized and directed to implement the applicable provisions of this chapter upon the effective date hereof. (Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
13.10.030 - Application.
The provisions of this chapter apply to any person in the use of groundwater or any potable water provided by the department, except for the following water uses:
Water necessary for water system or fire suppression system testing and maintenance, or fire suppression and other similar emergency services affecting public health and safety.
Water necessary to protect public health and safety as determined in the sole discretion of the department.
Any use of recycled water.
The use of water by commercial nurseries and commercial growers to sustain plants, trees, shrubs, crops or other vegetation intended for commercial use. (Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
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(Ord. No. 7165, § 5, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 3, 3-13-2017)
13.10.032 - Permanent water conservation requirements.
The following water conservation requirements are effective at all times and are permanent. Violations of this section constitute waste and an unreasonable use of water.
Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is limited to 3 days per week year round, on a schedule to be determined by the department general manager, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system.
Limits on Watering Hours: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is prohibited between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on any day, except by use of a hand- held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device, or for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system.
No Watering During Periods of Rain: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area during and within 48 hours after periods of rain is prohibited.
No Water Flow or Runoff: Watering or irrigating any lawn, landscape or other vegetated areas in a manner that causes or allows runoff such that water flows onto adjacent property, non- irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots or structures is prohibited.
No Watering Turf on Public Street Medians: Watering ornamental turf on public street medians with potable water is prohibited.
No Washing Down Hard or Paved Surfaces: Washing down hard or paved surfaces, including, but not limited to, sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking areas, tennis courts, patios or alleys, is prohibited except as follows: (i) where necessary to alleviate safety or sanitary hazards and then only by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device; or (ii) when using a low-volume high-pressure cleaning machine equipped to recycle any water used, or a low-volume high-pressure water broom.
Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: Loss or escape of water through breaks, leaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system for any period of time after such escape of water should have reasonably been discovered and corrected and in no event more than 7 days of receiving notice from the Department is prohibited. 11/12/25, 10:37 AM Pasadena, CA Code of Ordinances
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Recirculating Water Required for Water Fountains and Decorative Water Features: Operating a water fountain or other decorative water feature that does not use re-circulated water is prohibited.
Limits on Washing Vehicles: Using water to wash a vehicle, including, but not limited to, any automobile, truck, van, bus, motorcycle, boat or trailer, whether motorized or not, is prohibited, except by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container or a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device. This subsection does not apply to any commercial car washing facility.
Drinking Water Served Upon Request Only: Eating or drinking establishments, including but not limited to a restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria, bar or other public place where food and drinks are sold, served or offered for sale, are prohibited from providing drinking water to any person unless expressly requested by the patrons.
Restaurants Required to Use Water Conserving Dish Wash Spray Valves: Food preparation establishments, such as restaurants, cafes and cafeterias, are prohibited from using non- water conserving dish wash spray valves.
Commercial Lodging Establishments Shall Provide Guests Option to Decline Daily Linen Services: Hotels, motels and other commercial lodging establishments must provide customers the option of not having towels and linens laundered daily. Commercial lodging establishments must prominently display notice of this option in each guestroom using clear and easily understood language.
No Installation of Single Pass Cooling Systems: Installation of single pass cooling systems is prohibited in buildings requesting new water service.
No Installation of Non-Recirculating Equipment in Commercial Car Wash and Laundry Systems: Installation of non-recirculating water systems is prohibited in new commercial conveyor car washes and new commercial laundry systems.
Commercial Car Wash Systems: All commercial conveyor car wash systems must have installed operational re-circulating water systems or must have secured a waiver of this requirement from the City of Pasadena.
Multifamily Properties: All master-metered multifamily properties with four or more dwelling units are required to certify (through a process determined by the department) that showerheads and aerators are retrofitted to meet current California Green Building Code standards.
(Ord. No. 7165, § 6, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 4, 3-13-2017)
13.10.035 - Water shortage plan implementation.
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The department shall monitor and evaluate the projected supply and demand for water by its customers.
In the event of a water shortage, the department shall recommend that the city council make a determination that a water shortage exists and which water shortage level as provided in this chapter permits the department to prudently plan for and supply water to its customers. Prior to implementation of a water shortage level as provided in this chapter, the city council shall hold a public hearing for the purposes of determining: (i) whether a water shortage exists; (ii) the water conservation target that is necessary; and, (iii) which level of water supply shortage provided in this chapter is appropriate to address the water shortage. Notice of the time and place of said public hearing shall be published not less than 10 days before the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the city. The city council's determination shall be made by public proclamation and shall become effective immediately upon such publication. The city council may during the period of the declared water shortage take actions to modify the water conservation target, implement a different level of water supply shortage, or order the implementation or discontinuation of any additional water conservation measures appropriate to address the water shortage by motion, and without conducting a public hearing. (Ord. 7082 § 6, 2007: Ord. 6289 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 7, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 5, 3-13-2017)
13.10.036 - Water shortage termination.
During the course of a water shortage declared pursuant to this chapter, the department shall continuously reevaluate water supply availability. When adequate supplies are available, the department shall recommend that the city council make a determination that a water shortage no longer exists. Prior to terminating a declared water shortage as provided in this chapter, the city council shall hold a public hearing for the purposes of determining whether: (i) the water shortage no longer exists; or (ii) a water shortage plan implementation shall continue. Upon a finding by the city council that a water shortage no longer exists, any water shortage level then in effect shall terminate. (Ord. No. 7298, § 6, 3-13-2017)
13.10.037 - Exemptions from watering day limitations.
The following uses of potable water, as determined by the department in its sole discretion, are exempt from the more restrictive watering day limitations set forth in Sections
13.10.040 through 13.10.052 of this
chapter (Water Supply Shortage Levels 1 through 4):
Landscape irrigation zones that exclusively use low flow drip type irrigation systems where no emitter produces more than 2 gallons of water per hour; 11/12/25, 10:37 AM Pasadena, CA Code of Ordinances
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Watering or irrigating by use of a hand-held bucket or similar container, or a hand-held hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle or device;
Watering for very short periods of time for the express purpose of adjusting or repairing an irrigation system;
Maintenance of trees as necessary to sustain their health and viability; Maintenance of vegetation, including fruit trees and shrubs, intended for consumption; Maintenance of landscape for fire protection;
Maintenance of landscape for soil erosion control;
Maintenance of plant materials identified to be rare or essential to the well-being of protected species;
Maintenance of landscape within active public parks and playing fields including playing fields on school grounds and at day care centers, provided that such irrigation is for the express purpose of maintaining the landscape in a condition required for recreation playing fields and athletic events, and does not exceed 3 days per week;
Establishment of newly planted drought tolerant landscape consisting of drought tolerant plants, shrubs, and/or native plants; and
Actively irrigated environmental mitigation projects.
(Ord. No. 7298, § 7, 3-13-2017)
13.10.040 - Level 1 water supply shortage.
A level 1 water supply shortage exists when the city council determines, in its sole discretion, that due to drought or other water supply conditions a water supply shortage or threatened shortage exists and demand reduction is necessary to make more efficient use of water and appropriately respond to existing water conditions. Upon the declaration by the city council of a level 1 water supply shortage, the department shall implement the mandatory level 1 conservation measures identified in this section.
Water Conservation Measures: The following water conservation requirements apply during a declared level 1 water supply shortage:
Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is limited to 3 days per week from April 1 through October 31, and no more than 1 day per week from November 1 through March 31, on a schedule established and posted by the department. This subsection does not apply to categories of use determined to be exempt under Section
13.10.037 of this chapter.
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Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: All leaks, breaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system shall be repaired within 72 hours of notification by the department unless other arrangements are made with the department.
(Ord. 6289 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 8, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 8, 3-13-2017)
13.10.045 - Level 2 water supply shortage.
A level 2 water supply shortage exists when the city council determines, in its sole discretion, that due to drought or other water supply conditions a water supply shortage or threatened shortage exists and demand reduction is necessary to make more efficient use of water and appropriately respond to existing water conditions. Upon the declaration by the city council of a level 2 water supply shortage, the department shall implement the mandatory level 2 conservation measures identified in this section.
Water Conservation Measures: The following water conservation requirements apply during a declared level 2 water supply shortage:
Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area with water is limited to 2 days per week from April 1 through October 31, and no more than 1 day per week from November 1 through March 31, on a schedule established and posted by the department. This subsection does not apply to categories of use determined to be exempt under Section
13.10.037 of this chapter.
Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: All leaks, breaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system shall be repaired within 48 hours of notification by the department unless other arrangements are made with the department.
Limits on Filling Ornamental Lakes or Ponds: Filling or re-filling ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited, except to the extent needed to sustain aquatic life, or for lakes and ponds that may be used for wildfire suppression.
(Ord. 6289 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 9, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 9, 3-13-2017)
13.10.050 - Level 3 water supply shortage.
A level 3 water supply shortage exists when the city council determines, in its sole discretion, that due to drought or other water supply conditions, a water supply shortage or threatened shortage exists and demand reduction is necessary to make more efficient use of water and appropriately 11/12/25, 10:37 AM Pasadena, CA Code of Ordinances
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respond to existing water conditions. Upon the declaration by the city council of a level 3 water supply shortage, the department shall implement the mandatory level 3 conservation measures identified in this section.
Water Conservation Measures: The following water conservation requirements apply during a declared level 3 water supply shortage:
Limits on Watering Days: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is limited to 1 day per week, according to a schedule established and posted by the department.
This subsection does not apply to categories of use determined to be exempt under Section
13.10.037 of this chapter.
Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: All leaks, breaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system shall be repaired within 36 hours of notification by the department, unless other arrangements are made with the department.
Limits on Filing Ornamental Lakes or Ponds: Filling or re-filling ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited, except to the extent needed to sustain aquatic life, or for lakes and ponds that may be used for wildfire suppression.
(Ord. 6425 § 2, 1991; Ord. 6289 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 10, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 10, 3-13-2017)
13.10.052 - Level 4 water supply shortage — Emergency condition.
A level 4 water supply shortage condition is also referred to as an "emergency" condition. A level 4 condition exists when the city council declares a level 4 water supply shortage. Upon the declaration by the city council of a level 4 water supply shortage, the department will implement the mandatory level 4 conservation measures identified in this section.
Water Conservation Measures: The following water conservation requirements apply during a declared level 4 water supply shortage:
No Watering or Irrigating: Watering or irrigating of lawn, landscape or other vegetated area is prohibited. This restriction does not apply to categories of use determined to be exempt under Section
13.10.037 of this chapter.
Obligation to Fix Leaks, Breaks or Malfunctions: All leaks, breaks or other malfunctions in the water user's plumbing or distribution system shall be repaired within 24 hours of notification by the department, unless other arrangements are made with the department.
Limits on Filling Ornamental Lakes or Ponds: Filling or re-filling ornamental lakes or ponds is prohibited, except to the extent needed to sustain aquatics life, or for lakes and ponds that may be used for wildfire suppression.
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Limits on Filling Single Family Residential Swimming Pools and Spas: Refilling of more than 1 foot and initial filling of single family residential swimming pools or outdoor spas is prohibited.
No New Potable Water Service: Upon declaration of a level 4 water supply shortage, no new potable water service will be provided, no new temporary meters or permanent meters will be provided, and no statements of immediate ability to service or provide potable water service will be issued, except under the following circumstances:
A valid, unexpired building permit has been issued for the project; or The project is necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare; or The applicant provides substantial evidence of an enforceable commitment that water demands for the project will be offset prior to the provision of a new water meter(s) to the satisfaction of the department.
This subsection does not preclude the resetting or turn-on of meters to provide continuation of water service or the restoration of service that has been interrupted for a period of 1 year or less. (Ord. No. 7165, § 11, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 11, 3-13-2017)
13.10.055 - Reserved.
Editor's note— Ord. No. 7165, § 12, adopted June 1, 2009, repealed § 13.10.055. Former § 13.10.055 pertained to exception and derived from Ord. No. 6275, § 1 (part), adopted in 1988.
13.10.060 - Additional water shortage measures.
The city council may order implementation of other water conservation measures additional to those set forth in this chapter. Such additional water shortage measures shall be implemented in the manner provided in section
13.10.035.
(Ord. 6289 § 2 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 13, 6-1-2009)
13.10.065 - Violations and penalties: Residential customers and all other customers with water meters less than 1- ½ inch.
Violation: A customer shall be responsible for all uses of water served by the customer's water meter. Violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be the responsibility of the customer.
Penalties: Monetary penalties imposed under this section shall be collected by adding the same to the customer's water bill and shall be payable at the same time and in the same manner as such bills or by such other method of collection and payment as established by the department. 11/12/25, 10:37 AM Pasadena, CA Code of Ordinances
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3. 4.
Penalties for failure to comply are as follows:
First Violation: The department will issue a written notice of violation. Said notice shall contain, in addition to the facts of the violation, a statement of the possible penalties for each violation and a statement informing the customer of his right to a hearing on the merits of the alleged violation. Notice of violation shall be sent through regular mail to the address at which the customer is billed by the department.
Second Violation: A second violation within the preceding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $100.00.
Third Violation: A third violation within the preceding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $200.00.
Fourth Violation: A fourth violation within the precluding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $350.00.
Fifth and Subsequent Violations: A fifth and any subsequent violation is punishable by a fine of $500.00.
(Ord. 6425 § 3, 1991: Ord. 6289 § 2 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 14, 6-1-2009)
13.10.067 - Violations and penalties: Non-residential customers with water meters 1-½ inch or larger.
Violation: A customer shall be responsible for all uses of water served by the customer's water meter. Violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be the responsibility of the customer.
Penalties: Monetary penalties imposed under this section shall be collected by adding the same to the customer's water bill and shall be payable at the same time and in the same manner as such bills or by such other method of collection and payment as established by the department.
Penalties for failure to comply are as follows:
First Violation: The department will issue a written notice of violation. Said notice shall contain, in addition to the facts of the violation, a statement of the possible penalties for each violation and a statement informing the customer of his right to a hearing on the merits of the alleged violation. Notice of violation shall be sent through regular mail to the address at which the customer is billed by the department.
Second Violation: A second violation within the preceding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $200.00.
Third Violation: A third violation within the preceding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $400.00.
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5. Fourth Violation: A fourth violation within the preceding 12 calendar months is punishable by a fine of $700.00.
Fifth and Subsequent Violations: A fifth and any subsequent violation is punishable by a fine of $1,000.00.
(Ord. No. 7165, § 15, 6-1-2009)
13.10.070 - Reserved.
Editor's note— Ord. No. 7165, § 16, adopted June 1, 2009, repealed § 13.10.070. Former § 13.10.070 pertained to notices of violation and derived from Ord. No. 6275, § 1 (part), adopted in 1988; and Ord. No. 6289, § 2 (part), adopted in 1988.
13.10.075 - Right to hearing—Stay.
Any customer receiving a notice of violation with a monetary fine, potential flow restrictor or service disconnection shall have a right to a hearing by the general manager of the department, or his or her designee, on the merits of the alleged violation upon that customer's written request to the department.
Customer's written request for a hearing must be received by the department within 10 days of the date of notification of the violation or customer's right to a hearing shall be deemed waived. The customer shall be deemed notified of a violation upon the personal delivery of the notice to customer or, if personal delivery is not given, the date on which the notice is placed in the regular mail. The customer's timely written request for a hearing shall automatically stay the imposition of penalty until the general manager of the department, or his or her designee, renders a decision. No other or further stay shall be granted by the department. The department may issue regulations to govern the contents of the request for hearing and the manner in which such hearings may be conducted.
A customer may, with the concurrence of the general manager, waive the right to hearing and elect one of the following options in lieu of the imposition of a penalty: (i) complete a water efficiency training class offered by the department; (ii) complete all recommendations presented in a landscape audit; (iii) retrofit inefficient fixtures or irrigation systems; and/or (iv) timely complete such other water savings program as the department may establish for the customer. The customer and the department shall establish a timetable for completion of the selected option. In event the customer fails to satisfactorily and completely perform the option within the established timetable, the department shall impose the penalty. A customer shall not be eligible to elect the same option more than once within a 12-month period. (Ord. 6289 § 2 (part), 1988: Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988) (Ord. No. 7165, § 17, 6-1-2009; Ord. No. 7298, § 12, 3-13-2017)
13.10.080 - Reservation of rights.
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A.
B.
C.
The rights of the department hereunder shall be cumulative to any other right of the department to discontinue service. All monies collected pursuant to the penalty provisions of this chapter shall be deposited in the water fund.
(Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 18, 6-1-2009)
13.10.085 - Reserved.
Editor's note— Ord. No. 7165, § 19, adopted June 1, 2009, repealed § 13.10.085. Former § 13.10.085 pertained to application for relief and derived from Ord. No. 6275, § 1 (part), adopted in 1988; and Ord. No. 6289, § 3, adopted in 1988.
13.10.090 - Willful misrepresentation.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in addition thereto, and not in lieu thereof, any willful misrepresentation of a material fact by any person to the department, made for the purpose of securing relief from the provisions of this chapter for any customer, is unlawful. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding the sum of $500, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed 6 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
13.10.095 - Flow restrictors and disconnecting service.
Water Flow Restrictor: Where necessary to achieve compliance, the department may install a water flow restrictor device of approximately 1 gallon per minute capacity for services up to 1½- inch meter size and comparably sized restrictors for larger services. The department will provide the customer with written notice of intent to install a flow restrictor a minimum of 48 hours in advance of installation.
The customer shall be responsible for payment of the department's charges for installing and removing any flow restrictor device and for disconnection and reconnecting service. The charge for installing or removing any flow restrictor device must be paid to the department before the device is removed. Nonpayment will be subject to the same remedies as nonpayment of basic water service billing.
Discontinuing Service: In addition to any penalties and/or the installation of a water flow restrictor, the department may disconnect a customer's water service for continuing or willful violations of this chapter.
(Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
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(Ord. No. 7165, § 20, 6-1-2009)
13.10.100 - Customer water conservation reports.
At the written request of the general manager of the department, all commercial and industrial customers using 25,000 billing units per year or more shall submit a water conservation plan to the department on a form and with a content approved by the department. These users shall thereafter submit quarterly reports to the department on the progress of their conservation plans. The conservation plan must include recommendations for increased water savings and the reports must include progress to date on implementation of such recommendations.
(Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
(Ord. No. 7165, § 21, 6-1-2009)
13.10.105 - Public nuisance.
In addition to the penalties provided in this chapter, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be, by the city, summarily abated as such, and each day such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate offense.
(Ord. 6275 § 1 (part), 1988)
13.10.110 - Severability.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase in this chapter is for any reason held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the chapter will not be affected. The city council hereby declares it would have passed this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases or is declared invalid. (Ord. No. 7165, § 22, 6-1-2009)
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Appendix B: City of Pasadena Local Hazard Mitigation Plan 183
LOCAL HAZARD
MITIGATION PLAN
2025 Update Final
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CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
3 RECORD OF REVIEWS AND REVISIONS
Revision # Date Revisions Made Entered By
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5 PLAN DISTRIBUTION
Date Plan Version
Method of Distribution (Email,
Post on Server, Provide Hard
Copy, etc.)
Distributed To (Name and
Department/Organization
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6 TABLE OF CONTENTS
RECORD OF REVIEWS AND REVISIONS .................................................................... 3 PLAN DISTRIBUTION .................................................................................................... 5 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 10
1.1 Hazard Mitigation Planning .................................................................................. 10
1.2 Local Mitigation Planning Requirements ............................................................... 11
1.3 Hazard Mitigation Plan Description ....................................................................... 11
1.4 Grant Programs with Mitigation Plan Requirements ............................................ 14
1.4.1 Stafford Act Grant Programs ......................................................................... 14
1.5.2 National Flood Insurance Act Grant Programs .............................................. 14 SECTION 2: PLANNING PROCESS ............................................................................ 16
2.1 Plan History ......................................................................................................... 16
2.2 Plan Purpose and Authority .................................................................................. 16
2.3 Planning Process Description .............................................................................. 17
2.4 Planning Team ..................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1 Planning Team Activities ................................................................................ 19
2.4.2 Other Jurisdictions Agency/Organizational Participation ................................ 20
2.5 Community Engagement ..................................................................................... 21
2.6 Incorporation into Other Planning Mechanisms ................................................... 23
2.7 Review of Existing Plans, Reports, Technical Documents, and Data ................... 25 SECTION 3: PLANNING AREA DESCRIPTION .......................................................... 29
3.1 Location and Description ..................................................................................... 29
3.2 Geology ............................................................................................................... 30
3.3 Climate................................................................................................................. 31
3.4 History.................................................................................................................. 31
3.5 Government ......................................................................................................... 31 189
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7 3.6 Economy .............................................................................................................. 32
3.7 Demographics ...................................................................................................... 32
3.8 Land Use ............................................................................................................. 33
3.9 Changes in Development..................................................................................... 34 SECTION 4: HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT ........................ 36
4.1 Hazard Analysis ................................................................................................... 36
4.2 Disaster Proclamation History and Process ......................................................... 36
4.3 Hazard Identification ............................................................................................ 38
4.4 Hazard Risk Rating .............................................................................................. 54
4.5 Hazard Profiles .................................................................................................... 59
4.5.1 Climate Change ............................................................................................. 59
4.5.2 Dam Failure ................................................................................................... 69
4.5.3 Drought.......................................................................................................... 78
4.5.4 Earthquake/Geological Hazards .................................................................... 86
4.5.5 Extreme Weather (Sever Wind, Extreme Heat, Winter Storm) ...................... 96
4.5.6 Flooding....................................................................................................... 103
4.5.7 Public Health Incidents: Pandemics, Epidemics/Infectious Diseases ........... 112
4.5.8 Fire ............................................................................................................... 117
4.5.9 Human-Caused Hazards ............................................................................. 122
4.6 Capability Assessment ....................................................................................... 138
4.7 Existing Authorities, Policies, Programs, and Resources ................................... 138
4.7.1 Planning and Regulatory Capabilities .......................................................... 138
4.7.2 Administrative and Technical Capabilities .................................................... 143
4.7.3 Financial Capabilities .................................................................................. 155
4.7.4 Education and Outreach Capabilities .......................................................... 157
4.8 National Flood Insurance Program Participation ................................................ 159 190
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8 SECTION 5: RISK ASSESSMENT ............................................................................. 160
5.1 Critical Facilities and Facilities of Concern......................................................... 160
5.2 Vulnerable Populations ...................................................................................... 164
5.3 Identification of Critical Facilities and Assets ..................................................... 168
5.4 Other Assets ...................................................................................................... 168
5.5 Risk Assessment and Potential Loss ................................................................. 168
5.6 Analysis of Potential Losses by Hazard ............................................................. 169 Dam Failure .......................................................................................................... 169 Drought ................................................................................................................ 172 Earthquake ........................................................................................................... 173 Extreme Weather (Severe Winds, Extreme Heat, Severe Rainstorms) ................ 177 Flooding ............................................................................................................... 181 Public Health Incidents: Pandemics, Epidemics ................................................... 185 Fire ....................................................................................................................... 185 Human-Caused Hazards ...................................................................................... 190 SECTION 6: MITIGATION STRATEGY ...................................................................... 195
6.1 Hazard Mitigation Statement .............................................................................. 195
6.2 Hazard Mitigation Goals and Objectives ............................................................ 195
6.3 Mitigation Actions/Projects and Implementation Strategy .................................. 196
6.4 Previous Mitigation Actions/Projects Assessment .............................................. 197
6.4.1 New Mitigation Actions ................................................................................ 203
6.4.2 Mitigation Action Plan .................................................................................. 204 SECTION 7: PLAN MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES ............................................... 222
7.1 Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................. 222
7.2 Plan Update ....................................................................................................... 224
7.3 Continued Public Involvement ........................................................................... 224 191
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9 APPENDIX A – LOCAL MITIGATION PLAN REVIEW TOOL .................................... 227 APPENDIX B – PLANNING TEAM MEETING DOCUMENTATION ........................... 228 APPENDIX C – PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT DOCUMENTATION .................................. 247 APPENDIX D – ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................... 279 192
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
10 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
The City of Pasadena (City) has prepared the 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) to assess the natural and human-caused risks to the City and to reduce the potential impact of these hazards by creating mitigation strategies. The 2025 LHMP represents the City’s commitment to create a safer and more resilient community by taking actions to reduce risk and by committing resources to lessen the effects of hazards on the residents and property of the City.
This plan complies with the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act (2000), Federal Register 44 CFR Parts 201 and 206, which modified the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act by adding a new section, 322 - Mitigation Planning. As of November 1, 2004, this law requires local governments to develop and submit hazard mitigation plans as a condition of receiving Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and other mitigation project grants. The City Fire Department has coordinated the preparation of the LHMP in cooperation with the City departments, community stakeholders, partner agencies, and members of the public.
This introduction to the LHMP provides a brief description of hazard mitigation planning, local mitigation plan requirements, and an outline of the 2025 LHMP. There is also an overview of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs and grants related to hazard mitigation.
1.1 Hazard Mitigation Planning
Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. In general, hazard mitigation is done to minimize the impact of a hazard event before it occurs, intending to reduce losses from future disasters. 44 CFR § 201.1(b) states that the purpose of mitigation planning is for local governments to identify the hazards that impact them, to identify actions and activities to reduce losses from those hazards, and to establish a coordinated process to implement the plan, taking advantage of a wide range of resources.
For the City, hazard mitigation planning is a process in which the City will:
• Identify and profile hazards that affect the City
• Analyze the City facilities and infrastructure at risk from those hazards • Develop a mitigation strategy and actions to lessen or reduce the impact of the hazards profiled
• Implement the strategy and actions that may involve planning, policy changes, programs, projects, and other activities
The City’s implementation of mitigation actions, which include short-term or long-term strategies, is the planning process's primary objective. This type of planning will supplement the City’s comprehensive planning and emergency management programs. 193
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11 1.2 Local Mitigation Planning Requirements
Hazard mitigation planning is governed by the Stafford Act, as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), and by federal regulations implementing the Stafford Act. DMA 2000 revised the Stafford Act to require state, local, and tribal governments to develop and submit to FEMA a mitigation plan that outlines processes for identifying the natural hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities of the jurisdiction. Plan approval by FEMA is a prerequisite to receiving federal hazard mitigation grant funds.
To implement the mitigation planning requirements of the Stafford Act, FEMA promulgated 44 CFR Part 201, the federal regulations governing the planning process, plan content, and the process for obtaining approval of the plan from FEMA. The planning requirements set forth in the CFR are identified throughout this plan mirroring the order of the FEMA Regulation Checklist in the Local Mitigation Planning Handbook.
Federal law and the State of California’s requirements for hazard mitigation plans require coverage of only natural hazards. The City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan (2018) includes technological and human- caused hazards as well as natural hazards. The planning team decided to cover both natural and technological/human-caused hazards for the LHMP, including a description and analysis of each hazard.
FEMA has produced a Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, which has been tailored by Region IX as an appendix to the Local Mitigation Planning Handbook (2023), to demonstrate how the mitigation plan meets the regulation in 44 CFR § 201.6 and offers State and FEMA Mitigation Planners an opportunity to provide feedback to the jurisdiction. The Plan Review Tool has a regulation checklist that provides a summary of FEMA’s evaluation of whether the plan has addressed all requirements.
Local planners can also use the checklist prior to submitting the plan for approval to ensure they have addressed all the requirements. The Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool Regulation Checklist is provided in Appendix A of this document.
1.3 Hazard Mitigation Plan Description
The 2025 LHMP consists of the sections and appendices described below:
Table 1-1: Plan Sections, Appendices, and Descriptions
Section Description
Section 1: Introduction
Section 1 includes an introduction to hazard mitigation planning, lists the LHMP planning requirements, provides a description of the plan, and discusses grants related to hazard mitigation. 194
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12 Section Description
Section 2: Hazard
Mitigation Planning
Organization and
Process
Section 2 describes the planning process for the 2025 LHMP, including an overview of how the LHMP was prepared,
identification of the LHMP planning team, involvement of outside agencies and communities, the inclusion of related plans, reports, and information, and stakeholder and public outreach activities.
Section 3: Planning
Area Description
Section 3 includes a description of the natural and built states of the City, including climate, geography, demographics, land use, and economic conditions.
Section 4: Risk
Assessment
Section 4 provides a list of the hazards identified in the 2025 LHMP, a profile of each hazard and hazard summary, and a risk assessment of the planning area. Additionally, identifies and evaluates the resources available for hazard mitigation within the City.
Section 5: Mitigation
Strategy
Section 5 identifies and evaluates the current, ongoing, and completed mitigation projects and programs in the City and lists mitigation strategies for reducing potential losses.
Section 6: Plan
Implementation and
Maintenance
Section 6 describes procedures for updating the LHMP to keep it current and for continued public engagement in the planning process.
Section 7: Plan
Approval and Adoption
Section 7 includes documentation of California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) processes and adoption of the
LHMP by the City Council
Appendix A
Appendix A contains the FEMA Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, which documents the City’s compliance with the local hazard mitigation plan requirements of 44 CFR Part 201.
Appendix B
Appendix B contains documentation of the planning process for the planning team, including invitations, attendee lists, meetings minutes, presentations, emails, etc.
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13 Section Description
Appendix C
Appendix C contains documentation of the planning process, including surveys, social media outreach and opportunity for comment for the stakeholders and public, and other
stakeholder/public outreach efforts.
Appendix D Appendix D lists acronyms and abbreviations used in the 2025 LHMP.
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14 1.4 Grant Programs with Mitigation Plan Requirements Currently, three (3) FEMA grant programs provide funding to local entities that have a FEMA-approved local mitigation plan meeting federal hazard mitigation plan requirements. Two (2) of the grant programs are authorized under the Stafford Act. The remaining two (2) programs are authorized under the National Flood Insurance Act.
1.4.1 Stafford Act Grant Programs
FEMA funding is provided to state, local, and tribal governments that have an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan through the following programs.
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
The HMGP provides grants to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after declaration of a major disaster. The purpose of the HMGP is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster. To qualify for HMGP funding, projects must provide a long-term solution to a problem, and the project’s potential savings must exceed the cost of implementing the project.
HMGP funds may be used to protect either public or private property or to purchase property that has been subjected to, or is in danger of, repetitive damage. The amount of funding available for the HMGP under a particular disaster declaration is limited.
Under the program, the federal government may provide a state or tribe with up to 20 percent of the total disaster grants awarded by FEMA and may provide up to 75 percent of the cost of projects approved under the program.
1.5.2 National Flood Insurance Act Grant Programs
Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program
The goal of the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Grant Program is to reduce or eliminate flood insurance claims under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
This program emphasizes mitigating repetitive loss (RL) properties. The primary source of funding for the FMA program is the National Flood Insurance Fund. Grant funding is available for planning, project, and technical assistance. Project grants are awarded to local entities to apply mitigation measures to reduce flood losses to properties insured under the NFIP. In FY 2014, FMA funding totaled $89 million. The cost-share for this grant is 75 percent federal and 25 percent nonfederal. However, a cost- share of 90 percent federal and 10 percent nonfederal is available in certain situations to mitigate severe repetitive loss (SRL) properties.
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15 Repetitive Flood Claims Program
The Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) Program provides funding to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to residential and non-residential structures insured under the NFIP. Structures considered for mitigation must have had one or more claim payments for flood damage. All RFC grants are eligible for up to 100 percent federal assistance.
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16 SECTION 2: PLANNING PROCESS
The requirements for documentation of the LHMP planning process are described below. This section summarizes the planning area’s hazard mitigation planning efforts in 2025. In addition, the section describes public and stakeholder outreach efforts as part of the LHMP planning process. The section also summarizes the review and incorporation of existing plans, studies, and reports used to develop the LHMP.
Documentation of the 2025 LHMP planning process for the Hazard Mitigation Planning Team is provided in Table 2-1, and documentation of the process for the public and stakeholders is found in Table 2-2. These appendices document the planning meetings and outreach and include meeting agendas, presentation, sign-in sheet, minutes, social media materials and other documentation used to conduct the planning process.
The planning process began with the City establishing the planning team and emailing stakeholders within the planning area to invite them to participate in the process. The City also posted a notice on its website announcing the planning process that contained a mechanism to provide input and feedback. In addition, the City identified the financial and technical resources required to update the LHMP. Once all the City’s financial and technical resources were identified, the City established the planning team and created a schedule for the process.
2.1 Plan History
The 2025 LHMP is an update of the 2018-19 Plan. It combines Human Caused hazards into one category and removes Agricultural Pests, Aircraft Crashes, Radiological Incidents, and Train Accidents. The 2025 LHMP contains many of the mitigation actions listed in the 2018-19 version as they are ongoing and still relevant.
2.2 Plan Purpose and Authority
The purpose of the Plan is to identify natural and human-caused hazards that impact the City, to assess the vulnerability and risk posed by those hazards to City-wide human and structural assets, to develop strategies for mitigation of those identified hazards, to present future maintenance procedures for the plan, and to document the planning process.
The Plan is prepared in compliance with DMA 2000 requirements and represents an updated LHMP.
The requirements for adopting this LHMP by all local governing bodies, as set forth in the Stafford Act and as amended by DMA 2000 and its implementing regulations, are 199
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17 described below. The local planning requirements are documented throughout the LHMP and in Appendix A, FEMA Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool.
The City’s 2025 Operations Budget provided funding for the development of the Plan.
Navigating Preparedness Associates was retained by the City to provide consulting services in guiding the planning process and Plan development.
2.3 Planning Process Description
In August 2025, the planning process for the 2025 LHMP began. Select staff from various departments in the City, and other stakeholders were invited to join the Hazard Mitigation Planning Team to develop the 2025 LHMP. Representatives from the County of Los Angeles, Disaster Management Area Coordinator, CalTech, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Pasadena City College were invited to the Planning Team meetings.
Documentation of participant outreach and public engagement are in Appendices B and C.
2.4 Planning Team
Members of the LHMP planning team are listed in Table 2-1 below.
Table 2-1: LHMP Planning Team
Department or Agency Member Name Key Role
City Clerk Mark Jomsky Planning Team Member
City Manager’s Office Alexander Souto Planning Team Member City Manager’s Office Henry Frometa Planning Team Member City Manager’s Office, PIO Lisa Derderian Planning Team Member City Manager’s Office Sara Goldman Planning Team Member Finance Armine Trashian Planning Team Member
Finance Gloria Acevedo Planning Team Member
Fire Anthony James Planning Team Member
Fire Nallely Procopio Planning Team Member
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18 Department or Agency Member Name Key Role
Housing Jennifer O'Reilly-Jones Planning Team Member
Human Resources Brady Griffin Planning Team Member
Information Technology Dan Augustyn Planning Team Member Library William Petry Planning Team Member
Parks, Recreation, and
Community Services
Koko Panossian Planning Team Member
Parks, Recreation, and
Community Services
Melchor Alonzo Planning Team Member
Planning & Community
Development David Sinclair
Planning Team Member
Planning & Community
Development
Anita Cerna Planning Team Member
Planning & Community
Development
Jesse De Anda Planning Team Member
Police Arthur Chute Planning Team Member
Police Derek Locklin Planning Team Member
Police Jose Urita Planning Team Member
Public Health Adrienne Kim Planning Team Member
Public Health Michael Oshiro Planning Team Member
Public Works Brent Maue Planning Team Member
Public Works Hayden Melbourn Planning Team Member
Public Works Mandy Templeton Planning Team Member
NPA Lee Rosenberg NPA Project Manager
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19 Department or Agency Member Name Key Role
NPA Francisco Soto NPA Lead Planner
2.4.1 Planning Team Activities
Three (3) meetings were held with the planning team: representatives from the City held the responsibility of chairing the planning team. The City project manager reviewed all documents and sent out meeting notices. Appendix B documents the LHMP planning activities. The planning team’s responsibility included providing feedback on hazards that affect the planning area, reviewing drafts of the plan, and participating in developing mitigation activities.
Table 2-2: Planning Activities
Date Activity Purpose
8/29/2024 LHMP Project Kickoff Meeting
Team Meeting #1
Introduce core Planning Team
members, review the project
management plan, align
expectations. Describe the regulatory
issues of LHMP, the value of them,
and the LHMP
planning process. Distribute data
collection forms.
11/14/2024 LHMP Planning Team Meeting
#2
Review potential hazards and select
those that pose risks. Use CPRI.
Review status of 2018 mitigation
activities and update status. Review
data-collection-sheet inputs, begin to
develop potential mitigation activities.
Request information for hazard
analysis and potential losses
2/18/2025 LHMP Planning Team Meeting
#3
Review risk assessment and potential
losses. Develop draft mitigation goals
and actions. Review current plan
mitigation activities.
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20 2.4.2 Other Jurisdictions Agency/Organizational Participation External organizations listed below participated in Planning Team meetings and reviewed drafts of the plan. They were invited by an MS Outlook invitation to the meetings. Appendix B, Planning Team Meetings notes, documents their engagement.
Table 2-3 lists the organizations and attendees that were contacted to participate in the planning process.
Table 2-3: Organization Participation
Organization Staff
Pasadena City College Alexander Boekelheide
The Rose Bowl Jenessa Castillo
California Institute of Technology Catherine Christensen Disaster Management Area Coordinator – Area C Soraya Sutherlin Jet Propulsion Laboratory Chief David Dollarhide
Los Angeles County Office of Emergency
Management
Sinan Khan
City of South Pasadena Andy Dubois
City of San Marino Mario Rueda
City of Glendale Tommy Nicola
City of Burbank Eric Baumgardner
City of Pasadena
Accessibility and Disability Commission
(Underserved Community)
Sara Goldman
City of Pasadena
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool
Youngsters (Underserved Community)
Marina Ovanessian
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21 Copies of the draft LHMP were provided to the City Planning Team, including the participating organizations above, and distributed to the public for their review.
Comments received from these partners are incorporated in the final draft of the LHMP and are documented in Appendix C.
2.5 Community Engagement
Once the planning process commenced, the City provided public notification through its website, press release, and social media accounts. Additionally, the City conducted an online survey to solicit input on the hazards that the City faces and the types of mitigation activities the City should undertake. The draft LHMP was placed on the City website; and hard copies were posted at City Hall and City libraries for public review and comment. Notification of the draft LHMP review and adoption by the City Council was advertised as required by the Brown Act. To reach residents who might get their information from other sources, the City included a hazard mitigation flyer within the water department’s customer bills.
The public survey input from the 189 respondents was used to select hazards and rank their effects. Earthquake and Wildfire were ranked as the two (2) top hazards of concern for residents. This input was also used to inform the Calculated Priority Risk Index (CPRI) in Table 4-2. Finally, survey input was used to select mitigation actions. Input from publicly posting the draft LHMP was used to refine the Plan and to prepare it for submission for review.
On November 19, 2024, the City posted information about the LHMP update process on its website and social media channels; and invited the public to take a Hazard Mitigation Survey to gather information about the public’s knowledge of hazards in the City and their level of preparedness. Appendix C contains screenshots of the website, social media, and survey. The City also invited surrounding cities and other stakeholders to review the LHMP. Appendix C contains the invitation and feedback received. A survey was distributed to request feedback on the Public Review Draft of the 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan. The feedback provided valuable insight to the community’s concerns regarding wildfire mitigation. Based on the feedback received, the City added several mitigation actions to mitigate wildfire risk, including conducting fuel modification projects to reduce fire hazard risks and creating a wildfire ordinance to reduce development in wildfire hazard zones.
On November 19, 2024, the City hosted their monthly Accessibility and Disability Commission meeting which included a presentation on the hazard mitigation planning process.
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22 On June 9, 2025, a draft of the plan was distributed to the public for review and input.
The planning team received 23 comments on the public review draft plan. After reviewing the comments, portions of the LHMP were modified or expanded. One comment received provided detailed recommendations for additional input to the LHMP from and integration with other planning mechanisms such as the City’s planning commission. While the recommendations are valuable, the planning team elected to table them until the next plan review as the current LHMP is expired and the City needs an approved LHMP for current HMPG funding opportunities.
Table 2-4: Public Engagement Activities
Date Activity Documentation
November
19, 2024 -
Present
Survey posted on City Website
with links provided in social
media accounts. General
Hazard Mitigation documents.
Documentation 1 – Survey
Documentation 2 – Posting on City
Instagram Account
Documentation 3 – Posting on City
Facebook Account
Documentation 4 – News release
Documentation 5 – Google Search
Documentation 6 – Posting on City
website
Documentation 7 – LHMP Flyer
(English)
Documentation 8 – LHMP Flyer
(Spanish)
Documentation 9 – LHMP Flyer
(Chinese)
Documentation 10 – Survey
(Spanish)
Documentation 11 – Survey
(Chinese)
Documentation 12 – City website
presentation and newsletter
November
19, 2024
Public Meetings Documentation 13: Accessibility &
Disability Commission Presentation
Agenda
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23 Date Activity Documentation
3 months Public hazard mitigation survey
conducted.
Documentation 14: Survey results
Ongoing Outreach Materials at Public
Facing Facilities
Documentation 15: Outreach
Materials at Public Facing Facilities
6/9/2025 Draft LHMP provided for public
review.
Documentation 16: Survey
Distribution for Feedback
Ongoing Survey Results to Public Review
Draft Feedback
Documentation 17: Survey
Distribution for Feedback
6/24/2025 Draft LHMP provided to
neighboring jurisdiction for
review and comment.
Documentation 18: Email/Feedback
2.6 Incorporation into Other Planning Mechanisms
The City’s 2018-19 LHMP provides key input to and was incorporated into the following planning mechanisms:
1. City Emergency Operations Plan - Hazards descriptions in the LHMP were abbreviated and included in the EOP.
2. General Plan - Land Use Policies: Reviews of zoning and land use policies were conducted to align with hazard mitigation priorities, such as restricting development in flood-prone areas.
The City’s 2025 hazard mitigation identification, risk assessment, plan recommendations and mitigation actions will be integrated into the following planning mechanisms.
Emergency Operations Plan
206
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24 1. Hazards identified in this LHMP were incorporated into the EOP .
2. Align Response Strategies: Ensured that the EOP incorporates the hazard profiles and mitigation strategies from the LHMP for a cohesive response framework.
3. Training and Exercises: Conducted joint training and exercises based on scenarios identified in the LHMP to improve preparedness.
Public Health Emergency Operations Plan
1. The prior LHMP informed the risk assessment of the Public Health Emergency Operations Plan.
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
1. Aligned LHMP actions with climate adaptation strategies to address the increasing frequency and severity of hazards due to climate change. For example, enhanced urban green spaces to mitigate heatwaves.
2. Infrastructure Resilience: Planned for resilient infrastructure investments, such as upgrading drainage systems to handle increased rainfall.
Building Codes and Regulations:
1. Strengthen Building Standards: Update building codes to incorporate hazard- resistant construction practices, such as seismic retrofitting for earthquake-prone areas.
2. Enforcement and Incentives: Implement enforcement mechanisms and provide incentives for property owners to comply with updated building standards.
Community Rating System (CRS)
1. Enhanced Floodplain Management: Integrated LHMP strategies into the CRS to improve floodplain management and potentially lower flood insurance premiums for residents.
2. Public Education: Used CRS outreach activities to educate the public about hazard mitigation and preparedness.
Climate Action Plan:
1. Developed climate adaptation strategies and actions that complement other hazard mitigation strategies when appropriate.
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25 2. Address Climate Risks: Aligned LHMP actions with the Climate Action Plan to address climate-related hazards such as extreme heat, wildfires, and flooding.
General Plan
1. When possible, updated the Housing Element, Safety Element, and/or local hazard mitigation plan concurrently or sequentially to synchronize long-term integration and meet SB 1035 requirements.
2. Incorporated Hazard Mitigation Goals: Embed the LHMP's goals and objectives into the city's general plan to ensure alignment with broader land use and development policies.
3. Land Use Policies: Updated zoning and land use policies to reflect hazard mitigation priorities, such as restricting development in flood-prone areas.
Incorporating a diverse range of plans and strategies into the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan ensures a comprehensive approach to reducing risks and enhancing community resilience. By addressing risk assessments, land use planning, infrastructure resilience, community engagement, emergency response, natural resource management, economic resilience, and continuous monitoring, communities can better prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazards and disasters.
2.7 Review of Existing Plans, Reports, Technical Documents, and Data In updating the LHMP, the Planning Team used many resource documents and references. Table 2-5 contains a comprehensive list of guidance, policy tools, extant plans, and authorities incorporated to create the current Plan.
Table 2-5: Resource Documents and References Reviewed and Incorporated in the Plan
Referenced Document or
Technical Source
Resource
Type
Description of Reference
and Its Use
California State Hazard
Mitigation Plan (2023)
https://www.caloes.ca.gov/w
p-content/uploads/Hazard-
Mitigation/Documents/2023-
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Provides the State of California’s
Hazard Mitigation Plan for 2023-
2028. Describes hazards that
informed the hazard analysis and
risk assessment portion of this
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26 Referenced Document or
Technical Source
Resource
Type
Description of Reference
and Its Use
California-SHMP_Volume-
1_11.10.2023.pdf
LHMP.
County of Los Angeles All
Hazards Mitigation Plan
(2020)
https://ceo.lacounty.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2023/08/Co
unty-of-Los-Angeles-All-
Hazards-Mitigation-Plan-
APPROVED-05-2020.pdf
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Describes hazards that informed the
hazard analysis and risk assessment
sections of this LHMP.
California Energy
Commission (2018).
California’s Fourth Climate
Change Assessment
https://www.energy.ca.gov/d
ata-
reports/reports/californias-
fourth-climate-change-
assessment
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Describes monitoring, analysis,
and modeling of climate as well as
efforts designed to reduce
emissions.
FEMA Dam Safety
https://www.fema.gov/emerg
ency-managers/risk-
management/dam-safety
Technical
Resource
Database used in the dam failure
hazard profiling. Used in the risk
assessment.
National Weather Service
https://www.weather.gov/
Technical
Resource
Source for hazard information, data
sets, and historical event records.
Used in the risk assessment.
United States Geological
Survey Earthquake Hazards
Program.
https://www.usgs.gov/progr
ams/earthquake-hazards
Technical Data Source for geological hazard data
and incident data. Used in the risk
assessment.
Western Regional Climate
Center
Website Data Online resource for climate data
used in climate discussion.
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27 Referenced Document or
Technical Source
Resource
Type
Description of Reference
and Its Use
https://wrcc.dri.edu/
California Department of
Conservation
https://www.conservation.ca
.gov/cgs/geohazards
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Identifies significant geologic
hazards that exist, or are likely to
exist, so that informed land use and
emergency response planning
decisions can be made.
California Department of
Water Resources
https://water.ca.gov/Progra
ms/All-Programs/Division-
of-Safety-of-
Dams/Inundation-Maps
https://fmds.water.ca.gov/we
bgis/?appid=dam_prototype
_v2
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Provides information on dam safety,
a list of dams within California and
dam inundation maps for dams in
the planning area.
Federal Emergency
Management Agency
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Resource for LHMP guidance (How-
To series), floodplain and flood-
related NFIP data (mapping,
repetitive loss, NFIP statistics), and
historic hazard incidents. Used in the
risk assessment and mitigation
strategy.
Cybersecurity &
Infrastructure Security
Agency
https://www.cisa.gov/
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Resource for cybersecurity and
cyberattack guidance, especially
regarding critical infrastructure and
public utilities. Describes historical
cybersecurity incidents and lessons
learned. Used in the risk
assessment and mitigation strategy.
HAZUS-MH Technical
Resource
Base data sets within the program
were used in the vulnerability
analysis.
National Centers for Technical Online resource for weather-related data and historic hazard event data.
210
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28 Referenced Document or
Technical Source
Resource
Type
Description of Reference
and Its Use
Environmental Information
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
data-access
Resource Used in the risk assessment.
National Integrated Drought
Information System (2025)
https://www.drought.gov/dro
ught/
Technical
Resource
Source for drought-related
projections and conditions. Used in
the risk assessment.
California Energy
Commission (2018).
California’s Fourth Climate
Change Assessment
https://www.energy.ca.gov/d
ata-
reports/reports/californias-
fourth-climate-change-
assessment
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Describes monitoring, analysis,
and modeling of climate as well as
efforts designed to reduce
emissions.
California Governor’s Office
of Emergency Services
http://myhazards.caloes.ca.g
ov/
Technical and
Planning
Resource
Provides a tool for the general public
to discover hazards in their area
(earthquake, flood, fire, and tsunami)
and learn steps to reduce personal
risk.
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29 SECTION 3: PLANNING AREA DESCRIPTION
The following section provides an overview of the City’s planning area. It includes a description of the natural and population characteristics.
3.1 Location and Description
The City is in the San Gabriel Valley, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The area was part of Rancho El Rincon de San Pasqual, a northeast section of the San Gabriel Mission (1771). The City was founded in 1874 by Thomas B. Elliott as Indiana Colony; the name Pasadena, a Chippewa word meaning “crown of the valley,” was adopted in 1875.
The City’s growth as a winter resort and citrus center was stimulated by the Santa Fe Railway, and subsequent freeway construction brought it within easy commuting distance to Los Angeles, which lies 12 miles (19 km) southwest.
Pasadena is the home to many recognized businesses including: Pasadena City (community) College (1924), Pacific Oaks College (1945), and Art Center College of Design (1930), California Institute of Technology- CalTech (1891), the Pasadena Playhouse, the Norton Simon Museum of Art (formerly Pasadena Art Institute and Pasadena Museum of Modern Art), and the Pacific Asia Museum contains exhibits on the history and art of Asia and the Pacific; its grounds contain a Chinese courtyard garden and koi ponds.
The City is perhaps most famous for its New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses, first held in 1890, which features a televised parade attended by several hundred thousand people and the Rose Bowl classic, a contest between two (2) major college gridiron football teams.
The City is served by the California 210 - Foothill Freeway, the California 1 10 - Pasadena Freeway (Arroyo Seco Parkway), the California 134 - Ventura Freeway, and the California Interstate 710 - Long Beach Freeway. The major arterial highways are Fair Oaks Avenue, Lake Avenue, and Los Robles Avenue, which runs north to south.
Colorado Boulevard. Walnut Street, Del Mar Boulevard, and Green Street run east to west.
Pasadena has a residential population of 138,699 (2020 U.S. Census). Pasadena consists of 23 square miles and is approximately 58% residential, 9% commercial, 2% industrial and 31% open space, parks, institutional or vacant land. (Land Use Element of Revised General Plan, 2015). The boundary is shown against the regional topography in Figure 3-1.
212
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30 Figure 3-1. City Boundary with Topography
3.2 Geology
The Los Angeles Basin is a seismically active area in Southern California located in the northern portion of the Peninsular Ranges geomorphic province and is a northwest- trending alleviated lowland plain, sometimes called the Coastal Plain of Los Angeles.
The Peninsular Ranges are characterized by northwest-trending blocks of mountain ridges and sediment-floored valleys. The dominant geologic structural features are northwest reverse faults that form the southern margin of the Transverse Ranges.
Furthermore, the Los Angeles Basin is filled with sedimentation thousands of feet thick and is structurally influenced by thrusting fault blocks and strike slip fault expressions trending northwest.
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31 3.3 Climate
The climate is sub-tropical and simi-arid. The average daytime temperature is 78 Fahrenheit (26 Celsius) annually. The average nighttime temperature is 53 Fahrenheit (11 Celsius). The overall average temperature is 65 (18 C). The highest recorded temperature was 113 Fahrenheit (45 C) on June 17, 1917, while the lowest recorded temperature was 21 Fahrenheit (-6 C) on January 7, 1913. The average yearly rainfall is 20 inches. During the winter months of December through March, it is a sunny or partly sunny 75 percent of the time. It has snowed twice in the City’s history: January 13, 1932, and January 7, 1913.
3.4 History
In 1886 Pasadena incorporated, largely as a measure to rid the City of its saloon. In the ensuing decade, amenities such as sewers, paved streets, and electric street lighting were installed. On January 1, 1890, the Valley Hunt Club initiated a mid-winter festival with a procession of flower-bedecked horses and carriages. This became a yearly tradition that in 1898 was formally sponsored by the Tournament of Roses Association.
An added tourist attraction was the Echo Mountain incline railway which opened in 1893 and included a mountain chalet resort and the Alpine Tavern at Crystal Springs.
The cultural and educational side of the City was not neglected. The educational system expanded in both the public and private sector. Throop Polytechnic Institute (first named Throop University) was founded in 1891 and later became the California Institute of Technology.
3.5 Government
The City has a Council-Manager form of government with seven (7) City Councils, each electing a Councilmember to a four (4)-year term. The mayor is an at-large or Citywide elected position serving a four (4)-year term. The City Council is responsible for setting policies, passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committee members, and hiring the City Manager, City Attorney/City Prosecutor, and the City Clerk.
The mayor acts as the chief executive of the City in performing all acts required to be performed under the laws of the State of California and our City Charter. The mayor is the official head of the City for all ceremonial purposes, by the Courts for serving civil processes and by the Governor of the State for military purposes. The mayor has a voice and vote in all proceedings of the City Council and presides over City Council meetings.
214
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32 The City has 17 departments, three (3) operating companies, the Successor Agency to the Pasadena Community Development Commission (PCOC), and a City Council Office.
3.6 Economy
Pasadena has a diverse economy of employers from various sectors, including distribution, retail/wholesale trade, manufacturing, administrative support, construction, hotels and entertainment, health services, and education. Nearly 71,039 of the population are employed in a wide variety of industries. According to the 2023 American Community Survey Estimates, population 16 years and older are employed as follows:
52.6 percent managerial and professional related occupations; 16.2 percent service occupations; 20.4 percent sales and office occupations; 5.1 percent construction, extraction and maintenance occupations; and 5.7 percent production, transportation, and materials moving technology occupations.
3.7 Demographics
Pasadena is an ethnically diverse community. The chart below details the estimated City demographics.
Table 3-1: City Demographics
Total
Population
America
n Indian
& Alaska
Native
Asian
Black or
African
American
Native
Hawaiian
& Other
Pacific
Islander
White (Not
Hispanic
or Latino)
Some
Other
Race
Two (2)
or More
Races
Hispanic or
Latino
(Overlaps
with other
race
categories)
138,699* 1,883 24,550 11,272 156 57,835 22,024 22,024 43,234 N/A 1.3% 17.70% 8.12% 0.11% 41.7% 18.16% 15.87% 31.17%
*Note: Population by race for each racial category is also shown as a percentage of the total population for that community. U.S. Census estimates based upon data and surveys collected by the American Community Survey over a five (5)-year period. The demographic data does not include the full breakdown of the overall U.S. Census data from 2020 used in the introduction of the document. Percentage may add up to more than 100% because individuals may report on more than one category.
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33 3.8 Land Use
Pasadena’s General Plan Land Use Element is grounded by Guiding Principles that cumulatively represent the community’s vision for the future. The Guiding Principles were developed through an extensive program of community outreach and input conducted over a six (6)-year period. The Guiding Principles are:
1. Growth will be targeted to serve community needs and enhance the quality of life. Higher density development will be directed away from residential neighborhoods and into the Central City, Transit Villages, and Neighborhood Villages. These areas will have a diverse housing stock, job opportunities, exciting cities with commercial and recreational uses, and transit opportunities.
New development will build upon Pasadena’s tradition of strong sense of place, great neighborhoods, gardens, plazas, parks, and trees.
2. Pasadena’s historic resources will be preserved. Citywide, new development will be in harmony with and enhance Pasadena’s unique character and sense of place. New construction that could affect the integrity of historic resources will be compatible with, and differentiated from, the existing resource.
3. Pasadena will be an economically vital City by providing jobs, services, revenues, and opportunities. A diverse economic base with jobs for Pasadena residents will be fostered; existing businesses will be encouraged to stay or expand; affordable housing will be provided for the labor pool; the continued fiscal health of the City will be ensured.
4. Pasadena will be a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable community. Safe, well designed, accessible and human-scale residential and commercial areas will be provided where people of all ages can live, work and play.
5. These areas will include neighborhood parks, urban open spaces and the equitable distribution of public and private recreational facilities; new public spaces will be acquired. Human services will be coordinated and made accessible to those who need them.
6. Pasadena will be a City where people can circulate without cars. Specific plans in targeted development areas will emphasize a mix of uses, pedestrian activity, and transit; public and private transit will be made more available; neighborhood villages and transit villages will reduce the need for auto use.
7. Pasadena will be a cultural, scientific, corporate, entertainment and education center for the region. Long-term growth opportunities will be provided for existing 216
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
34 institutions; a healthy economy will be fostered to attract new cultural, scientific, corporate, and entertainment and educational institutions.
8. Community Participation will be a permanent part of achieving a greater city.
Citizens will be provided with timely and understandable information on planning issues and projects; citizens will directly participate in shaping plans and policies for Pasadena’s future.
The Land Use Diagram (Figure 3-2) functions as a guide to the general public, planners, and decision-makers, depicting the ultimate pattern of development for Pasadena in 2035, consistent with the requirements of State planning law (Government Code§65302(a)). It depicts the distribution of various uses and intensity of development that shall be permitted as the physical representation of this element’s goals and policies.
3.9 Changes in Development
Tracking previous and future growth in potential hazard areas provides an overview of increased exposure to hazards within a community. Hazard mitigation plan updates must be revised to reflect changes in development within the planning area during the previous performance period of the plan, as stated in 44 CFR Section 201.6(d)(3). The plan must describe changes in development in hazard- prone areas that increased or decreased vulnerability since the last plan was approved.
The City has adopted a general plan that governs land-use decisions and policymaking, as well as a building code and specialty ordinances based on state and federal mandates. This hazard mitigation plan update assumes that some new development over the performance period occurred in hazard areas. All new developments would have been regulated pursuant to local programs and codes, such as the International Building Code and flood damage prevention requirements of the NFIP. Therefore, it is assumed that hazard vulnerability did not measurably increase, even if exposure did. 217
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
35 Figure 3-2: City Land Use Diagram
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36 SECTION 4: HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT This section of the LHMP includes requirements for hazard profiles and a risk assessment, as provided in the Code of Federal Regulations. The goal of mitigation is to reduce the future impacts of hazards, including loss of life, property damage, disruption to the local economy, and the expenditure of public and private funds for recovery.
4.1 Hazard Analysis
A hazard analysis consists of identifying, screening, and profiling each hazard. The hazard analysis encompasses natural, human-caused, and technological hazards.
Natural hazards result from unexpected or uncontrollable natural events of significant size and destructive power. Human-caused hazards result from human activity and encompass technological hazards. Technological hazards are generally accidental or result from events with unintended consequences (for example, accidental release of hazardous materials).
The goal of mitigation is to reduce the future impacts of hazards, including loss of life, property damage, disruption to the local economy, and the expenditure of public and private funds for recovery. Hazard identification was conducted as part of the planning process. For the 2025 LHMP, the potential risk for each hazard was rated using the Calculated Priority Risk Index (CPRI). The CPRI examines four (4) criteria for each hazard (probability, magnitude/severity, warning time, and duration). Table 4-5 provides the results of the CPRI which were used to both select applicable hazards to include in the LHMP and to determine risk.
4.2 Disaster Proclamation History and Process
When there is a condition of extreme peril or potential peril to the safety of persons and property, and the condition is beyond the capability of the local jurisdiction to control effectively, the local governing body (city council, board of supervisors, or a person authorized by ordinance) may proclaim that a local emergency exists. The local government may request the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) Director to concur in their proclamation of a local emergency and to provide assistance under the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA).
A copy of the resolution must be provided to the Los Angeles Operational Area as soon as possible for transmission to Cal OES. When a county proclaims a local emergency pursuant to Section 8630 of the Government Code, based upon conditions which 219
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
37 include both incorporated and unincorporated territory of the county, it is not necessary for the cities to also proclaim the existence of a local emergency independently.
If sufficient conditions occur, the state may proclaim a state of emergency to fully commit state and mutual aid assistance and provide resources to assist local government. Following the proclamation of a state of emergency, the California OES Director may recommend that the Governor request a Presidential declaration of a major disaster under the authority of Public Law 93-288. The Governor’s request to the president is submitted through FEMA.
Table 4-1 below lists the state and federal disaster declarations affecting Los Angeles County.
Table 4-1: Los Angeles County Disaster Proclamation History Year Disaster # Hazard Declaration
2025 DR-4856-CA Fire California Wildfires ad Straight-line Winds 2025 DR-4769-CA Severe
Storm
Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes,
Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
2023 DR-4699-CA Severe
Storm
Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes,
Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
2023 EM-3592-CA Flood California Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
2023 DR-4683-CA Flood California Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
2020 DR-4569-CA Fire California Wildfires
2020 DR-4482-CA Pandemic California COVID-19 Pandemic
2018 DR-4353-CA Wildfires,
Flooding,
Mudflows,
Debris
Flows
California Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflows,
and Debris Flows
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38 Year Disaster # Hazard Declaration
2017 DR-4305-CA Flooding Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides in California
One (1) of three (3) proclamations that
covered 57/58 counties in the state
2012-
2016
Statewide
Drought
Drought This period was one of the driest in
California history since record-keeping
began. The drought led to Governor Jerry
Brown's instituting mandatory 25% water
restrictions in June 2015.
2013 Heatwave Extreme
Heat
In late June 2013, an intense heatwave
struck the Southwestern United States.
Various places in Southern California
reached up to 122°F.
2009 H1N1
Swine flu
State proclamation
4.3 Hazard Identification
A list of all hazards that had the potential to occur in the City was presented to stakeholders in the first Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC) meeting and to the general public through a survey. The list of hazards was derived from the 2018 LHMP, the 2018 Emergency Operations Plan, the 2020 County of Los Angeles All- Hazards Mitigation Plan, and the 2023 California State Hazard Mitigation Plan. The 2018 LHMP contained the following hazards:
• Earthquake
• Wildfire
• Drought/Water Shortage
• Windstorm
• Energy Shortage/Outage
• Agricultural Pests/Disease
• Infectious Disease
• Terrorism
• Cyber Attack
• Civil Disturbance
• Landslide/Earth Movements
• Extreme Heat
• Hailstorm
• Air Pollution
• Oil Spill
• Dam Failure
221
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39 • Hazardous Material Release
• Radiological Incidents
• Aircraft Crashes
• Train Accidents
• Natural Gas Pipeline/Storage
Facility
FEMA guidance identifies several hazards that communities should evaluate for inclusion in a hazard mitigation plan. Communities may also consider additional hazards for their plans. The HMPC reviewed the previous hazards in the 2018-19 plan and discussed other potential hazards, excluding ones that do not pose a threat or are not a significant concern to Pasadena.
Table 4-2 lists the hazards considered and explains the reasoning for inclusion/exclusion. For context, this table also shows if a hazard is recommended for consideration by FEMA, if it is included in the 2023 California State Hazard Mitigation Plan (SHMP), and if it is included in the Los Angeles County Hazard Mitigation Plan (LAC HMP).
Table 4-2: Hazard Evaluation for Pasadena LHMP
Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Agricultural
Pests
SHMP No While historically agricultural
activities have occurred within
the City, commercial farming
does not occupy a large
amount of land. Most farmland
has been replaced by new
residential and commercial
developments. Without the
presence of these large
agricultural areas in the
community, the HMPC did not
identify this as a hazard of
concern for the City.
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40 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Air
Pollution
SHMP No Air pollution is a state and
regional issue that is
addressed through plans and
regulations administered by
the South Coast Air Quality
Management District and/or
California Air Resources
Board.
Since the City does not
regulate these resources, the
HMPC did not identify this as a
hazard of concern that could
be addressed in this plan.
Aircraft
Incident
SHMP No Hollywood Burbank Airport is
located within 15 miles of the
City. This facility is operated
under a Joint Powers
Agreement that the City is
party to, however the JPA
conducts all planning activities
for the facility.
Given the lack of control over
this asset and a few past
incidents associated with
aircraft incidents have
occurred, the HMPC
determined that this hazard
should not be included in the
plan.
Aquatic
Invasive
Species
SHMP No There are no major riparian
environments in Pasadena
where aquatic invasive species
could endanger the
community.
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41 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Avalanche FEMA guidance
SHMP
No Pasadena is not located within
potential avalanche zones.
224
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42 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Civil
Disturbance
or Riot
SHMP No The HMPC determined that
the City includes a number of
areas where large
populations visit/congregate,
however these locations have
not experienced significant
issues associated with civil
disturbance. There was a
large-scale protest in 2020
associated with the George
Floyd killing. While
considerable resources were
expended providing security
resources, no injuries or
property damage occurred.
In January 2025, Pro-
Palestinian protesters
disrupted the 135th annual
Rose Parade for about 20
minutes. A dozen or so
protesters sat down on the
street at the intersection of
Lake Ave. and Colorado
Boulevard at the start of the
parade. Police let the
protesters stay for 20 minutes
before stepping in to escort
them off the street, prompting
cheers to erupt from the
crowd.
Occasional protests have also
occurred at PCC but have
largely been nonviolent. For
this reason, the HMPC did not
identify this as a hazard of
concern.
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43 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Climate
Change
SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes Climate change is discussed
as a function of each relevant
hazard and is mentioned
throughout the Plan.
Coastal
Flooding
and Storm
FEMA guidance
SHMP
No Pasadena is not located
along the coast of California.
Coastal flooding and storms
are not anticipated to impact
on the community.
Cyber
Threats
SHMP Yes With the increase in cyber
threats occurring throughout
California and the nation, the
HMPC is concerned about
the potential effects on vital
records, communications and
industrial control systems.
Dam Failure FEMA guidance
SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes Pasadena is located
downstream of Devils Gate
Dam, classified by the
California Department of
Water Resources as an
extremely high danger dam,
operated by Los Angeles
County Public Works. Due to
City's location downstream of
these facilities, the HMPC
identified dam failure as a
hazard of concern.
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44 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Drought SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes While the HMPC is confident
in the current hydrologic
infrastructure to supply water
for the City, drought can
potentially impact the
operations Pasadena Water
and Power. Long term
drought can reduce available
water from the Raymond
Basin aquifer and may result
in reduced resources
available from the State
Water Project through the
Metropolitan Water District.
The HMPC does not consider
drought to be a local issue
alone, but rather a regional
one. It is addressed in both
the State and Los Angeles
County HMP's.
Loss of
Power
SHMP Yes While energy shortage has
the potential to occur in
Pasadena, the risk
associated with this is similar
to surrounding communities.
For loss of power, the bigger
concern for the City is the
effects this could have on
critical infrastructure services.
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45 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Epidemic,
Pandemic,
Vector-
Borne
Disease
SHMP Yes Pasadena is in Los Angeles
County, which has
experienced several health-
related incidents in the past.
Pasadena is one of three (3)
cities in California that
operates its own public health
department.
The HMPC felt it was best to
address issues with infectious
diseases and other public
health issues through the
Department of Public Health
preparedness planning
mechanisms such as the
Public Health Emergency
Operations Plan.
Erosion FEMA guidance
SHMP
No While a part of the City is in
the hilly Arroyo Seco, it is
mostly protected parkland
and open space. the HMPC
did not identify erosion as a
hazard of concern for the
City.
Expansive
Soil
FEMA guidance No Expansive soils were not
identified by the HMPC as a
hazard of concern. While they
could exist, the City requires
compliance with the
California Building Code,
which is intended to mitigate
hazards associated with this
condition.
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46 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Extreme
Cold
FEMA guidance
SHMP
No Temperatures in the City do
not reach a level that would
be considered a danger to
public safety. Due to this the
HMPC did not identify this as
a hazard of concern.
Extreme
Heat
FEMA guidance
SHMP
Yes Extreme heat has occurred in
Pasadena and is expected to
be a recurring event. Extreme
heat was identified by the
HMPC as a hazard of
concern and included in the
Extreme Weather profile.
Fault
Rupture
FEMA guidance
SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes The Raymond Fault is a
known Alquist-Priolo fault
zone is located within
Pasadena. As a result, the
HMPC identified this as a
hazard of concern to the City.
Fault rupture is included in
the discussion of Seismic
Hazards.
Flooding FEMA guidance
SHMP
Yes Several watercourses
transect the City and are
identified within FEMA flood
hazard zones. While
significant flooding events
have not affected properties
within the City recently, the
presence of these flood
zones indicates the potential
for future hazards. The
HMPC identified flooding as a
hazard of concern included in
the Flooding profile.
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47 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Fracking SHMP No Fracking does not occur in
the City.
Hail FEMA guidance No Hail that is severe enough to
pose a threat to people and
property is too rare in
Pasadena to be included.
Hazardous
Materials
Release
SHMP Yes The presence of uses for
storing, manufacturing,
disposing, and transporting
hazardous materials was
identified as a concern for the
HMPC. In addition, several
major roadways, freeways,
and rail lines transecting the
City allow for the transport of
these materials that could
endanger the community if a
release into the environment
were to occur
Hurricane FEMA guidance
SHMP
No Hurricanes do not occur in
Pasadena. Although Tropical
Stom Hillary impacted the
City in August 2023, no
fatalities from Hilary were
reported in the state. Damage
to residences and critical
infrastructure as very
minimal.
Infrastructure
Failure
SHMP No Infrastructure failure can pose
a threat to people and
property in Pasadena. A
discussion of infrastructure
failure is discussed as a
function of other hazards.
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48 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Landslide FEMA guidance
SHMP
Yes Landslides associated with
earthquakes can occur in the
hilly sections of the City. This
hazard is included in the
discussion of the Seismic
Hazards section.
Levee
Failure
SHMP No While levees are located
within the City in Arroyo
Seco, they were not deemed
a significant concern for
failure. These levees are
owned and managed by Los
Angeles County and the City
does not have the authority to
address these facilities but
coordinates with the County
on issues and upgrades.
Based on this, the HMPC did
not include levee failure as a
hazard of concern.
Lightning FEMA guidance No Although lightning does
occasionally occur in
Pasadena, it does not pose a
significant threat to people or
property.
Liquefactio
n
FEMA guidance
SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes According to mapping
prepared by the California
Geological Survey, area in
Arroyo Seco and the western
section of the City are prone
to liquefaction prone areas.
This hazard is included in the
discussion of the Seismic
Hazards section.
231
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49 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Methane
Containing
Soils
SBC HMP No The City does not have
methane- containing soils
that pose a threat to the
public health and safety of
residents and businesses.
The HMPC did not identify
this as a hazard of concern to
the City.
Natural Gas
Pipeline
Hazards
SHMP Yes Natural gas pipelines traverse
Pasadena, posing a danger
to people and property if they
were to breach and release
their contents. This condition
is discussed in the
Community Profile in Chapter
2 and is discussed in the
vulnerability assessment
where applicable.
Oil Spills SHMP No There is no history of oil
drilling and extraction within
the City. Based on this, the
HMPC did not identify this as
a hazard of concern to the
City.
Power
Failure
SHMP No While power loss events can
occur in the City, the HMPC
determined that this hazard
shouldn't be addressed within
the LHMP and is better suited
as a hazard addressed in the
City's EOP.
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50 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Radiological
Accidents
SHMP No There are no known major
sources of radiation in
Pasadena or the immediate
surrounding area that could
pose a serious threat to the
community.
Sea-level
Rise
FEMA guidance
SHMP
No The City is not located along
the coast or near any large
bodies of seawater. The
HMPC did not identify this as
a hazard of concern for the
City
Seiche FEMA guidance
SHMP
No There are no major bodies of
water in Pasadena that could
be subjected to seiche.
Seismic
Shaking
FEMA guidance
SHMP
Yes Pasadena is in a seismically
active area where shaking
can be severe enough to
damage property or cause
loss of life. For this reason,
the HMPC determined it
should be addressed in this
plan.
Severe
Wind
FEMA guidance Yes Severe Weather includes
discussions regarding
extreme heat, severe wind,
and rain, which are weather-
related hazards that are most
common in Pasadena.
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51 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Severe
Weather
and Storms
FEMA guidance
SHMP
Yes Severe Weather includes
discussions regarding
extreme heat, severe wind,
and rain, which are weather-
related hazards that are most
common in Pasadena.
Storm
Surge
FEMA guidance No Pasadena is not a coastal
community. The HMPC did
not identify this as a hazard
of concern to the City.
Subsidence FEMA guidance Yes The HMPC believed that
subsidence could occur with
significant groundwater
pumping. Subsidence is not
discussed as a stand-alone
hazard but rather is a function
of the Seismic Hazards
profile.
Terrorism SHMP Yes The HMPC was concerned
about terrorism incidents
posing a threat to public
safety given the number of
significant locations that
could be considered targets
within the City. A discussion
of this is in the Human-
Caused Hazards profile.
Thunderstorm SHMP No Thunderstorms that cause
damage and endanger public
safety are rare in the
Southern California region.
The HMPC did not identify
this as a hazard of concern.
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52 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Tornadoes FEMA guidance
SHMP
No No tornadoes are known to
have occurred in Pasadena.
The HMPC did not identify
this as a hazard of concern.
Transportat
ion
Accidents
SHMP Yes Around the City,
transportation accidents
could endanger public safety.
A discussion of this is in the
Human-Caused Hazards
profile.
Tree
Mortality
SHMP No The HMPC noted that the
City's has a significant
number of trees, however the
City currently manages these
resources effectively and did
not feel it was necessary to
profile as a hazard of
concern.
Tsunami FEMA guidance
SHMP
No Pasadena is not a coastal
community. The HMPC did
not identify this as a hazard
of concern to the City
Urban Fire SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes The HMPC identified urban
fires as a risk to property and
life in Pasadena.
Volcano SHMP No There are no volcanoes near
Pasadena to reasonably pose
a threat. The HMPC did not
identify this as a hazard of
concern to the City
235
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53 Hazard
Recommended
for
Consideration
Included
in
LHMP?
Reason for
Inclusion or Exclusion
Wildland
Fire
FEMA guidance
SHMP
LAC HMP
Yes Portions of the City are in the
very high fire danger zone as
determined by Cal Fire.
These areas are in the
northern canyons and
western section.
After hazard evaluation and the organizational changes made by the HMPC, this Plan discusses ten (10) broad hazard types with their respective sub-categories. During a review of the 2018 hazards, the planning team decided to eliminate Agricultural Pests/Disease, Aircraft Crashes, and Natural Gas Pipeline/Storage Facility. The planning team decided to combine extreme heat, windstorm, and hailstorm into a single hazard named Extreme Weather. Additionally, the planning team combined oil spills, train accidents, and radiological accidents into a single hazard called Hazardous Materials Release. Finally, the planning team decided to combine power outage, cyber- attack, civil disturbance, and Air Quality into a single hazard called Human Caused Hazards. Below are the hazards that will be profiled in the 2025 plan. 236
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
54 Table 4-3: Hazards Profiled in 2025 Plan
Hazard Type Sub-Categories
Dam Failure/Inundation
Drought
Earthquake/Geologic Hazards • Seismic Shaking
• Subsidence
• Liquefaction
• Fault Rupture
• Landslide
Extreme Weather • Severe Winds
• Extreme Heat
• Severe Rainstorm
Flooding
Hazardous Materials Release Profiled in Human Caused Hazards Fire • Wildland Fire
• Urban Fire
Human-Caused Hazards • Civil Disturbance
• Cyber Attack
• Hazardous Materials Release
• Power Outage
• Terrorism
• Transportation Incidents
• Natural Gas Incidents
Public Health Incidents
Climate Change Discussed in all Hazard Categories
4.4 Hazard Risk Rating
For the 2025 LHMP, the risk for each potential hazard was rated using the Calculated Priority Risk Index (CPRI). The CPRI examines four (4) criteria for each hazard (probability, magnitude/severity, warning time, and duration) (Table 4-4). For each hazard, an index value is assigned for each CPRI category from 0 to 4, with “0” being 237
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
55 the least hazardous and “4” being the most hazardous situation. This value is then assigned a weighting factor, and the result is a hazard ranking score (Table 4-5).
Table 4-4: Calculated Priority Risk Index Tables
CPRI Category: Probability (Assigned Weight 45%)
Level ID Description Index Value
Unlikely Extremely rare with no documented history of
occurrences or events.
Annual probability of less than 0.001.
1 Possible Rare occurrences with at least one (1) documented or anecdotal historic event. Annual probability of
between 0.01 and 0.001.
2 Likely Occasional occurrence with at least two (2) or more documented historical events. Annual probability of
between 0.1 and 0.01.
3 Highly Likely Frequent events with a well-documented history of occurrence. Annual probability of greater than 0.1.
4 CPRI Category: Magnitude-Severity (Assigned Weight 30%) Level ID Description Index Value
Negligible Negligible property damages (less than 5% of critical and non-critical facilities and infrastructure).
Injuries or illnesses are treatable with first aid, and there are no deaths.
Negligible quality of life lost.
Shut down of critical facilities for less than 24 hours. 1 238
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
56 Level ID Description Index Value
Limited Slight property damages (greater than 5% and less than 25% of critical and non-critical facilities and
infrastructure).
Injuries and illnesses do not result in permanent
disability, and there are no deaths.
Moderate quality of life lost.
Shut down of critical facilities for more than 1 day
and less than 1 week.
2 Critical Moderate property damages (greater than 25% and less than 50% of critical and non-critical facilities and infrastructures).
Injuries or illnesses result in permanent disability and at least one death.
Shut down of critical facilities for more than 1 week
and less than 1 month.
3 Catastrophic Severe property damages (greater than 50% of critical and non-critical facilities and infrastructure).
Injuries or illnesses result in permanent disability and multiple deaths.
Shut down of critical facilities for more than 1 month. 4 CPRI Category: Warning Time (Assigned Weight 15%)
Level ID Description Index Value
> than 24
hours
Population receives greater than 24 hours of
warning.
1 12 to 24
hours
The population receives between 12-24 hours of
warning.
2 6 to 12 hours The population receives between 6-12 hours of warning.
3 < than 6
hours
The population receives less than 6 hours of
warning.
4 239
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
57 CPRI Category: Duration (Assigned Weight 10%)
Level ID Description Index Value
< than 6
hours
The disaster event will last less than 6 hours. 1
6 to 24 hours The disaster event will last between 6-24 hours. 2 24 hrs.
to 1
week
The disaster event will last between 24 hours and 1
week.
3 > than 1
week
The disaster event will last more than 1 week. 4
240
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58 The results of the CPRI are contained in Table 4-5 below:
Table 4-5: Calculated Priority Risk Index Summary
Hazard
Probability
Weighted 45%
Magnitude
Severity
Weighted 30%
Warning Time
Weighted 15%
Duration
Weighted 10%
CPRI Ranking
Civil Disturbance 2 .90 1 .30 2 .30 2 .20 1.70
Climate Change 4 1.8 2 .60 1 .15 4 .40 2.95
Cyber Attack 3 1.35 2 .60 4 .60 3 .30 2.40
Dam Failure 1 .45 2 .60 3 .45 1 .10 1.60
Drought 3 1.35 2 .60 1 .15 4 .40 2.50
Earthquake 3 1.35 3 .90 4 .60 4 .40 3.25
Extreme Weather 3 1.35 2 1.2 1 .15 3 .30 3.00
Fire
(Windland/Urban)
4 1.8 2 .60 4 .60 3 .30 3.30
Flooding 2 .9 1 .30 1 .15 1 .10 1.45
Hazardous Material
Releases
2 .90 2 .60 2 .60 2 .20 2.30
Landslide 2 .9 2 .60 4 .60 1 .10 2.20
Natural Gas
Pipeline Failure
1 .45 1 .30 4 .60 1 .20 1.55
Oil Spills 1 .45 2 .60 2 .60 2 .20 1.85
Power Outage 3 1.35 3 .9 3 .45 2 .20 2.00
Public Health 2 .9 4 1.2 2 .30 4 .40 2.80
241
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59 Hazard
Probability
Weighted 45%
Magnitude
Severity
Weighted 30%
Warning Time
Weighted 15%
Duration
Weighted 10%
CPRI Ranking
Hazard
Terrorism 2 .90 2 .60 4 .60 1 .20 2.30
Transportation
Incidents
3 1.35 1 .30 4 .60 1 .20 2.45
CPRI Hazard Risk Scoring
Risk Level Severe High Moderate Low
Rank Score 3.5 – 4.0 3.0 – 3.4 2 – 2.9 1 – 1.9
Power failure has the most immediate and disruptive impacts on the city due to potential interruption of public safety systems and water service to customers.
4.5 Hazard Profiles
The hazards that exist in the City are profiled below. Each hazard profile includes a description of the type, location, extent, previous occurrences, regulatory environment, and probability of future events within the description. Maps and graphs are used in this plan to display hazard identification data.
The 2025 LHMP lists 17 hazards that affect the planning area based on historical information, the presence of the hazard, and the likelihood of future occurrences of the hazard. Hazard profiles serve as the basis for hazard assessment.
4.5.1 Climate Change
Hazard Description
The earth’s climate is changing. The State has warmed about two degrees Fahrenheit (2°F) in the last century. Heat waves are becoming more common throughout the southwestern United States, and snow is melting earlier in spring. In the coming decades, changing climate is likely to decrease the Colorado River's water flow, 242
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
60 threaten livestock's health, increase the frequency and intensity of wildfires, and convert some rangelands to the desert.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes climate change as “ any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. In other words, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, which occur over several decades or longer.” Many people confuse climate change with global warming, the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperatures near Earth’s surface. However, global warming represents only one aspect of climate change. Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century and is projected to rise another 2.0°F to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced changes, with every glacier and permanent icefield in the State of California receding or melting entirely. Oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. The effects of these indicators include:
• Greenhouse Gases: Human activities have increased the emissions of greenhouse gases. As a result of the increase in emissions, average concentration of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere are also increasing. • Weather and Climate: Average U.S. and global temperatures are increasing while weather and climate attributes, such as precipitation, drought and tropical cyclone activity, are changing.
• Oceans: Average oceanic temperatures are increasing. Sea levels are rising worldwide due to thermal expansion and increases from ice melt, and waters are becoming more acidic.
• Snow and Ice: Glaciers in the U.S. and worldwide are generally shrinking, while snowfall and snow cover in the U.S. have decreased overall. The extent of the Arctic Sea ice is declining.
• Health and Society: Warmer temperatures and later fall frosts allow ragweed plants to produce pollen later into the year, potentially prolonging allergy season.
The length of ragweed pollen season has increased at 10 out of 11 locations studied in the central U.S. and Canada since 1995. The change becomes more pronounced from south to north.
243
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61 • Ecosystems: Many areas are experiencing earlier spring events, such as peak stream runoff and flower blooms. Bird migration patterns are changing, and wildfire zone size has increased.
History
Climate change has occurred throughout the planet's history due to variations in the earth’s inclination to the sun, volcanic activity, and other factors such as asteroid impacts and the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface rises and falls.
The planet's temperature correlates to the amount of solar radiation arriving at the surface and the climate with it.
In relatively recent history, the last glacial period, popularly known as the Ice Age, occurred from c. 110,000 to 12,000 years ago. This most recent glacial period is part of a larger pattern of glacial and interglacial periods known as the Quaternary glaciation (c. 2,588,000 years ago to present). From this point of view, scientists consider this "ice age" to be merely the latest glaciation event in a much larger ice age that dates back over two (2) million years and is still ongoing.
During this last glacial period, there were several changes between glacier advance and retreat. The Last Glacial Maximum, the maximum extent of glaciation within the last glacial period, was approximately 22,000 years ago. While the general pattern of global cooling and glacier advance was similar, local differences in the development of glacier advance and retreat make it difficult to compare the details from continent to continent.
Generally, temperature variation and glaciation patterns have lagged in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) content. Figure 4.1 depicts global variations during the past 400,000 years as a correlation between temperature and atmospheric CO2 content in part per million.
244
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
62 Figure 4.1: Temperature and Atmospheric CO2 Variation Past 400,000 Years For 22,000 years ago, the planet has slowly warmed, and the glaciers retreated to high northern latitudes and mountains. In the last several decades of this period, human activity has likely led to a rapid increase in atmospheric CO2 and a matching rise in global temperature. The result has been that climate change may be accelerating.
Figure 4.2 provides a graphical depiction of the recent history of temperature rise. 245
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
63 Figure 4.2: Temperature Rise Since 1880
Location
Warming and climate change are occurring globally with wide variations based on location and latitude. The polar regions have experienced particularly rapid changes in climate with increased ice melt and more sea-ice-free days. Climate change by its very definition is a global phenomenon, and so it is expected to affect the entire County.
Extent
Climate change is likely to affect the entire earth’s population. More widespread drought and associated crop failure, movement of invasive species, more frequent wildfires, increased energy emergencies, and more intense climate events such as storms and extreme heat will occur throughout Southern California. The entire planning area is subject to climate change.
Specific likely impacts on California
Increasing droughts and higher temperatures will likely affect California’s top agricultural products, including cattle, dairy, and vegetables. Hot temperatures threaten the health of cows and cause them to eat less, grow more slowly, and produce less milk. Livestock operations could also be impaired by fire, the lack of water, and changes in the landscape from grassland to woody shrubs, more typical of a desert. Reduced water availability would also create challenges for irrigated farms, which account for two-thirds of the water used in the state.
246
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64 Wildfires, changing landscapes, higher temperatures, and drought are likely to increase the severity, frequency, and extent of wildfires which could harm property, livelihoods, and human health. On average, more than two percent (2%) of the land in California has burned per decade since 1984. Wildfire smoke can reduce air quality and increase medical visits for chest pains, respiratory problems, and heart problems. The combination of more fires and drier conditions may expand deserts and otherwise change parts of California’s landscape. Many plants and animals living in arid lands are already near the limits of what they can tolerate. A warmer and drier climate would generally extend deserts to higher elevations and expand their geographic ranges.
In some cases, native vegetation may persist and delay or prevent the expansion of the desert. In other cases, fires or livestock grazing may accelerate the conversion of grassland to desert in response to a changing climate. For similar reasons, some forests may change to deserts or grassland.
Warmer and drier conditions make forests more susceptible to pests. Drought reduces the ability of trees to defend against attacks from pests such as bark beetles which have infested 100,000s of acres in California. Temperature controls the life cycle and winter mortality rates of many pests. With higher winter temperatures, some pests can persist year-round, and new pests and diseases may become established.
Hot days can be unhealthy, even dangerous. Certain people are especially vulnerable, including children, the elderly, the sick, and the poor. High air temperatures can cause heat stroke and dehydration and affect people’s cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. Higher temperatures are amplified in urban settings where paved and other surfaces tend to store heat. Construction crews may have to increasingly operate on altered time schedules to avoid the heat of the day.
Rising temperatures can increase the formation of ground-level ozone, a key component of smog. Ozone has various health effects, aggravates lung diseases such as asthma, and increases the risk of premature death from heart or lung disease. The U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board have been working to reduce ozone concentrations. As the climate changes, continued progress toward clean air will be more difficult.
Probability of Future Events:
Climate change is an ongoing, long-term hazard. The effects of increased CO2 in the atmosphere will likely increase and persist for hundreds or thousands of years. There is a 100% chance that climate change will continue affecting the City. 247
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
65 Regulatory Context:
The State of California has stepped into a leadership role in planning for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the potential impacts of climate change. Key laws, regulations, and policies helping to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions include:
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill [AB] 32 and Senate Bill [SB] 32): AB 32 is the primary legislation that has driven GHG regulation and analysis in California between 2006 and 2016 by instructing the California Air Resource Board (CARB) to develop and enforce regulations for reporting and verifying statewide GHG emissions. The heart of the bill is the requirement that statewide GHG emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. Based on CARB’s calculations of emissions levels, California must reduce GHG emissions by approximately fifteen percent (15%) below 2005 levels to achieve this goal. In September 2016, the Governor signed SB 32, which builds upon the statewide targets for 2020 by establishing a longer-term target so that “statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to forty percent (40%) below the 1990 levels by 2030.” The bill further authorized CARB to adopt regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
California Executive Orders S-3-05 (2005) and B-30-15 (2015): These two (2) executive orders highlight longer-term GHG emissions reduction targets for the state, though such targets have not yet been adopted by the legislature and signed into law. Specifically, Executive Order (EO) S-3-05 seeks to achieve a reduction of GHG emissions of eighty percent (80%) below 1990 levels by 2050, consistent with the scientific consensus that developed regions will need to reduce emissions at least eighty percent (80%) below 1990 levels to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (2.0°C). Executive Order B- 30-15 seeks to establish an interim target between the 2020 target established through AB 32 and the long-term targets in EO S-3-05, to achieve a reduction of GHG emissions of forty percent (40%) below 1990 levels by 2030.
CEQA and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Senate Bill 97): In 2007, the Natural Resources Agency was directed by the legislature to prepare amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, providing direction to lead agencies on how to analyze and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Senate Bill 379 (2015) Planning and Zoning Law: This legislation requires that the next revision of a jurisdiction’s local hazard mitigation plan on or after January 1, 2017, or, if the local jurisdiction has not adopted a local hazard mitigation plan, beginning on or before January 1, 2022, include a review and update of the safety element to address 248
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66 climate adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to that city or county. The bill would require the update to include a set of goals, policies, and objectives based on a vulnerability assessment, identifying the risks that climate change poses to the local jurisdiction and the geographic areas at risk from climate change impacts.
California has also prepared programs and guidance for local governments to consider identifying hazards and adapting to a changing climate.
California Climate Adaptation Strategy: Executive Order S-13-08: In 2008, the Governor signed EO S-13-08, which directed the California Natural Resources Agency to lead a statewide effort to develop a climate adaptation strategy. Published in 2009, the statewide plan describes climate trends and the potential impacts of climate change on key sectors, and it outlines short- and long-term actions that state and local governments can take to address future climate impacts.
California Adaptation Planning Guide (APG): Published in 2012, this statewide resource serves as a guide to local governments to identify, evaluate, and plan for the range of unavoidable consequences their community may face in the future due to climate change. The APG includes a step-by-step process for conducting vulnerability assessment and identifying potential adaptation strategies.
4.4.1.1 City Response to Climate Change
General Approaches—Mitigation and Adaptation
Communities and governments worldwide are working to address, evaluate and prepare for climate changes that are likely to impact communities in coming decades. Generally, 249
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67 climate change discussions encompass two (2) separate but inter-related considerations: mitigation and adaptation. The term “mitigation” can be confusing because its meaning changes across disciplines:
• Mitigation in emergency management—as generally addressed in this hazard mitigation plan— is typically defined as the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters.
• Mitigation in climate change discussions is defined as a human intervention to reduce impacts on the climate system. It includes strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources and emissions and enhance greenhouse gas sinks.
In this chapter, mitigation is used as defined by the climate change community. In the other chapters of this plan, mitigation is primarily used in an emergency management context.
Adaptation refers to adjustments in natural or human systems in response to actual or anticipated effects of climate change. These adjustments may moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. Mitigation and adaptation are related, as the world’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will affect the degree of adaptation that will be necessary. Some initiatives and actions can both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support adaptation to likely future conditions.
Societies across the world need to adapt to climate change. Farmers are altering crops and agricultural methods to deal with changing rainfall and rising temperature; architects and engineers are redesigning buildings; planners are looking at managing water supplies to deal with droughts or flooding.
Adaptive capacity goes beyond human systems. Some ecosystems can adapt to change and buffer surrounding areas from the impacts of change. Forests can bind soils and hold large volumes of water, releasing it through the year; floodplains can absorb water during peak flows; coastal ecosystems can attenuate waves and reduce erosion.
Other ecosystem services—such as food provision, timber, materials, medicines, and recreation—can provide buffers in the face of changing conditions.
Ecosystem-based adaptation is the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. This includes sustainable management, conservation and restoration of specific ecosystems that provide key services.
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68 City Climate Action Plan
The City has released its first proposed Climate Action Plan (CAP). The CAP will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the City more sustainable and resilient to climate change impacts. The Pasadena CAP is the latest initiative in the City’s ongoing commitment to confronting the issue of climate change. The purpose of the CAP is to analyze GHG emissions at a programmatic-level, outline a strategy to reduce and mitigate municipal and community-wide GHG emissions, demonstrate Pasadena’s commitment to achieving the state-wide emissions reduction targets, and serve as a qualified GHG reduction plan consistent with Purpose of the Pasadena Climate Action Plan the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15183.5. The timeframe for the CAP extends from the date of adoption through the year 2035, consistent with the horizon year of Pasadena’s 2015 General Plan Land Use Element.
The 27 listed adaptation actions in the CAP are organized into five (5) strategies:
1. Sustainable Mobility and Land Use
2. Energy Efficiency and Conservation
3. Water Conservation
4. Solid Waste Reduction
5. Urban Greening
These actions establish an initial roadmap to withstand the impacts. Over time, as understanding climate change science evolves and local impacts are observed, the City will evaluate the need for adjusting existing actions and adding new ones. This will take place through regular CAP monitoring and reporting and future CAP updates. 251
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69 4.5.2 Dam Failure
Hazard Description
Dams and reservoirs of jurisdictional size are defined in the California Water Code Sections 6000 through 6008. There are currently more than 1,400 dams of jurisdictional size in California. Approximately 1,250 of these dams are under the jurisdiction of California’s Department of Water Resources, Division of Safety of Dams. Dams and reservoirs owned by the federal government are not subject to state jurisdiction except as otherwise provided by federal law. In California, there are currently 149 dams owned by federal government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Military.
Los Angeles County leads the state as being the county with the most jurisdictional-size dams, with 100 dams. The term “dam failure” encompasses a wide variety of circumstances. Situations that would constitute a dam failure vary widely, from developing problems to a partial or catastrophic collapse of the entire dam. Potential causes of dam failure are numerous and can be attributed to deficiencies in the original design of the dam, the quality of construction, the maintenance of the dam and operation of the appurtenances while the dam is in operation, and acts of nature, including precipitation in excess of the design, flood, and damage from earthquakes.
Water overtopping the dam crest is a common cause of failure in earth dams.
Overtopping will cause erosion of the dam crest and an eventual dam breach. Piping of each dam is another common form of failure. Piping is a form of erosion that occurs underground caused by rodent burrowing and extensive root systems from vegetation growing on and around the dam.
This type of disaster is especially dangerous because it can occur suddenly, providing little warning or evacuation time for the downstream communities. The flows resulting from dam failure generally are much larger than the capacity of the downstream channels and therefore lead to extensive flooding. Flood damage occurs due to the momentum of the flood caused by the sediment-laden water flooding over the channel banks and impact debris carried by the flow.
History
Pasadena has not been included in any federal disaster declarations or state emergency proclamations related to dam failure. Dams within Los Angeles County have failed or had the potential to fail within the past 100 years. Major incidents include:
• March 12, 1928 – The St. Francis Dam catastrophically failed, and the resulting flood caused as many as 400 fatalities. The collapse is considered one of the 252
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70 worst American civil engineering disasters of the 20th century and remains the second-greatest loss of life due to a disaster in California’s history. • December 14, 1963 – The Baldwin Hills Dam inundated the neighborhood of South Los Angeles when the dam suffered a catastrophic failure and flooded the residential neighborhoods surrounding it. It began with signs of lining failure, followed by increasingly serious leakage through the dam at its east abutment.
After three (3) hours, the dam breached, with a total release of 250 million U.S. gallons resulting in five (5) deaths and the destruction of 277 homes. Vigorous rescue efforts averted a greater loss of life.
• February 9, 1971 – The San Fernando region was struck by one of the most devastating earthquakes in California history. With a Richter magnitude of 6.6, it claimed 65 lives and caused damage estimated at half a billion dollars. It was California’s third-worst earthquake in terms of lives lost, only exceeded by San Francisco, 1906, and Long Beach, 1933. The San Fernando quake could have been a catastrophe instead of just a costly disaster. That conclusion arises from its most striking episode: the near collapse of the lower dam at the Van Norman reservoir. The 1,100-foot dam held 3.6 billion gallons of water, but it was only half full; the water level was 36 feet below the lip. The top thirty feet of the structure crumbled, leaving the water only six feet (6 ft.) from the top and fresh chunks of earth falling off with each aftershock. A University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) study estimated that the collapse of the dam could have killed between 71,600 and 123,400 people.
Location
There are two (2) major flood infrastructure structures located upstream from the Pasadena area to manage the Riverine Flooding potential: Devil’s Gate Dam and Reservoir and the Eaton Wash (Creek) Dam and Reservoir. These structures are owned by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and are located along the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Wash (Creek) tributary stream systems, respectively. • The Devil’s Gate Dam flood inundation path shows that the floodway of the Arroyo Seco would contain most of the water. Since this area is largely undeveloped and used primarily for recreation purposes, the risk posed by this hazard could be considered low.
• The Eaton Wash Dam inundation path shows that, on its southern reaches, some developed areas would be impacted. The risk posed by this hazard could be considered low.
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71 Devils Gate Dam
Devils Gate Dam was built in 1920, the oldest dam constructed by the Los Angeles County Flood Control City, to provide flood protection to the cities of Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Los Angeles. Parts of North and South Arroyo are in the inundation zone of the Devils Gate Dam. Figure 4-3 provides an overview of the dam. Figure 4-4 provides the location of the Devils Gate Dam.
Figure 4-3: Devils Gate Dam
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72 Figure 4-4: Location of Devils Gate Dam
Eaton Wash Dam
Eaton Wash Reservoir and the Eaton Wash Dam were built in 1937 (87 years ago) and are controlled by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. The dam is a rock fill, 63 feet (19 m) in height, and is 1,545 ft (471 m) in length. Normal storage for the reservoir is 721 acre-feet (889,000 m3). It has a surface area of 54 acres (22 ha) and drains an area of 9.47 square miles (24.5 km2). Its primary usage is for flood control and debris storage. A photograph of the dam is shown in Figure 4-5. Its location is shown in Figure 4-6.
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73 Figure 4.5: Eaton Wash Dam
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74 Figure 4-6: Location of Eaton Wash Dam
City Owned Reservoirs
Pasadena Water and Power has 12 active wells that feed natural groundwater into 18 reservoirs throughout the community that also receive some purchased water from the Metropolitan Water District. Jones Reservoir holds about 50 million gallons -- the largest capacity of all Pasadena's reservoirs (Lida Reservoir is the smallest). The blended water (natural groundwater and MWD water) is disinfected and then distributed to customers through a pipeline network of 478 miles of mains throughout the City. 257
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75 Figure 4-7: Dam Inundation Areas
Extent
DSOD uses a scale for defining the intensity or potential severity of dam failure solely based on potential downstream impacts to life and property. Additionally, the hazard is not related to the condition of the dam or its pertinent structures. This scale has four (4) categories which include the Federal categories and adds a fourth category of “extremely high”. Devils Gate Dam is listed as “High” and Eaton Wash is listed as “Extremely High”. Table 4-6 outlines the downstream hazard potential classifications used by DSOD.
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76 Table 4-6: California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams – Downstream Hazard Classifications
Downstream Hazard
Potential Classifications Potential Downstream Impacts on Life and Property Low No probable loss of human life and low economic and environmental losses. Losses are expected to be
principally limited to the owner’s property.
Significant No probable loss of human life, but it can cause economic loss, environmental damage, impacts to critical facilities, or other significant impacts.
High Expected to cause the loss of at least one human life.
Extremely High Expected to cause considerable loss of human life or would result in an inundation area with a population of 1,000 or more.
Probability of Future Event
Dam failure can result from numerous natural or human activities. Earthquakes, internal erosion, improper sitting, structural and design flaws, or rising floodwaters can all result in the collapse or failure of a dam. A dam failure may also be a result of the age of the structure or inadequate spillway capacity. The probability of a future dam failure affecting the City is unknown. While possible, it is unlikely that a dam failure event will occur within the next 10 years. There is less than or equal to 10% likelihood of a dam incident occurring each year.
Regulatory Context
In California, the regulation of dams is primarily overseen by the Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) under the Department of Water Resources. This division is responsible for the review, approval, and supervision of dam construction, maintenance, and safety protocols to prevent failure and mitigate risks associated with dam operations. 259
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77 Impact of Climate Change
Severe weather such as more powerful rainstorms are likely to occur as a result of climate change. Atmospheric rivers which can create flooding throughout California may occur more frequently due to warmer weather and more moisture in storm systems.
Climate change has the potential to cause more frequent and more heavy precipitation incidents. The results could be additional flows into with the potential for overtopping or other dam failure mechanisms for Devil’s Gate Dam and Reservoir and the Eaton Wash (Creek) Dam and Reservoir.
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78 4.5.3 Drought
Hazard Description
Drought is a normal part of virtually every climate on the planet, including areas of high and low rainfall. It is different from normal aridity, which is a permanent characteristic of the climate in areas of low rainfall. Drought is the result of a natural decline in the expected precipitation over an extended period, typically one or more seasons in length.
The severity of drought can be aggravated by other climatic factors, such as prolonged high winds and low relative humidity.
Drought is a complex natural hazard which is reflected in the following four (4) definitions commonly used to describe it:
• Meteorological drought is defined solely by the degree of dryness, expressed as a departure of actual precipitation from an expected average or normal amount based on monthly, seasonal, or annual time scales
• Hydrological drought is related to the effects of precipitation shortfalls on stream- flows and reservoir, lake, and groundwater levels
• Agricultural drought is defined principally in terms of naturally occurring soil moisture deficiencies relative to water demands of plant life, usually arid crops • Socioeconomic drought associates the supply and demand of economic goods or services with elements of meteorological, hydrologic, and agricultural drought.
Socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for water exceeds the supply as a result of a weather-related supply shortfall. It may also be called a water management drought.
A drought’s severity depends on numerous factors, including duration, intensity, geographic extent, and regional water supply demands by humans and vegetation. Due to its multi-dimensional nature, drought is difficult to define in exact terms and also poses challenges in terms of comprehensive risk assessments.
Drought differs from other natural hazards in three (3) ways. First, the onset and end of a drought are difficult to determine due to the slow accumulation and lingering effects of an event after its apparent end. Second, the lack of an exact and universally accepted definition adds to the confusion of its existence and severity. Third, in contrast with other natural hazards, the impact of drought is less obvious and may be spread over a larger geographic area. These characteristics have hindered the preparation of drought contingency or mitigation plans by many governments.
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79 Droughts may cause a shortage of water for human and industrial consumption, hydroelectric power, recreation, and navigation. Water quality may also decline, and the number and severity of wildfires may increase. Severe droughts may result in the loss of agricultural crops and forest products, undernourished wildlife and livestock, lower land values, and higher unemployment.
History
Since record-keeping began, California and the western region of the U.S. have experienced several multi-year drought conditions. The City experienced severe drought from April 2007 through December 2009 and severe to exceptional drought from February 2013 through January 2017. A severe to exceptional drought began in 2020 and ended during the winter of 2022-2023. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor.
The following maps show the extent of drought conditions in California from February 2025, 2020 and 2015. They also include a chart showing the history of drought conditions in California from 2001 through early 2025.
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80 Figure 4.8: California Drought Monitor February 2025 City of Pasadena
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81 Figure 4.9: California Drought Monitor February 2020 City of Pasadena
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82 Figure 4.10: California Drought Monitor February 2015 Location
The entirety of the City is affected by all drought conditions affecting Southern California.
Extent
The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-430) prescribes an interagency approach for drought monitoring, forecasting, and City of Pasadena
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83 early warning.5 The NIDIS maintains the U.S. Drought Portal,6 a centralized, web-based access point to several drought-related resources, including the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) and the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook (USSDO).
The primary indicators for these maps for the Western U.S. are the Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index and the 60-month Palmer Z-index. The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PSDI) is a commonly used index that measures the severity of drought for agriculture and water resource management. It is calculated from observed temperature and precipitation values and estimates soil moisture. However, the Palmer Index is not considered consistent enough to characterize the risk of drought on a nationwide basis.
Commonly used drought severity classifications are depicted in Figure 4-11.
Figure 4-11: Commonly Used Drought Severity Classifications Probability of Future Events
As this HMP is being developed, California is not experiencing severe drought. Extreme drought persisted from 2012 to 2016. After an extremely wet winter during 2017 – 2018, drought conditions returned in 2021 and lasted to 2024. 266
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84 Drought in California is a common occurrence that can last for multiple years. It is often associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), when La Nina conditions result in decrease winter precipitation. The regional climate is characterized by a distinct dry season (approximately May to September) and wet season (approximately October to April) defined by a few large precipitation events, though additional peaks in precipitation can occur. There is a high probability that multi-year drought will occur during any 25-year period.
Impact of Climate Change
Climate change is already profoundly impacting California's water resources, as evidenced by changes in snowpack, sea level, and river flows. These changes are expected to continue, and more precipitation will likely fall as rain instead of snow. This potential change in weather patterns will add additional challenges to water supply reliability.
The mountain snowpack provides as much as a third of California's water supply by accumulating snow during wet winters and releasing it slowly during the spring and summer when the need is the greatest. Warmer temperatures will cause snow to melt faster and earlier, making it more difficult to store and use.
By the end of this century, the Sierra snowpack is projected to experience a forty-eight percent (48%) to sixty-five percent (65%) loss from the historical April 1st average. This loss of snowpack means less water will be available for Californians.
Climate change is also expected to result in more variable weather patterns throughout California. More variability can lead to longer and more severe droughts. In addition, rising sea levels will continue to threaten the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the California water supply system and the source of water for twenty-five (25) million Californians and millions of acres of prime farmland.
Regulatory Context
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) and the nine (9) Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Boards) protect water quality and allocate surface water rights. The Legislature created the State Water Board in 1967.
The mission of the Water Board is to ensure the highest reasonable quality for waters of the State while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses. The joint authority of water allocation and water quality protection enables the Water Board to provide comprehensive protection for California's waters. Regional Boards are semi-autonomous and have broad responsibilities within the framework of State regulatory guidance. The Department of Water Resources manages water usage, 267
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85 including water delivery to two-thirds of California’s population through the State Water Project.
Impacts and Vulnerabilities
Within the City, severe drought may result in water rationing and loss of public and private landscaping. Region-wide, drought results in large-scale tree die-off, increasing the likelihood and severity of wildland fires.
Surrounding communities, also in drought conditions, could increase their demand for water supplies relied upon by the planning partnership, causing social and political conflicts. If such conditions persist for several years, mandatory water rationing could impact residents and City businesses.
Low-income communities are most vulnerable to drought due to potential increases in the cost of water.
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86 4.5.4 Earthquake/Geological Hazards
Hazard Description
An earthquake is the vibration of the earth’s surface following a release of energy in the earth’s crust. This energy can be generated by a sudden dislocation of the crust or by a volcanic eruption. Most destructive quakes are caused by dislocation of the crust. The crust may first bend and then, when the stress exceeds the strength of the rocks, break and snap to a new position. In the process of breaking, vibrations called “seismic waves” are generated. These waves travel outward from the source of the earthquake at varying speeds.
The City is located in a high seismic risk zone. This region is one of the most seismically active in the world, marked by the number of large, damaging earthquakes that have occurred in the past. The following geologic hazards are associated with earthquakes and may be caused by seismic activity, increasing the resulting damage:
Ground Shaking
Ground shaking caused by a strong earthquake is probably the most important seismic hazard that can be expected anywhere in the City and larger Southern California area.
The amount of earthquake shaking at a site is associated with the earthquake magnitude; the type of earthquake fault; the distance between the site and the earthquake source; the geology of the site; and how the earthquake waves decrease or increase as they travel from their source to the site in question. Shaking from the earthquake intensifies with a greater magnitude and closer distance to the epicenter.
Softer soils and topographic ridges can also amplify seismic ground motions.
Liquefaction
Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon in which soil's strength and stiffness are reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loadings. Liquefaction and related phenomena have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world. Liquefaction can result in the settling and compacting of unconsolidated sediment in the event of a major earthquake. Liquefaction may increase as the ground acceleration and duration of shaking increase.
Areas subject to liquefaction in the City are shown in Figure 4-12.
Surface Fault Rupture
Surface rupture is an offset of the ground surface when fault rupture extends to the Earth's surface. Fault rupture almost always follows preexisting faults, which are zones of weakness. Any structure built across the fault is at risk of being torn apart as the two (2) 269
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87 sides of the fault slip past each other. Normal and reverse surface fault ruptures have vertical motion while strike-slip surface fault ruptures produce lateral offsets.
Subsidence
Land subsidence is defined as the lowering of the land surface. Many different factors can cause the land surface to subside, such as a sinkhole or underground mine collapse, or during a major earthquake. Land subsidence can also occur when large amounts of groundwater have been excessively withdrawn from an aquifer. The clay layers within the aquifer compact and settle, resulting in lowering the ground surface in the area from which the groundwater is being pumped. Over time, as more water is removed from the area, the ground drops and creates a cone. Once the water has been removed from the sediment, it cannot be replaced.
Land subsidence can occur in various ways during an earthquake. Movement that occurs along faults can be horizontal or vertical or have a component of both. As a result, a large area of land can subside drastically during an earthquake. Land subsidence can also be caused during liquefaction. Liquefaction can result in the settling and compacting of unconsolidated sediment in the event of a major earthquake. This can result in the lowering of the land surface.
Expansive Soils
Expansive soils contain mixed-layer clay minerals that increase and decrease in volume upon wetting and drying, respectively. Expansive soil is common throughout California and can damage foundations and slabs unless properly treated during construction.
Landslides
Some soil materials, such as clay minerals, can absorb water, resulting in a reduction of shear strength. The force of gravity can cause landslides when the shear strength of saturated clay is reduced below its minimum stability threshold. Earthquake-induced landslides of steep slopes can occur in either bedrock or soils. Areas at risk from landslides typically have steep slopes (15% or greater), unstable rock or soil characteristics, or other geologic evidence of instability. The City does not have slopes of this steepness.
While ground shaking, liquefaction, surface fault rupture, subsidence, expansive soils, and landslides may all result from an earthquake, the City has taken the approach of developing mitigation activities that address earthquakes as a single hazard. This is based upon the fact that the sub-hazards of landslide and surface fault rupture are unlikely in the City, and that ground shaking, liquefaction, subsidence, and expansive 270
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88 soils result in damage to structures and facilities. Mitigation actions will be designed to address the sub-hazards as a single hazard.
For this planning cycle, the City has chosen not to develop any mitigation actions specific to these sub-hazards.
Figure 4-12: Areas Subject to Liquefaction
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89 History
Southern California is one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. The region has experienced at least 9 earthquakes of Magnitude 6.5 or higher since 1812.
Pasadena has not been included in any federal disaster declarations or state emergency proclamations related to earthquake/geological hazards. Table 4-7 includes historical earthquakes recorded in Southern California greater than magnitude 6.5.
Table 4-7: Historical Earthquakes Recorded in Southern California Date Magnitude Fault Name (Incident Name)
7/5/2019 7.1 Garlock (Ridgecrest)
1/17/1994 6.7 Northridge Thrust (Northridge Earthquake) 2/9/1971 6.5 San Fernando (San Fernando Earthquake)
7/21/1954 7.5 White Wolf
5/18/1949 6.9 Imperial (Imperial Valley Earthquake)
11/4/1927 7.1 Unknown (Lompoc Earthquake)
4/21/1918 6.8 San Jacinto
1/9/1857 7.9 San Andreas (Fort Tejon Earthquake)
12/8/1812 7.5 San Andreas (Wrightwood Earthquake)
Location
The two (2) largest faults in the Pasadena area are the Sierra Madre Fault, a reverse fault on the north boundary of the City, and the Raymond Fault, a left lateral strike-slip fault that extends into the southern and eastern areas of the City. A rupture of either fault would result in major damage to the entire City. Other nearby faults include the Verdugo, Hollywood, Whittier, and Elysian Park fault zones. Any of these faults have the potential to cause serious damage to Pasadena. Fault locations in the City are shown in Figure 4-14.
Landslides are not common and affect a small portion of the West and North of the City.
Areas subject to landslides in the City are shown in Figure 4-13. 272
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90 Figure 4-13: Areas Subject to Landslides
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91 Figure 4-14: Major Faults near the City
Extent
Earthquake
Two (2) scales are used to measure the severity and intensity of an earthquake. The Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale measures the ground shaking intensity in terms of acceleration, velocity, and displacement. The Moment Magnitude (Mw) Scale measures the severity of the earthquake by the amount of energy released at the source of the earthquake. The Mw scale, based on the concept of seismic moment, is uniformly applicable to all sizes of earthquakes. The extent of damage from an earthquake is determined by the magnitude of the earthquake, distance from the epicenter, and characteristics of surface geology. Table 4-8 shows an approximate correlation between the Moment Magnitude (Mw) and the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale and its effects.
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92 Table 4-8: Severity (Mw) and Intensity (MMI) Comparison Magnitude
(Mw)
MMI
Scale:
Intensity
Abbreviated MMI Scale:
Effects
Abbreviated MMI Scale:
Effects
1.0 - 3.0 I I. Not felt except by a very
few under especially
favorable conditions.
3.0 - 3.9 II – III II. Felt only by a few people
at rest, especially on upper
floors of buildings.
III. Felt quite noticeably by
people indoors, especially on
upper floors of buildings.
Many people do not
recognize it as an
earthquake. Standing motor
cars may rock slightly.
Vibrations like the passing of
a truck. Duration estimated.
4.0 - 4.9 IV – V IV. Felt indoors by many,
outdoors by few during the
day. At night, some
awakened. Dishes,
windows, doors disturbed;
walls make cracking
sound—a sensation like
heavy truck striking
building. Standing motor
cars rocked noticeably.
V. Felt by nearly everyone;
many awakened. Some
dishes, windows broken.
Unstable objects overturned.
Pendulum clocks may stop.
5.0 - 5.9 VI – VII VI. Felt by all, many
frightened. Some heavy
furniture moved; a few
instances of fallen plaster—
damage slight.
VII. Damage negligible in
buildings of good design and
construction; light to
moderate in well-built ordinary
structures; considerable
damage in poorly built or
badly designed structures;
some chimneys broken.
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93 Magnitude
(Mw)
MMI
Scale:
Intensity
Abbreviated MMI Scale:
Effects
Abbreviated MMI Scale:
Effects
6.0 - 6.9 VIII – IX VIII. Damage slight in
specially designed
structures; considerable
damage in ordinary
substantial buildings with
partial collapse. Damage
greatly in poorly built
structures. Fall of
chimneys, factory stacks,
columns, monuments,
walls. Heavy furniture
overturned.
IX. Damage considerably in
specially designed structures;
well-designed frame
structures thrown out of
plumb. Great damage in
substantial buildings, with
partial collapse. Buildings
shifted off foundations.
7.0 and
higher
X - XI X. Some well-built wooden
structures destroyed; most
masonry and frame
structures destroyed with
foundations. Rails bent.
XI. Few, if any (masonry)
structures remain standing.
Bridges destroyed. Rails bent
greatly.
7.0 and
higher
XII XII. Damage total. Lines of
sight and level are
distorted. Objects thrown
into the air.
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/mag_vs_int.php Landslide
Landslides are not common in Pasadena but can occur. They are most likely to occur during and immediately after storms when water saturation of the soil is at highest levels or during a significant earthquake.
There is no standardized classification for size or damage of landslides. The National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) uses these definitions based on the exponential increase in the mass of the landslide:
• Small: Less than 10 cubic meters of debris. These minimally impact infrastructure, and roads though may still hold enough mass to kill a human. • Medium: Between 10 and 1,000 cubic meters of debris. These can block roads for days, damage houses and facilities, and easily kill humans. 276
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• Very Large: Between 100,000 and 1,000,000 cubic meters of debris. These landslides cover extremely large areas that can cover entire towns and neighborhoods.
• Catastrophic: Over 1,000,000 cubic meters of debris. Multiple towns, neighborhoods, and boroughs may be impacted or completely covered. Fatalities might be over 1,000.
Probability of Future Events
Pasadena is in a seismically active area with many faults in the surrounding area and region-at-large. There will be an ever-present danger, of course, posed by any seismic shaking, which could potentially cause damage to buildings and/or infrastructure. It is almost inevitable that an earthquake will occur along one of the adjacent or regional fault lines and cause a major seismic event.
There is 75% likelihood that the City will experience a significant earthquake from one of the known major faults in the next 30 years. In 2015, the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP) issued its third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) , which determined the likelihood for magnitude 6.7 and larger earthquakes within the next 30 year, somewhere in the region remains near certainty (greater than 99 percent). Within the next 30 years, the probabilities of earthquakes in Southern California are:
• 60% that an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.7
• 46% that an earthquake measuring magnitude 7
• 31% that an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.5
In addition to UCERF3 forecasts, which project the odds of a major earthquake on local and regional faults, the U.S. Geological Survey forecasts the severity of seismic shaking in different locations for various plausible earthquake scenarios.
Although not a significant risk to the city, landslides can occur during periods of extreme weather after a large earthquake. FEMA’s risk index currently lists Los Angeles County as Relatively High.
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Climate change is not expected to have any direct influence on the likelihood, size, and/or severity of any future seismic-related event. Landslides and other geological hazards can be more common with the impacts of climate change due to more extreme weather events causing greater water saturation of soils, such as during the 2023 atmospheric river events. More extreme El Niño weather events could also increase the amount of water dumped during each event despite the area becoming dryer on average. 278
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96 4.5.5 Extreme Weather (Sever Wind, Extreme Heat, Winter Storm) Severe Wind (Hazard Description)
Windstorms are generally short-duration events involving straight-line winds or gusts of over 50–60 mph, strong enough to cause property damage. Damage from such winds accounts for half of all severe weather reports in the lower 48 states. Wind speeds can reach up to 100 mph and can produce a damaged path extending for hundreds of miles.
The Beaufort Wind Chart (Table 4-9) provides terminology and a description of potential wind impacts at different levels.
The following types of damaging winds represent a hazard within the planning area:
• Santa Ana Winds—In Southern California, strong, dry, gusty winds known as Santa Ana winds form when air from a region of high pressure over the desert region of the southwestern U.S. flows westward toward low pressure areas off the California coast. As the wind flows over the Sierra Nevada and Santa Ana mountains, dropping from high elevation to sea level, it becomes compressed and heats up, and its relative humidity drops. Gaps in mountains form wind tunnels that strengthen these winds as they pour warm air east to west through the canyons. Santa Ana winds may occur year-round but are most common from September through March. A Santa Ana wind event can yield sustained winds of 40 miles per hour; isolated wind gusts of over 80 miles per hour have been recorded.
• Downdrafts—A downdraft is a small-scale column of air that rapidly sinks toward the ground.
• Downbursts—A downburst is a strong downdraft with horizontal dimensions larger than 2.5 miles, resulting in an outward burst or damaging winds on or near the ground. Downburst winds may sometimes produce damage similar to a strong tornado. Although usually associated with thunderstorms, downbursts can occur with showers too weak to produce thunder.
• Microbursts—Microbursts are small, concentrated downbursts that produce an outward burst of damaging winds at the surface. Microbursts are generally less than 2.5 miles across and short-lived, lasting only 5 to 10 minutes, with maximum wind speeds up to 168 mph.
• Tornados—Tornados are formed by the turbulent mixing of layers of air with contrasting temperature, moisture, density, and wind flow. Tornados have occurred in the planning area but are not common.
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Extreme Heat (Hazard Description)
In most of the United States, extreme heat is defined as a period (two [2] to three [3] days) of high heat and humidity with temperatures above 90 ºF. In extreme heat, evaporation is slowed, and the body must work extra hard to maintain a normal temperature, which can lead to death by overworking the human body. Extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion, in which the body becomes dehydrated, resulting in an imbalance of electrolytes. Without intervention, heat exhaustion can lead to collapse and heatstroke. Heatstroke occurs when perspiration cannot occur, and the body overheats. Without intervention, heatstroke can lead to confusion, coma, and death.
Extreme heat often results in the highest number of annual deaths among all weather- related hazards. Older adults, children, and sick or overweight individuals are at greater risk from extreme heat. According to the California Climate Adaptation Strategy, heat waves have claimed more lives in California than all other declared disaster events combined. It can take several days of oppressive heat for a heat wave to have a significant or quantifiable impact. Heat waves do not strike victims immediately, but their cumulative effects slowly cause harm to vulnerable populations.
Excessive heat is the primary weather-related cause of death in the United States, claiming over 100 lives each year. In a 30-year record of weather fatalities across the nation (1990-2019), excessive heat claimed more lives each year than floods, lightning, tornados, and hurricanes (Erdman 2021). Extreme heat events do not typically impact buildings; however, losses may be associated with the urban heat island effect and overheating of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. These extreme heat events can lead to drought, impact water supplies, and lead to an increase in heat- related illnesses and deaths.
Legislation has been introduced in California to rate and name heat waves. The categorization would help communities take measures to reduce the number of heat- related fatalities (Washington Post 2021).
Winter Storm (Hazard Description)
During severe weather events such as strong storms, rain can fall at such a high rate that it cannot drain away fast enough. The resulting heavy rain can cause flooding, 280
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98 leading to inundation and potential damage to buildings, road networks, public areas, utilities, and other critical pieces of infrastructure. In California, heavy rainfall events are often short, intense bursts of rain, but in some cases, heavy rain can persist for multiple days.
History
Table 4-10 summarizes search results from the National Center for Environmental Information Storm Events Database for Los Angeles County storm events over the 20- year period from 2002 through 2025. Based on these results, wind events are likely to happen every year, significant heat events occur multiple times a year. Pasadena has not been included in any federal disaster declarations or state emergency proclamations related to Extreme Weather.
Table 4-10: Los Angeles County Severe Weather Events, January 2002 – August 2025
Event Types Include Total Number of Events
High Wind, Thunderstorm Wind, Strong Wind,
Tornado
423
Excessive Heat 10
Heavy Rain, Lightning, Winter storm 15
Location
Extreme weather events have the potential to happen anywhere in the planning area.
Wind events are most damaging to areas where trees and power lines can be knocked down. Extreme heat events may be exacerbated in the City where reduced air flow, reduced vegetation, and temperatures that are several degrees higher than in surrounding less urbanized areas. Additionally, Extreme Heat can lead to loss of power in the planning area. Winter storms can impact the entire planning area, bringing heavy rain which can cause localized flooding.
Extent
Windstorms
Generally, winds are measured using the Beaufort scale, developed in 1805, which categorizes wind events on a force scale from 0 to 12 using their speed and impacts.
Any wind classified as force nine (9) or above is generally considered a severe wind event. Table 4-11 identifies the Beaufort scale, which classifies wind events in detail. 281
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Force Speed (mph) Description
0 0 to 1 Calm: Smoke rises vertically
1 1 to 3 Light air: The direction of the wind is shown by smoke drift but not wind vanes.
2 4 to 7 Light breeze: Wind is felt on the face, leaves rustle, and wind vanes are moved.
3 8 to 12 Gentle breeze: Leaves and small twigs are in motion, and light flags are extended.
4 13 to 18 Moderate breeze: Dust and loose paper become airborne, and small branches are moved.
5 19 to 24 Fresh breeze: Small trees begin to sway
6 25 to 31 Strong breeze: Large branches are in motion, and using an umbrella becomes difficult.
7 32 to 38 High wind: Whole trees are in motion and walking against the wind can be hard.
8 39 to 46 Strong wind: Walking is difficult, and twigs break off trees. 9 47 to 54 Severe wind: Slight structural damage.
10 55 to 63 Storm: Trees are uprooted and considerable damage to structures.
11 63 to 72 Violent storm: Widespread damage.
12 73 and above Hurricane: Devastating damage.
Source: https://www.weather.gov/mfl/beaufort
Extreme Heat
Extreme heat events will feel different from region to region since different areas have different historic high temperatures. For example, an extreme heat day on the coast will 282
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feel different than an extreme heat day in the High Desert. The reason for this is how humidity affects the perceived heat that people feel. Humid conditions will make a day feel hotter than non-humid conditions, even though the temperature may be the same.
The difference between the perceived and actual temperatures is known as the “heat index.” To illustrate the effect of the heat index, a 90-degree day with 50 percent humidity feels like 95°F, whereas a 90°F Day with 90 percent humidity feels like 122°F.
Figure 4-15 illustrates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service Heat Index.
Extreme heat events are not limited to any part of the City. They occur with the same intensity and duration at the same time across all locations in Pasadena. For Pasadena, an extreme heat day involves a temperature that exceeds 103.2°F. These thresholds are based on a 2% probability event.
Figure 4-15: NOAA’s National Weather Service Heat Index Winter Storm
California’s precipitation varies from year to year, depending on how much moisture the state receives from atmospheric rivers. Atmospheric rivers are corridors along which wet air travels from the tropics to continents. When the moisture arrives in California, it may precipitate as rain or snow. One of California's most known atmospheric rivers is the “Pineapple Express,” which brings moist air from the ocean surrounding Hawaii to 283
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California. An immense amount of moisture may be transported along the atmospheric rivers that cross over California during certain years, leading to severe rains.
Another weather phenomenon influencing rainfall in southern California is “El Niño,” officially referred to as the “Southern Oscillation” or “El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).” ENSO can cause increased rainfall, particularly during the winter months, caused by warming of the surface of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, leading to the evaporation of warm, moist air into the atmosphere. Winds bring this moisture to the eastern Pacific and the American continents, where it falls as rain. ENSO does not always lead to increased rainfall by default, but in general, it can increase the chances of winter with higher-than-usual precipitation.
Rain events are usually measured by the amount of precipitation that falls. Table 4-12 categorizes rain events by the amount of precipitation per hour.
Table 4-12: Measuring Heavy Rain Events
Rain Type Description
Heavy Rain More than 4 mm per hour but less than 8 mm per hour Very Heavy Rain Greater than 8 mm per hour
Moderate Shower Greater than 2 mm, but less than 10 mm per hour Heavy Shower Greater than 10 mm per hour, but less than 50 mm per hour
Violent Shower Greater than 50 mm per hour
Source: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-howmuchrain-metric.html Probability of Future Events
Based on history, extreme weather events, including Santa Ana winds or microburst tornadic activity can be expected, perhaps annually, across widespread areas of Los Angeles County. In the U.S., average surface temperatures have risen more quickly since the late 1970s (0.36 to 0.55 degrees F per decade), with seven (7) of the top 10 warmest years on record since 1998. This will lead to more days of extreme heat every year.
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There is no indication that rainfall or severe rain hazards will abate either in Pasadena or the greater region of Southern California in the future. There is a 70% chance that Pasadena will experience a severe weather event in the next year.
Impact of Climate Change
Climate change is a key driver of severe weather events, including extreme heat and winter storms. Climate change has led to an increase in the earth’s surface temperature which has caused hotter days and warmer nights. Winter storms have the possibility of becoming more frequent with the climate temperatures increasing, and the atmosphere becoming more convective.
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4.5.6 Flooding
Hazard Description
Floods are a common hazard in many parts of California, including Pasadena.
Ultimately, a flood occurs when there is too much water on the ground to be held within local water bodies, causing water to accumulate in naturally dry areas. They are often caused by heavy rainfall, though floods can also occur after a long period of moderate rainfall or if unusually warm weather causes mountain snow to melt faster than expected. Floods that develop quickly, known as flash floods, are especially dangerous because there may be little warning that one is occurring, but floods can also build over a more extended period.
A flood, as defined by FEMA’s NFIP, is: "A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two (2) or more acres of normally dry land area or of two (2) or more properties (at least one of which is the policyholder’s property) from:
• Overflow of inland or tidal waters, or
• Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, or • Mudflow, or
• Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels."
Floods can be slow or fast rising but generally develop over a period of hours or days.
Mitigation includes any activities that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or lessen the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies.
Investing in mitigation measures now, such as: engaging in floodplain management activities, constructing barriers such as levees, and purchasing flood insurance will help reduce the amount of structural damage and financial loss from other types of property damage should a flood or flash flood occur.
Floods are dangerous for several reasons. The floodwater can be deep enough for people to drown and move fast enough to sweep people away. The moving water can damage buildings with its force (in extreme cases, it may move entire structures) or carry large debris that damages objects with which it collides. When water gets into buildings, it can cause extensive damage to personal property, ruining building materials, furniture, electronics, and numerous other items. Both standing and moving water can be barriers to movement, isolating people and hindering evacuation, rescue, or relief efforts.
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History
Pasadena has had serious floods throughout its history. Several canyons near the Pasadena area, including Eaton, Zachau, Rubio, and Shields canyons, have flooded in recent recorded history. The continued threat for flooding led the County of Los Angeles and the City to develop a flood management strategy for the Arroyo Seco wash area.
The first step was building the Devil’s Gate Dam, completed in 1920. While the dam and other flood infrastructure has helped address flooding, it has not eliminated flooding.
Table 4-13 lists these notable floods, detailing the dates, names, affected acres, and the number of deaths or lost structures associated with each event. This historical record underscores the persistent threat of flooding in the region and the importance of ongoing flood management and preparedness measures.
Table 4-13: Historical Records of Large Floods in Pasadena Date Description
February 2023 The February 2023 flood was one of the most significant in recent years. Persistent heavy rainfall over a week led to widespread flooding across Pasadena. The total rainfall exceeded 10 inches, making it one of the wettest periods in the City's history. Many residents reported basement flooding and water damage to their properties. The City had to deploy additional resources to manage the situation and provide relief to the affected areas.
November 2023 A less severe but still notable flooding event occurred in November 2023. The region experienced a sudden storm that brought about 4 inches of rain in a single day. While not as devastating as the previous floods, this event caused significant inconvenience, particularly in traffic and public transportation.
March 2020 Intense rainfall in March resulted in temporary road closures and minor property damage.
2017 A series of winter storms caused minor flooding, with Arroyo Seco once again posing a risk to nearby properties.
December 2010 Heavy rains in December led to localized flooding, impacting several neighborhoods.
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Date Description
1997-1998 The El Niño weather phenomenon of 1997-1998 brought unprecedented amounts of rainfall to Pasadena. The heavy rains caused significant flooding, particularly affecting the low-lying areas and homes along riverbanks. Impacts included
displacement of hundreds of residents., severe property damage, particularly in flood-prone zones, and Infrastructure strain due to sustained heavy rainfall.
February 1969 In January and February of 1969, Pasadena and surrounding areas were hit by a series of powerful storms that brought heavy rains, leading to significant flooding. The storms caused rivers and streams to swell, inundating neighborhoods and leading to evacuations.
Location
The geographical location, climate, and topography of Pasadena make the City prone to flooding. In Pasadena, floods usually occur during the winter “wet” season, the time of year with the highest precipitation totals or heavy rainfalls. During significant rainfall years, the season is characterized by high intensity rainfalls and rapid runoffs or discharge. These storm events have inundated streams, flooded areas, created debris flows (i.e., sediment, rock, dead trees) that have plugged culverts and damaged bridges/overpasses, and/or eroded or scarred the landscape. Two (2) types of flooding primarily affect the City: Riverine Flooding and Urban Flooding. While the entire City is subjective to Urban Flooding, the northern and western parts of the City are the most prone to riverine flooding due to its proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains. Two (2) main north-to-south flowing stream systems drain in the Pasadena area: Arroyo Seco and Eaton Wash. The Arroyo Seco runs along the western edge of the City, while Eaton Wash drains the eastern side of the City. A dam and reservoir system protect both streams, but they are still prone to flooding during significant events. Discussion of the dams (and reservoirs) are presented under the Dam Failure hazard. Figure 4-16 depicts areas in Pasadena prone to flooding.
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Figure 4-16: City Flood Zones
Below are the FEMA 100/500 Year Flood Maps produced by the FEMA Maps Service Center (MSC) in support of the NFIP.
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Figure 4-17: FEMA Flood Map1
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Figure 4-18: FEMA Flood Map 2
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Extent
Flood events are measured by their likelihood of occurrence. For instance, a 100-year flood is a flood that has a 1 in 100 (1.0 percent) chance of occurring in any given year. A 500-year flood is a flood that has a 1 in 500 (0.2 percent) chance of occurring in any given year. The 100-year flood has been designated as the benchmark for major flood events. Thus 100-year floods are referred to as “base floods.” Floodplains are areas that are prone to flooding and often experience frequent flooding.
While it is possible for areas outside of these designated floodplains to experience flooding, the most likely locations to experience future flooding are low-lying areas near bodies of water. FEMA is the governmental body responsible for designating which areas of the United States can be classified as floodplains.
The three (3) most common designations are:
• Special Flood Hazard Area: The area is within a 100-year floodplain. • Moderate Flood Hazard Area: The area outside the 100-year floodplain but within the 500-year floodplain.
• Minimum Flood Hazard Area: The area outside of the 500-year floodplain.
Pasadena, California, like many cities, has areas that are subject to flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides detailed maps and categories to help communities understand and manage their flood risk. These floodplain designations are crucial for City planning, construction, insurance, and emergency preparedness. Table 4-14 shows these detailed floodplain categories.
FEMA classifies Pasadena under five (5) floodplain categories: A, AE, AH, AO, and X; the location of these floodplains can be seen on the FEMA Flood Hazard Zone Maps.
Table 4-14: FEMA Floodplain Categories
Category Description
A Within a 100-year floodplain, but the water height of the 100-year flood is not known.
A1-30 or
AE
Within a 100-year floodplain and the water height of the 100-year flood is known.
AO Within a 100-year floodplain, the water height of the 100-year flood is 292
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Category Description
between one and three feet (3 ft.) but not specifically known.
A99 Within a 100-year floodplain, it is protected by flood protection infrastructures such as dams or levees.
AH Within a 100-year floodplain, and the water height of the 100-year flood is between one and three feet (3 ft.) and is specifically known.
AR Within a 100-year floodplain, it is protected by flood protection infrastructure that is not currently effective but is being rebuilt to provide protection.
V Within a 100-year floodplain for coastal floods, but the height of the flood is not known.
V1-30 or
VE
Within a 100-year floodplain for coastal floods and the water height of the flood is known.
VO Within a 100-year floodplain for shallow coastal floods with a height between one and three feet (3 ft.).
B Within a 500-year floodplain, or within a 100-year floodplain with a water height less than one foot (found on older maps).
C Outside of the 500-year floodplain (found on older maps).
X Outside of the 500-year floodplain (found on newer maps).
X500 Within a 500-year floodplain or within a 100-year floodplain with a water height less than one foot (found on newer maps).
D Within an area with a potential and undetermined flood hazard.
M Within an area at risk of mudslides from a 100-year flood event.
N Within an area at risk of mudslides from a 500-year flood event.
P Within an area at risk of mudslides from a potential and undetermined flood event.
E Within an area at risk of erosion from a 100-year flood event. 293
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Probability of Future Events:
The major causes of flooding in the City are short-duration and high-intensity storms.
Water courses in the City can flood in response to a succession of intense winter rainstorms, usually between early November and late March. A series of such weather events can cause severe flooding in the City due to the large percentage of impervious area and the age and capacity of the drainage system.
A worst-case scenario is a series of storms that flood numerous drainage basins in a short time, such as those projected by USGS in the CA ARkStorm Scenario (USGS 2018). This could overwhelm response and floodplain management capabilities within the City. Major roads could be blocked, preventing critical access for many residents and critical functions. Additionally, as the grounds become saturated, groundwater flooding issues typical for the City would be significantly enhanced. Due to its low impacts that flooding has in the City, there is a 25% chance that flooding will impact the City within the next year.
Impact of Climate Change
Climate change acts as an amplifier of existing flood hazards. Extreme weather events have become more frequent over the past 40 to 50 years and this trend is projected to continue. Rising sea levels and shifting weather patterns (temperature, winds) are expected to have a significant impact on rainfall frequency, intensity and distribution, which in turn will have a significant impact on the frequency of flood occurrences.
Climate Change can also increase the frequency and/or intensity of mudflows. Changes in precipitation, specifically the increased frequency of intense precipitation, can result in a water content the ground cannot tolerate, and may cause mudflows. These mudflows may happen more frequently due to the increased number of heavy rainfall events.
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4.5.7 Public Health Incidents: Pandemics, Epidemics/Infectious Diseases Hazard Description
Widespread public health emergencies, i.e. pandemics, occur when a disease emerges to which the population has little immunity. Public health experts worry about a pandemic potential of diseases that spill over to humans from other species and are capable of spreading human-to-human. Depending on the nature of such a disease, depending on the nature of the disease a large proportion of the population can become ill. This level of disease activity would disrupt all aspects of society and severely affect the economy.
Vaccines, antibiotics, and improved living conditions resulted in dramatic declines in communicable diseases in the latter part of the 20th Century. However, infectious diseases have become an increasing threat to all people in Los Angeles County due to a variety of factors such as:
• Population growth—Overcrowding, aging, migration
• Methods of food production—Large scale, wide distribution, importation • Environmental changes—Drought, encroachment of humans on wild areas, global warming
• Microbial adaptation—Resistance to antibiotics, re-assortment of genetic material • Changes in health care—Drugs causing immunosuppression, widespread use of antibiotics
• Human behavior—Travel, diet, sexual behavior, compromised immune systems The Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) is responsible for public health in the City. PPHD will coordinate with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) during a public health emergency, whether in the City or throughout the county or state. Pasadena Public Health will serve as the lead agency for a pandemic response in Pasadena and would work closely with the County to ensure that:
• Planning efforts are consistent throughout the county • Official information is provided to cities in a timely manner • Pharmaceutical distribution is conducted across the county Outbreaks of infectious diseases following floods, tornados, earthquakes, and other disasters are common in the developing world but are rare in developed countries. Most 295
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post-disaster diseases are produced by poor sanitation, a lack of safe drinking water and contaminated food.
Below are the known risks to the City:
Coronaviruses - The current (2020) COVID-19 pandemic is spread by a coronavirus.
Coronaviruses cause a large percentage of colds and upper respiratory infections.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually cause mild upper respiratory infections, including some cases of the common cold. However, three coronaviruses have caused more serious disease in people: SARS coronavirus, MERS coronavirus, and COVID-19. (NIH) severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by a SARS-associated coronavirus. It was first identified at the end of February 2003 during an outbreak that emerged in China and spread to four (4) other countries.
Influenza - Flu epidemics occur routinely, typically in the fall and winter. Because flu seasons fluctuate in length and severity, a single estimate cannot be used to summarize influenza-associated deaths. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that from the 1976-1977 flu season to the 2006-2007 season, flu- associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000.
There have been four flu pandemics in the last 100 years (1918, 1957, 1968, and 2009). (CDC) A flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new flu A virus in people that is very different from current and recently circulating seasonal flu A viruses.
Insect/Tick-Borne Disease - Insects such as mosquitos and ticks can transmit a variety of diseases. Diseases that can be contracted through an insect bite include:
• Lyme disease
• Malaria
• West Nile virus
• Zika virus
• Typhus Fever
• Dengue Fever
Plague - Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacterium usually found in small mammals and their fleas. Plague is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact with infected tissues, and inhalation of infected respiratory droplets. There are two (2) primary clinical forms of plague 296
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infection: bubonic and pneumonic. Bubonic plague is the most common form and is characterized by painful swollen lymph nodes or 'buboes.' Plague can be a very severe disease in people, with a case-fatality ratio of 30% to 60% for the bubonic type and is always fatal for the pneumonic kind when left untreated.
Anthrax - Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. Although it is rare, people can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products.
Anthrax has the potential for and has been used as a biological weapon.
Hemorrhagic Fevers - Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a group of illnesses caused by several distinct families of viruses. In general, the term “viral hemorrhagic fever” is used to describe a severe multisystem syndrome. Characteristically, the overall vascular system is damaged, and the body’s ability to regulate itself is impaired. These symptoms are often accompanied by hemorrhage (bleeding); however, the bleeding is itself rarely life-threatening. While some types of hemorrhagic fever viruses can cause relatively mild illnesses, many of these viruses cause severe, life- threatening diseases. Hemorrhagic fevers include Ebola and Yellow Fever.
History
Pasadena has been included in any federal disaster declarations or state emergency proclamations related to Public Health Incidents. The most recent was the COVID-19 pandemic. The Los Angeles County Health Alert Network issued the following recent public health alerts:
• September 17, 2024 - LAC DPH Health Alert: Baylisascaris procyonis (raccoon roundworm)
• September 9, 2024 – LAC DPH Health Alert: Locally Acquired Case of Dengue • May 10, 2024 – Local Outbreak of Hepatitis A among Persons Experiencing Homelessness
• February 1, 2024 – First LA County Measles Case
• October 3, 2023 – First Locally Acquired Case of Dengue in California Detected in Pasadena
• November 29, 2022 – Reminder to Prescribe COVID-19 Therapeutics • May 27, 2022 – Contaminated Ecstasy and Accidental Drug Overdoses • December 2, 2021 – Outbreaks of Flea-Borne Typhus
• November 30, 2021 – SARS-CoV-2 Virus Variant of Concern B.1.1.529 (Omicron)
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• March 5, 2021 – Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea
• March 3, 2021 – Wound Botulism Cases Associated with Heroin Injection • February 26, 2021 – SARS-CoV-2 virus variants of concern identified in CA • February 7, 2021 – Measles Outbreak in LA County
• July 23, 2020 – Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• April 22, 2020 – Measles Outbreak in LA County
• February 19, 2020 – Increase in Clusters of Pertussis in 11 to 18-Year-Olds in LA County
Location
Pandemics occur worldwide. Smaller-scale public health incidents or epidemics may be localized, such as the Ebola outbreak in a region of Africa. All locations are susceptible to pandemics and local public health hazard incidents.
Extent
The World Health Organization pandemic phases were developed in 1999 and revised in 2005. The phases are applicable to the entire world and provide a global framework to aid countries in pandemic preparedness and response planning. Phases 1-3 correlate with preparedness, including capacity development and response planning activities, while Phases 4-6 clearly signal the need for response and mitigation efforts.
Below is a description of each phase.
• Phase 1: no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.
• Phase 2: an animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.
• Phase 3: an animal or human-animal influenza reassorting virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks.
Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic. 298
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• Phase 4: is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassorting virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks”. The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk of a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.
• Phase 5: is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two (2) countries in one (1) WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
Probability of Future Events
Although the timing of the outbreak of a pandemic or other public health emergency is difficult to predict, they will continue to occur continually and have a greater than one percent chance of occurring in any year. There is a 15% chance of a significant public health hazard impacting the City.
Impacts of Climate Change
There are several ways that climate hazards aggravate infectious diseases, both directly and indirectly. These include the slow rise in temperature; changes in environmental conditions that increase the dispersal of disease vectors such as mosquitoes, rodents, and ticks; and the sudden appearance of extreme events such as floods, which contaminate drinking-water sources and trigger the displacement of humans and animals, which can carry and transmit pathogens. According to the CDC, climate change, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, influences human health and disease in numerous ways. Some existing health threats will intensify and new health threats
will emerge.
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4.5.8 Fire
Hazard Description
Wildfire
As defined in the California Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) 2010 Strategic Fire Plan, a wildfire event is an unwanted wildland fire including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildfire use events, escaped prescribed wildfire projects, and all other wildfires.
Wildfire hazard is a significant and recurrent threat in the Valley District service area and has the potential to destroy buildings, cause damage to vital infrastructure, injure people, and can result in loss of life, agricultural land, and animals. Wildfire season commences in early spring through late fall every year during the hotter, dryer months.
Highly flammable vegetation and warm, dry summers create the potential for wildland fires in Vacaville. The risk of wildland fires is related to a combination of factors, including winds, temperatures, humidity levels, and fuel moisture content. Of these four (4) factors, wind is the most crucial. Steep slopes also contribute to fire hazards by intensifying the effects of wind and making fire suppression difficult. Where there is easy public access to dry vegetation, fire hazards increase due to greater chances of human carelessness. High hazard areas include outlying residential parcels and open lands adjacent to residential areas. Such development has also moved the urban wildland interface (the area where human development meets undeveloped wildland) closer to higher-risk, wildfire hazard areas, increasing the number of people and buildings at risk as illustrated in Figure 4-19 Pasadena Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
Wildland Urban Interface Fire (WUI)
A WUI fire includes situations in which a wildland fire enters an area that is developed with structures and other human developments. In WUI fires, the fire is fueled by both naturally occurring vegetation and the urban structural elements themselves. According to the National Fire Plan issued by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the wildland-urban interface is defined as “…the line, area, or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.”
The WUI fire can be subdivided into three (3) categories (NWUIFPP, 1998): 1) classic wildland-urban interface; 2) the mixed wildland-urban interface; and 3) the occluded wildland-urban interface. The classic wildland-urban interface exists where well-defined urban and suburban development presses up against open expanses of wildland areas.
The mixed wildland-urban interface is characterized by isolated homes, subdivisions, and small communities situated predominantly in wildland settings. The occluded wildland- urban interface exists where islands of wildland vegetation occur inside a 300
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largely urbanized area. Generally, many of the areas at risk within the City fall into the classic wildland-urban interface category.
Certain conditions must be present for a wildfire hazard to occur; a large source of fuel must be present, the weather must be conducive (generally hot, dry, and windy), and fire suppression sources must not be able to easily suppress and control the fire. The cause of a majority of wildfires is human-induced or lightning; however, once burning, wildfire behavior is based on three (3) primary factors: 1) fuel; 2) topography; and weather. Fuel will affect the potential size and behavior of a wildfire depending on the amount present, its burning qualities (e.g. level of moisture), and its horizontal and vertical continuity. Topography affects the movement of air, and thus the fire, over the ground surface. The terrain can also change the speed at which the fire travels, and the ability of firefighters to reach and extinguish the fire. Weather as manifested in temperature, humidity and wind (both short and long term) affect the probability, severity, and duration of wildfires. Other factors that create concern are drought conditions and development (the build environment). Drought conditions bring on contributing concerns in that it can lead to relatively drier conditions and leave reservoirs and water tables lower; thus, creating hotter fires and less water to fight the fires. The expansion of the built environment into previously unoccupied areas introduces more people to the hazard and in some cases make response actions more challenging.
History
Pasadena has recently been included in federal disaster declaration for fire, as recently as 2025. Below is a list of the most notable fires that have impacted Pasadena and Southern California.
• January 7, 2025 – The Eaton Fire began on the evening of January 7, 2025, in Eaton Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains. It burned over 14,100 acres and destroyed 9,414 structures and resulted in 17 civilian fatalities. • January 2025 – The Palisades Fire started in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County in Southern California which burned over 23,448 acres, destroying large areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu. The fire destroyed 6,837 structures and caused 12 fatalities.
• September 6, 2020 – The Bobcat Fire started in the Los Angeles National Forest and burned almost 116,000 acres.
• September 5, 2020 – The El Dorado Fire wildfire in Southern California ignited by a gender reveal party. It burned 22,744 acres, destroyed 20 structures, and killed one firefighter.
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• November 8, 2018 – The Woolsey Fire started in Los Angeles County and spread north to neighboring Ventura County. The fire burned 96,949 acres of land, destroyed 1,643 structures, and killed three (3) people, Location
The City is located along the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. These mountains are known for its steep topography and extensive vegetation. The area is also intermittently impacted by Santa Ana winds, the hot, dry winds that blow across southern California in the spring and late fall. Because of these characteristics, wildfire is a significant threat to the City. Figure 4-17 below depicts the mapping within the City limits susceptible to wildfires.
Figure 4-19: City Fire Hazard Severity Zones
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The climate, topography, and vegetation in Pasadena are conducive to annual wildfire events. Wildland fires may spread to urban areas resulting in urban fires. Structures within the City are primarily single-family dwellings away from the wildland/urban interface. The areas with the highest risk of wildfire are the Western and northern portions of the City. The remainder of the City is urban or not zoned.
Extent
The State Fire Marshal classifies wildfire hazard lands within state responsibility areas into fire hazard severity zones. Each zone shall embrace relatively homogeneous lands and shall be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors present, including areas where winds have been identified by the department as a major cause of wildfire spread. The State Fire Marshal shall identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones shall be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors including areas where winds have been identified by the Office of the State Fire Marshal as a major cause of wildfire spread.
Urban fires are classified by the number of alarms. The Pasadena Fire Department uses the alarm system below to describe the type and number of resources committed to the incident.
Units
Assigned
1st Alarm
fire / Box
Alarm
1st Alarm
fire/ "All
Hands"
Box Alarm
2nd Alarm
fire
3rd Alarm
fire
4th Alarm
fire
5th Alarm
fire
Engine
Companies
1 Engine
or
1 Truck
4 Engines
2 Trucks
1 ALS
2 BCs
7 Engines
3 Trucks
1 ALS
1 Air Utility
3 BCs
10 Engines
4 Trucks
1 ALS
1 Air Utility
4 BCs
13 Engines
5 Trucks
1 ALS
1 Air Utility
5 BCs
16 Engines
6 Trucks
1 ALS
1 Air Utility
6 BCs
Probability of Future Events
Fires will continue to occur on an annual basis in the City. The size and intensity of future fires and the impacts on City operations are difficult to predict. There is a 85% chance that wildfires will impact the City within the next year. 303
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Impact of Climate Change
Climate change and the associated warmer weather, reduced snowpack, and earlier snowmelt can be expected to increase wildfire risk through fuel hazards and ignition risks. These changes can also increase plant moisture stress and insect populations, both of which affect forest health and reduce forest resilience to wildfires. An increase in wildfire intensity and extent will increase public safety risks, property damage, fire suppression and emergency response costs to government, watershed and water quality impacts, vegetation conversions and habitat fragmentation. 304
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4.5.9 Human-Caused Hazards
Cyber Security Threats
Cyber Security Threats (Hazard Description)
Cyberterrorism and cyberattacks are terms for cybersecurity threats that are often used interchangeably, though they are not the same. All cyberterrorism is a form of cyberattack, but not all cyberattacks are cyberterrorism.
Public and private computer systems can experience a variety of cyberattacks, from blanket malware infection to targeted attacks on system capabilities. Cyberattacks specifically seek to breach information technology security measures designed to protect an individual or organization. The initial attack is followed by more severe attacks to cause harm, steal data or for financial gain. Organizations are prone to different types of attacks that can be automated or targeted.
Any facility that relies on computers, computer systems and programs for their operations could be a target. Generally, attacks can last minutes to days, but large- scale events and their impacts can last much longer. As information technology continues to grow in capability and interconnectivity, cyber threats become increasingly frequent and destructive. Cyber threats differ by motive, attack type and perpetrator profile. Motives range from the pursuit of financial gain to political or social aims. Cyber threats are difficult to identify and comprehend. Types of threats include using viruses to erase entire systems, breaking into systems and altering files, using someone’s personal computer to attack others, or stealing confidential information. The spectrum of cyber risks is limitless, with threats having a wide range of effects on the individual, community, organizational, and national threat.
Ransomware
The FBI defines ransomware as a type of malicious software, or malware, which prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and demands you pay a ransom for their return. Businesses should have a business continuity plan in case of a ransomware attack.
Cyberterrorism
The FBI is the lead federal agency for investigating cyberterrorism. In order for a cyberattack to be considered terrorism, the attack must be premeditated and politically motivated against information, computer systems, computer programs, or data. “Cyberterrorism may be carried out by state and non- state actors which have the capability to steal, alter, or destroy the nations sensitive data and, in the worst of cases, to manipulate from afar the process control systems that are meant to ensure the proper 305
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functioning of portions of the nations’ critical infrastructure” (FBI, The Cyber Threat and the FBI’s Cyber Program). Critical infrastructure and the nation are becoming more vulnerable to cyberattacks as their dependency on computer networks and systems grows.
Cyber Security Threats (History)
Cyberattacks on U.S. companies occur daily, and the quantity and quality of information being hacked, stolen, destroyed, or leaked is becoming an increasing problem for consumers, government entities, and businesses.
The following list is of recent cyber-attacks that affected government agencies:
• April 2023 – The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reported a security breach that encrypted its systems and reduced operations for over two (2) weeks. A member of the Sheriff’s Office clicked on a phished link and downloaded ransomware, disrupting emails and dispatching computers.
The ransom cost $1.1 million in cryptocurrency.
• February 8, 2021 – A hacker exploited a vulnerability in a desktop sharing platform to access a water utility’s treatment plant industrial control system.
The hacker increased the quantity of chemicals used in the water treatment process to a dangerous level. An employee of the utility noticed inconsistencies and immediately reduced the chemical levels to normal and notified the IT department.
• December 11, 2021—UKG Kronos was a victim of a ransomware attack that incapacitated Long Beach Fire Department Staffing Program, Telestaff, for approximately 2 months.
• April 30, 2018—In Pasadena, City employee email accounts were compromised through a phishing scheme. Hackers used access to accounts to send out fraudulent emails to City contacts. The City immediately disabled accounts and changed passwords of all City employees and advised residents and associates to take caution when opening emails from City.
• November 22, 2017— 500 Los Angeles Superior Court employees received fraudulent emails leading to fake websites asking for account credentials. Less than a dozen employees fell for the phishing scam. A 31-year-old Texas resident was found to be responsible for the hacking.
• June 27th, 2017—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors website homepage displayed pro-ISIS propaganda. The website was one of four (4) U.S. websites hacked the same way.
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• December 2016—A virus locked the Los Angeles Community College District’s computer network as well as its email and voicemail systems. After consulting with cyber-security experts and law enforcement, the District paid a $28,000 cyber-ransom in bitcoin. The district had a cyber-security insurance policy to cover such attacks.
Cyber Security Threat (Location)
Since computers are so ubiquitous, a cyber threat could appear in virtually any part of the City. In extreme circumstances, a threat could impact the entire City. Cyber threats vary in length and severity of impact. A minor threat could cause computer systems to slow down for a few minutes and not behave as responsively. On the other hand, a major cyber threat could cause a complete shutdown of critical systems, including those used by banks, healthcare institutions, universities, major businesses, and City governments.
Globally, cyber threats are increasing and becoming more sophisticated. The most common types of threats include:
• Phishing
• Ransomware
• Intellectual Property Theft
• Spyware/Malware
• Unpatched Software
Common types of cyber-attacks include:
• Exploitation of vulnerable software
• Distributed Denial of Service
• MFA fatigue/push notification spamming
Cyber Security Threat (Extent)
The Index of Cyber Security (Figure 4-20) can be referenced to understand the status of cyber threats, which identifies the measure of perceived risk. Since 2015, this index has trended upward and appears to have doubled in this timeframe. 307
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Figure 4-20: Index of Cyber Security
Cyber threats are not measured on any scale, but they can be assessed by determining the following:
• The type of incident (website defacement, denial of service, unauthorized surveillance)
• The use of malicious software
• The level of security counter measures that failed to prevent the cyber threat • The duration of the cyber threat (a few hours, a few days, several weeks, etc.) • The number of identified ransomware gangs
• The rapid rise of Ransomware as a Service (Raas) and other "as a service" cybercriminal ventures
• The growing technical sophistication of cyber criminals 308
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Cyber Security Threat (Possibility of Future Occurrence) Due to the integrated nature of technology into the everyday lives of Pasadena’s residents, businesses, and government operations, it is possible that a cyber threat could emerge in the future. While no cyber threats are publicly known to have disrupted the City’s normal operations in the past, the likelihood of a cyber threat affecting the residents, businesses, and/or governmental operations in the future is increasing.
Civil Disturbance
Civil Disturbance (Hazard Description)
Civil Disturbance is defined as civil disorder, a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe disruption of typical social order; it may involve a strike or protest, and it can be peaceful or involve violence. Both riots and rebellions are forms of civil unrest. Incidents of civil unrest often occur after national or local events incite anger in the populace and may be triggered by various causes such as political protests, racial strife, or sporting events. Civil disorders and disturbances are human-caused events with the potential for endangering life and damaging property.
The Bay Area experienced past episodes of civil unrest. Civil disturbances may be mitigated through planning; mitigation activities for civil disturbance are not solely a police function but are a shared responsibility of elected officials, community leaders, business leaders, service organizations, and community residents.
While basic constitutional rights guarantee free assembly, civil unrest associated with such events can result in injuries, loss of life, and destruction of property. Heightened vigilance, strategic organization, and training on the part of law enforcement can mitigate damage and casualties from civil disturbances.
Civil Disturbance (History)
City police departments in Los Angeles region have often dealt with civil unrest. Recent examples include the October 2014 Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants World Series victory riots, the November 2014 unrest in Oakland following the Ferguson verdict, and Black Lives Matter protestors blocking traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2016. Today the combination of professional protestors, anarchists, demonstrations, and counterdemonstrations at many public gatherings has created the potential for civil unrest. Often events deemed to be celebrations can cause civil disturbances and create loss. When dealing with events that have the potential to become incidents of civil unrest, the police departments’ most 309
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important goal is safeguarding citizens and property. The following are recent incidents of civil unrest in the Bay Area region:
• George Floyd Killing Protests: At 6:30 p.m. on May 30, protesters gathered at Colorado Blvd and Fair Oaks Avenue. The City proclaimed a local state of emergency and ordered an 8:00 p.m. curfew. On June 6, hundreds of protesters gathered at a Black Lives Matter rally to denounce police violence against Black people and to stamp out systemic racism.
• In January 2025, Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the 135th annual Rose Parade for about 20 minutes. A dozen or so protesters sat down on the street at the intersection of Lake Ave. and Colorado Boulevard at the start of the parade.
Civil Disturbance (Location)
The entire region is vulnerable to civil unrest. While no specific hazard zones can be identified or predicted for civil unrest, dense population centers in highly urban areas such as central Los Angeles and Pasadena are more likely to experience this hazard.
Civil Disturbance (Extent)
Civil unrest may result from a wide variety of causes, ranging from local to international.
All regional assets are susceptible to being at risk from civil disturbances. Local government facilities, including Pasadena, are considered most at risk since past demonstrations or rallies have originated in these locations. Other police and fire facilities have also been targeted during past events.
Previous experience indicates that Critical Response (police stations, fire stations) also are at risk during periods of civil unrest. In addition, Critical Operating Facilities are at risk of damage or destruction and may be rendered temporarily inoperative for some period of time. Depending upon the nature of the event, communities and any assets owned by local government organizations/agencies may be considered vulnerable to damage or destruction due to civil unrest.
Civil Disturbance (Probability of Future Events)
While it is not possible to make long-term predictions of civil unrest events, it is highly probable that such events will occur in Southern California jurisdictions from time to time. Because of the extreme unpredictability of civil unrest events, no specific estimates can be made concerning potential losses.
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Natural Gas Incidents
Natural Gas Incidents (Hazard Description)
The United States is heavily dependent on transmission pipelines to distribute energy and fuel sources. Virtually all-natural gas, which accounts for about 28% of energy consumed annually, is transported by transmission pipelines. Energy demand in the United States continues to increase. Although California is a leader in exploring and implementing alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, the expansion of traditional energy sources, such as natural gas, continues.
Most of the natural gas used in California comes from out‐of‐state natural gas basins. It is delivered to California via the interstate natural gas pipeline system. In 2012, California customers received 42% of their natural gas supply from basins in the Southwest, 22% from Canada, 23% from the Rocky Mountains, and 12% from California.
Generally speaking, transmission lines are large‐diameter steel pipes carrying natural gas at high pressure and compressed to provide higher carrying capacity. Transmission lines are both interstate and intrastate, with the latter connecting to smaller distribution lines delivering gas directly to homes and businesses.
Natural Gas Incidents (History)
No significant historical events to report to date.
Natural Gas Incidents (Location)
Natural gas transported via interstate pipelines, and some of the California‐produced natural gas, is delivered into the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) intrastate natural gas transmission pipeline systems (commonly referred to as California's "backbone" natural gas pipeline system). Natural gas on the utilities' backbone pipeline systems is then delivered into the local transmission and distribution pipeline systems, or to natural gas storage fields. SoCalGas own and operate several natural gas storage fields that are located in Northern and Southern California. SoCalGas operates a natural gas storage field, Aliso Canyon, located in the north end of the San Fernando Valley area.
Data compiled by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) report a total of 115,292 miles of gas pipelines in California, of which 12,414 miles are classified as gas transmission lines, 403 miles are gas‐gathering lines, and the majority, 102,475 miles, are for gas distribution. Nearly 40% of gas transmission lines are located in Los Angeles, Kern, and San Bernardino counties. Figure 4-21 shows the location and 311
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ownership of the natural gas pipeline system. Many of the pipelines are in areas with high seismic activity, crossing the San Andreas and other active faults.
Figure 4-21: Natural Gas Transmission Lines in Pasadena Natural Gas Incidents (Probability of Future Occurrence) Increased urbanization is resulting in more people living and working closer to existing gas transmission pipelines that were placed prior to government agencies adopting and implementing land use and other pipeline safety regulations. Compounding the potential risk is the age and gradual deterioration of the gas transmission system due to natural causes. Significant failure, including pipe breaks and explosions, can result in loss of life, injury, property damage, and environmental impacts. Causes of and contributors to pipeline failures include construction errors, material defects, internal and external corrosion, operational errors, control system malfunctions, outside force damage, subsidence, and seismicity. Growth in population, urbanization, and land development near transmission pipelines, together with addition of new facilities to meet new demands, may increase the likelihood of pipeline damage due to human activity and the 312
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exposure of people and property to pipeline failures. Because of this, natural gas pipeline/storage facility failure can occur anytime during the year.
Natural Gas Incidents (Climate Change Consideration)
Climate change will not have a direct effect on natural gas pipelines; however, climate change could increase the demand for natural gas. This increase in demand may require the development of new pipelines, which could increase potential complications.
Natural Gas Incidents (Regulatory Requirements)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the primary regulatory body overseeing the interstate transmission of natural gas. It is responsible for approving pipeline projects, setting tariffs, and ensuring compliance with safety and environmental standards. FERC also enforces the Natural Gas Act and the Natural Gas Policy Act.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) under the U.S.
Department of Transportation, regulates the safety of pipelines transporting natural gas and other hazardous materials. It develops and enforces safety standards, conducts inspections, and investigates incidents.
Power Outage
Power Outage (Hazard Description)
A power outage is the loss of the electricity supply to an area. In addition to natural hazards, power failure can result from a defect in a power station, damage to a power line or other part of the distribution system, a short circuit, or the overloading of electricity mains.
A power outage may be referred to as a blackout if power is lost completely or as a brownout if some power supply is retained, but the voltage level is below the minimum level specified for the system, and a short circuit indicates a loss of power for a short amount of time (usually seconds). Some brownouts, called voltage reductions, are made intentionally to prevent a full power outage.
Power failures may also be intentionally induced due to high power demand that exceeds supply or due to actions taken by utility companies to de-energize power lines when there is the possibility of energized power lines being downed during fire Red Flag warnings and causing fires.
Power Outage (History)
Following devastating fires in California in 2017 and 2018, utility companies sought regulatory actions to allow them to de-energize power lines when conditions might result in downed lines causing wildfires. The California Public Utilities Commission developed 313
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guidelines for public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) that have affected numerous areas of the State for up to several days.
August 2020 saw the first California electricity providers institute rolling blackouts since 2001. Hundreds of thousands of people experienced brief power outages through the several evenings after the body that manages most of the state's electric utilities declared a Stage 3 emergency to help reduce stress on the larger grid. Electricity demand surged through the day as temperatures topped the triple digits in many parts of the state, and people cranked up fans and air-conditioning units to try to stay cool.
The emergency order was rescinded before midnight, and power was fully restored to all affected households
The 2011 Southwest blackout, sometimes referred to as the Great Blackout of 2011, was a widespread power outage that affected the San Diego–Tijuana area, southern Orange County, the Imperial Valley, Mexicali Valley, and Coachella Valley, and parts of Arizona. It occurred on Thursday, September 8, 2011, beginning at about 3:38 pm PDT and was the largest power failure in California history.
The 2000-2001 California electricity crisis brought to light many critical issues surrounding the State's power generation and distribution system, including its dependency on out-of-state resources. Although California has implemented effective energy conservation programs, the State continues to experience both population growth and weather cycles contributing to a heavy demand for power. The 2000 and 2001 blackouts occurred due to losses in transmission or generation and/or extremely severe temperatures that lead to heavy electric power consumption.
Power Outage (Location)
Power outages can occur throughout the City service area and affect the entire region.
Power Outage (Extent)
Power outages are typically measured by the number of customers without power. This number is two (2) to three (3) times lower than the number of people affected.
Power Outage (Probability of Future Occurrence)
While the location, duration, and number of people affected cannot be predicted, power outages in the City service area are likely to occur on a continual basis with the likelihood of an incident greater than 10 percent in any year.
Power Outage (Impact of Climate Change)
Climate change may affect the number and severity of power outages. The August 2020 rolling blackouts resulted from high energy usage during record-setting heat throughout 314
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the state. As hotter conditions result in more and longer Red Flag warnings and concomitant PSPS, more power outages will occur.
Power Outage (Regulatory Context)
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) plays a pivotal role in regulating privately-owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies. It ensures safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates and protects against fraud.
Hazardous Material Release
Hazardous Material Release - Pipeline Failure, Transportation Accidents, Oil Spills (Hazard Description)
A hazardous material is any material that, due to its quantity, concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics, poses a significant present or potential hazard to human health and safety or to the environment if released. Hazardous materials include but are not limited to hazardous substances, hazardous waste, and any material that a business or local implementing agency has a reasonable basis to believe would be injurious to the health and safety of people or would be harmful to the environment if released.
The LHMP does not focus on the hazards contained in everyday products but rather on the hazards associated with potential releases of hazardous substances from transportation corridors and fixed facilities within the City.
Exposure to hazardous materials can cause injury, illness, or death. Effects may be felt over seconds, minutes, or hours (short-term effects) or not emerge until days, weeks, or even years after exposure (long-term effects). Some substances are harmful after a single exposure of short duration, but others require long episodes of exposure or repeated exposure over time to cause harm.
Hazardous materials in the City service area primarily consist of paints, solvents, adhesives, gasoline, household cleaners, batteries, pesticides and herbicides. The Department of Water and Power has various facilities that use chemicals that if not appropriately contained or during a natural hazard can potentially be released into the air. The toxicity of a specific substance is one important factor in determining the risk it poses, but other factors can be just as important, if not more so. Factors affecting the severity of hazardous material release include:
• Toxicity
• Quantity
• Dispersal characteristics
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• Location of release in relation to population and sensitive environmental areas • Efficacy of response and recovery actions
Mobile incidents include those that occur on a roadway or a railroad. These incident- related releases are dangerous because they can occur anywhere, including near human populations, critical facilities, or environmentally sensitive areas. Mobile incident- related releases can also be more difficult to mitigate because of the great area over which any given incident might occur and the potential distance of the incident site from response resources.
The release of hazardous substances from stationary sources can be caused by human error, equipment failure, intentional dumping, acts of terrorism, or natural phenomena.
Earthquakes pose a particular risk because they can damage or destroy facilities containing hazardous substances. The threat posed by a hazardous-material event can be amplified by restricted access, reduced fire suppression and spill containment capability, and cutoff of response personnel and equipment.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department Health Hazardous Materials Division is the designated Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) for the City. The CUPA was created by the California legislature to minimize the number of business inspections and fees imposed on businesses associated with the handling of hazardous materials.
Hazardous Material Release (History)
Los Angeles County, with its vast industrial landscape and densely populated urban areas, faces numerous environmental challenges, including the release of various hazardous materials. These releases can originate from industrial facilities, transportation accidents, and other sources, posing significant risks to public health and the environment. Below is a list of the most resent hazard materials releases • Aliso Canyon Gas Leak (2015-2016) - One of the most significant environmental disasters in Los Angeles County was the Aliso Canyon gas leak, which released massive amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The leak lasted several months, causing health problems for nearby residents and contributing to climate change.
• Exide Technologies Plant (2013) - The Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon was found to have released hazardous levels of lead and arsenic into the air and soil. This led to the plant's closure and extensive cleanup efforts to protect public health and the environment.
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• Refugio Oil Spill (2015) - Although not in Los Angeles County directly, the Refugio Oil Spill off the coast of Santa Barbara impacted the region's environment. Thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean, affecting marine life, coastal ecosystems, and local economies.
Hazardous Material Release (Location)
The City like many urban areas, handles and stores various hazardous materials essential for industrial, commercial, and public health applications. The following provides a list of potential sources for hazardous materials releases within the City planning area.
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
• Huntington Hospital
• Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Medical Offices
• Pasadena Water and Power
Hazardous Material Release (Extent)
The extent of a hazardous material spill may vary from significant impacts causing injuries and evacuation to minor impacts requiring minimal cleanup. Hazardous materials releases can be harmful in the following ways:
• Chemical, biological, and radiological agents can cause significant health risks to those exposed to them; biological agents can be additionally dangerous if they are infectious. Flammable and explosive materials also present life safety concerns when exposed to heat.
• Oil spills can present an immediate fire hazard and can contaminate drinking water supplies. Any release of hazardous material requires a thorough and careful clean-up of the site and decontamination of those exposed. Clean-up and recovery are time and cost consuming.
• Delays caused by hazardous materials releases and the ensuing evacuation and cleanup processes could lead to significant economic losses due to traffic delays (mobile releases) or operational shut-down (fixed facilities). • Overall, hazardous materials can cause death, serious injury, long-lasting health effects, and damage to buildings, the environment, homes, and other property. 317
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Hazardous Material Release (Probability of Future Occurrence) Based on previous occurrences, the likelihood of small hazardous materials releases is high and can occur at any time.
Hazardous Material Release (Regulatory Environment)
To address the release of hazardous materials, Los Angeles County has implemented several regulatory measures and public health initiatives. These efforts aim to minimize risks, ensure compliance with environmental laws, and promote community awareness. • The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is responsible for regulating air quality in the region. It sets emissions standards, monitors air pollution, and enforces regulations to reduce the release of hazardous air pollutants.
• The. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) works to protect public health by monitoring environmental hazards, conducting health assessments, and providing information to the community about potential risks and safety measures.
• The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) oversees environmental protection efforts statewide, including in Los Angeles County. It enforces regulations related to hazardous waste, water quality, and toxic substances, and provides funding for cleanup and mitigation projects.
Terrorism
Terrorism (Hazard Description)
Terrorism is the use or threat of force to achieve a particular social or political outcome.
The goals of terrorism may sometimes be overturning a government, the reversal of a public policy, political prisoners' release, and other such motives. Acts of terror may overlap with acts of war or hate crimes. Generally, terrorism involves an attempt to kill or seriously harm people or disrupt civil society by destroying property or infrastructure, attacking government operations at all levels, interrupting essential public services, creating chaos, or a combination of some or all these goals. Firearms and explosives are the most common weapons used among terrorists. In extreme situations, terrorists may gain access to mass destruction weapons, including bioweapons, chemical agents, radioactive materials, or high-yield explosives. It should be noted that these events are infrequent. While incidents of terror caused by foreign individuals or groups receive significant media and public attention, most acts of terror in the United States have been caused by domestic terrorists.
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A mass casualty incident describes an incident within the United States where emergency medical service resources, such as personnel and equipment, are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. The more commonly recognized events of this type include building collapses, train and bus collisions, plane crashes, earthquakes, and other large-scale emergencies. The most common types are generally caused by terrorism, mass transportation accidents, or natural disasters.
Events such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting are well-publicized examples of mass casualty incidents.
Terrorism (History)
The City has been fortunate not to have experienced any acts of terrorism directly.
However, the following acts of terrorism/mass casualty incident events have occurred in California and the Country:
• August 1999 – On August 10, 1999, an American white supremacist walked into the lobby of the Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and opened fire with an Uzi sub machine gun, firing 70 bullets into the complex. The gunfire wounded five (5) people.
• July 2002 – A man opened fire at the ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport, killing two (2) people and injuring several others before being shot dead by security personnel.
• May 2015 - Two (2) Anaheim-based men were arrested at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the Los Angeles International Airport who had reportedly sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). One of these men, Muhanad Badawi, was a student at Fullerton College. • December 2015 - A mass shooting and terrorist attack committed by a married couple who had reportedly sworn allegiance to ISIS killed 14 people at a medical facility in the City of San Bernardino.
• April 2019 – The Poway synagogue shooting occurred on April 27, 2019, at Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California on the last day of the Jewish Passover holiday, which fell on a Shabbat. Armed with an AR-15–style rifle, the gunman, fatally shot one woman and injured three (3) other people, including the synagogue's rabbi.
Terrorism (Location)
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where many people congregate (parks, schools, places of worship, government facilities, shopping centers, and public gathering areas) are most common. Critical locations in Pasadena may be the Rose Bowl, shopping centers, governmental facilities (i.e., City Hall), colleges, medical facilities, parks, and large employers within the City (i.e., Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Acts of terrorism may be located at the locations listed above; however, the perpetrators may also choose high-value targets such as electric- generating facilities, water treatment plants, dams or reservoirs, railroads, highways, and other facilities that could impact governmental operations and services.
Terrorism (Extent)
Mass Casualty Incidents and acts of terrorism are typically measured by the fatalities, injuries, and destruction they cause, but there is no universally used scale for measuring these events.
Terrorism (Probability of Future Occurrence)
Given that mass casualty incidents and acts of terrorism stem from a variety of factors:
economics, societal pressures, mental health, global geopolitics, warfare, religion, etc. it is impossible to predict when and where an incident could occur. The Rose Bowl is a significant facility with state and national importance. While important, it is anticipated that any future incidents would likely originate domestically and are less likely to attract the attention of international terrorist groups. Incidents of these types are more likely to be conducted by smaller organizations or individuals aligned with greater-known organizations, although the effects may be no less significant. Given the presence of this facility as well as large shopping center, numerous schools, and large employers within the City, the potential does exist for mass-casualty incidents/acts of terrorism. 320
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4.6 Capability Assessment
A capability assessment was conducted of the City’s authorities, policies, programs, and resources. From the assessment, goals, and mitigation actions were developed. The planning team also developed a plan to prioritize, implement, and administer the mitigation actions to reduce risk to existing buildings and new development.
4.7 Existing Authorities, Policies, Programs, and Resources An assessment of authorities, policies and programs, and resources was conducted to identify capabilities that reduce vulnerability to hazards. The capabilities include authorities and policies, such as legal and regulatory resources, fiscal resources, and staff (e.g., technical personnel such as planners/engineers with knowledge of land development and land management practices, engineers trained in construction practices related to building and infrastructure, planners and engineers with an understanding of natural or human-caused hazards, floodplain managers, surveyors, personnel with GIS skills, and staff with expertise of the hazards in the planning area).
The planning team also considered ways to expand on and improve these existing policies and programs to integrate hazard mitigation into the day-to-day activities and programs of the City. Tables 4-15, 4-16, 4-17, and 4-18 summarize the existing authorities, policies, programs, and resources to implement mitigation actions and projects.
4.7.1 Planning and Regulatory Capabilities
Planning and regulatory capabilities include local ordinances, policies, and laws to manage growth and development. Examples include land use plans, capital improvement plans, transportation plans, emergency preparedness and response plans, building codes, and zoning ordinances. These capabilities may be used to inform and support mitigation planning or may be modified as mitigation action. Table 4-1 lists City planning and regulatory capabilities. Under the Description column is an explanation of the City’s ability to use the LHMP to expand on and improve these existing policies and programs.
Table 4-15: Local Planning and Regulatory Capabilities
Name/Version
Date
Hazards
Addressed Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Arroyo Seco
Flood Hazard
Warning and
Flooding Mitigate flooding risk and effects to population.
Expansion and Improvement: The HMP and the
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Name/Version
Date
Hazards
Addressed Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Contingency
Plan (2018)
Arroyo Seco Flood Hazard Warning and
Contingency Plan should be closely correlated.
As both plans are updated, mitigation measures
should be incorporated.
Pasadena Water
and Power
Integrated
Resource Plan
(2021)
Climate
Change
Reduce City carbon footprint and minimize cost
of service to ratepayers.
Expansion and Improvement: The HMP and this
plan should correlate, specifically in regard to
Climate Change and the mitigation measures
associated with the HMP.
Pasadena
Adopted Budget
(2025)
All City’s Budget
Expansion and Improvement: Future budget will
include hazard mitigation projects as part of the
general fund budget.
Capital
Improvement
Program (2025-
2028)
All A compilation of infrastructure and major
maintenance projects designed to expand,
enhance and/or preserve the foundation of this
great City.
Expansion and Improvement: Future iterations of
the CIP will incorporate hazard mitigation
activities.
Capital
Improvement
Program Water
System (2022-
2026)
Earthquake,
Drought,
A compilation of infrastructure and major
maintenance projects designed to expand,
enhance, and preserve the water system.
Expansion and Improvement: Future iterations of
the plan will ensure projects align with the hazard
mitigation activities.
Pasadena
Climate Action
Climate
Change,
This is a Greenhouse Gas Reduction document
for the City to help achieve its goals of reducing
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Name/Version
Date
Hazards
Addressed Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Plan (2018) Drought,
Extreme
Weather, Fire,
greenhouse gases that contribute to climate
change impacts.
The plan may be found at the following
link:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/plannin
g-division/community-planning/climate-action-
plan/
Expansion and Improvement: The HMP and
Climate Action Plan should be closely correlated.
As the Climate Action Plan is updated, mitigation
measures from the new HMP can be
incorporated.
Pasadena
Economic
Strategic Plan
(2025)
Flooding,
earthquake,
Fire
To provide Pasadena with a five (5)-year
economic development strategic plan that guides
priorities, policies, programs, and services.
Pasadena
General Plan
Land Use
Element (2015)
All The Land Use Element designates the general
distribution, location, and extent (including
standards for population density and building
intensity) of the uses of land for housing,
business, industry, agriculture, open space,
public facilities, and other categories of public
and private uses.
Pasadena
General Plan
Safety Element
(2002)
Natural
Hazards
Addresses these safety issues, with emphasis on
the naturally occurring conditions that pose a
hazard to Pasadena, and provides goals,
policies, and programs aimed at reducing the
City’s risk from these hazards.
Expansion and Improvement: Align the HMP with
the future iteration of the Safety Element.
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Name/Version
Date
Hazards
Addressed Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Pasadena Code
of Ordinances
Multiple Local laws enacted by Pasadena, created to
address matters of local concern that are not
covered by state or federal laws.
The codes itemized below have been adopted
and may have been amended by the City of
Pasadena.
• 2022 California Building Code (Volume 1 & 2)
• 2022 California Residential Code
• 2022 California Electrical Code
• 2022 California Mechanical Code
• 2022 California Plumbing Code
• 2022 California Energy Code
• 2022 California Green Building Standards
Code
• 2022 California Fire Code
Expansion and Improvement: Ensure ordinances
align with industry standards and look at the
implications of adding additional restrictions that
improve mitigation City wide.
City Urban
Water
Management
Plan (UWMP)
Drought,
Climate
Change
The UWMP provides urban water suppliers
(including the City) with a planning document for
long-term resource planning to ensure adequate
water supplies are available to meet existing and
future water supply needs. In addition, the
UMWP incorporates water supply reliability
determinations resulting from potentially
prolonged drought, regulatory revisions, and/or
changing climatic conditions.
Expansion and Improvement: The UWMP and
HMP will be aligned in describing and developing
mitigation actions to address climate change and
drought. Water demand reduction strategies
contained in the UWMP should be considered for
inclusion as mitigation activities in the HMP.
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Name/Version
Date
Hazards
Addressed Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Wildfire
Mitigation Plan
(2020)
Wildfire Identifies and puts into action wildfire prevention strategies.
Expansion and Improvement: The Wildfire
Mitigation Plan and HMP will be aligned in
describing and developing mitigation actions to
the impacts of wildfire.
Cybersecurity
Strategic Plan
Cybersecurity The cybersecurity strategic plan identifies and puts into action initiatives that improve overall
City cybersecurity awareness, practices, and
controls.
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4.7.2 Administrative and Technical Capabilities
Administrative and technical capabilities include community (including public and private) staff and their skills and tools that can be used for mitigation planning and implementation. This capability includes engineers, planners, emergency managers, GIS analysts, building inspectors, grant writers, and floodplain managers. Some communities may rely on other government entities such as counties or special City’s for resources.
These capabilities may be used when planning mitigation activities to support project feasibility studies, designs, estimates, and construction.
Table 4-16: Administrative and Technical Capabilities
Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Communications City Manager's
Office
The City’s Public Information Office provides
outreach and information to the public,
creative services to all internal departments,
and videography for the City; also handles all
website administration.
Expansion and Improvement: Strengthen ties
with community organizations and businesses
to ensure key content and information is
timely and relevant. Create additional
communications platforms to ensure
information and content reaches community
members.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
City Clerk's Office
and Records
Management
City Manager's
Office
The City Clerk / Records Management
Department Supervises and coordinates City
elections; serves as Filing Officer for City
appeals as designated by various sections of
the Pasadena Municipal Code; prepares and
updates the City's Conflict of Interest Code,
and serves as Filing Officer for the Fair
Political Practices Commission; receives and
opens all sealed bids and formally releases
bid bonds; receives, processes and maintains
claims, public record requests, special event
applications, summonses and complaints;
assists the public and City staff by providing
information and research assistance; and
directs the retention and destruction of official
records in accordance with applicable laws
and regulations.
Expansion and Improvement: Prioritize new
initiatives that support mitigation activities
within the City.
Code Compliance Planning and
Community
Development
Code Compliance is responsible for
enforcement of the city’s zoning and housing
and environmental codes. The Pasadena
Municipal Code regulates parking on private
property, zoning, property maintenance, weed
abatement on undeveloped lots and other
substandard conditions on residential,
commercial, and industrial properties.
Expansion and Improvement: Utilize code
compliance as a means of incorporating
mitigation into structures and improvements
conducted by residents and businesses.
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Engineering
Public Works
The department is charged with overseeing,
planning, designing, and implementation of
infrastructure projects. Some of the
department's functions include:
• Act as the lead agency for construction
and public works contracts within the
Right-of- Way.
• Program, plan, design and administer the
construction of the annual Capital
Improvement Program.
• Issue encroachment and traffic control
permits for any work within the Right-of-
Way.
• Inspect construction within the Right-of-
Way to verify conformance with the
permit conditions and compliance with the
latest City codes.
• Review all proposed residential,
commercial and industrial development
projects and provide engineering input as
well as conditions of approval for
proposed projects.
• Plan to check all development plans
including those that impact other
department functions.
• Manage the NPDES program activities,
such as business inspection, construction
site inspection, public education, and
outreach, etc.
• Manage traffic engineering and
transportation planning activities.
• Provide support for other departments
working within the Right-of-Way.
Expansion and Improvement: Work with
Engineering to identify soft structures within
the City boundary and develop mitigation
strategies to make improvements.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Department is responsible for maintaining and
improving the City's vital infrastructure,
including streets, sidewalks, parks,
landscaping, sewers, storm drains, and public
facilities. Services are divided into three (3)
subdivisions: Integrated Waste (provides
refuse collection services to residents and
businesses), Municipal Services (maintains
City and community facilities and provides
City fleet services), and Parks and Street
Maintenance. These services include
maintenance of public buildings and facilities,
landscaping and park upkeep, street and
sidewalk maintenance and repair, storm drain
and sewer servicing, and graffiti abatement.
Expansion and Improvement: Improve
understanding of the role that daily activities
play in hazard mitigation. Develop hazard
mitigation projects that aid in mitigation.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Information
Technology
Information
Technology
The role of the IT Department is to support
the operational departments with reliable
systems and information daily. The most
critical support required of IT being network,
communications and applications support.
The IT department provides short- and long-
term directions in planning, researching,
selecting and deploying future technologies.
IT strives to accommodate improved business
process automation, self-service and quality
customer service through a variety of
hardware and software solutions. The IT
Department also leads cybersecurity efforts,
including increasing cybersecurity awareness
in staff through training and assessments, risk
assessment of procurements involving IT
systems or technologies, recommendations
for improvements, internal IT audits, and the
development of policies and standards
supporting confidentiality, integrity and
availability of information systems.
Expansion and Improvement: Increase
system redundancy and resiliency through
improvements to technologies and
connectivity.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Utilities Water and
Power
Pasadena Water and Power is a community
enterprise that has always been essential to
the health, economy and quality of life in the
City. Today, PWP provides electricity to more
than 65,000 customers within Pasadena and
delivers water to almost 38,000 households
and businesses in Pasadena and adjacent
communities in the San Gabriel Valley.
Expansion and Improvement: Increase
system redundancy and resiliency through
enhanced systems operations and additional
connections within and outside of the City.
Public Safety Police
Department
Pasadena Police Department is tasked with
protecting life and property while preserving
peace. This department is responsible for
conducting public safety activities,
investigating criminal activity, and directing
traffic.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide training
to Officers to better enable them to see
potential hazards and take action to report
them.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Public Health Public Health
Department
Pasadena Public Health Department is
responsible for helping protect, maintain and
improve the health of the Pasadena
community. The City of Pasadena is one of
only three (3) cities in the state of California
that maintains its own independent local
health jurisdiction with responsibility for a wide
variety of services that support the three (3)
core public health functions of assessment,
policy development and assurance.
Expansion and Improvement: Increase
coordination and collaboration with Fire,
Police and County agencies to mitigate future
public health hazards from spreading.
Emergency
Management
Fire Develops, coordinates, and manages
programs that prevent, prepare for, respond
to, recover from, and mitigate natural and
human-caused disasters and emergencies.
Expansion and Improvement: Increase
coordination and collaboration with other City
departments, especially during annual
budgeting.
Fire Department Fire Pasadena Fire Department has 202
authorized positions comprised of 172 sworn
personnel and 30 non-sworn.
Expansion and Improvement: Proactively
identify opportunities to coordinate and
collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions to
increase City and region-wide capabilities.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Housing Housing The Housing Department administers funds the City receives from the United States
Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD). These funds are
authorized under HUD's Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program
and used to benefit low- and moderate-
income families and aid in the rehabilitation
and development of blighted areas within the
City.
Expansion and Improvement: Integrate
mitigation actions and strategies into low- and
moderate-income areas to reduce the slight
and potentially spur further investment.
Planning Planning and
Community
Development
The Planning and Community Development
Department plays a critical role in achieving
the City Council's goals and objectives related
to land use, urban design, and the quality and
sustainability of the built environment.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide
opportunities for continued education to
Community Development staff to maintain
state-of-the-art knowledge of new code and
regulatory requirements.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Building Planning and
Community
Development
The Planning and Community Development
Department provides professional plan review
and inspection services to ensure buildings
and projects are built and developed in
compliance with all applicable municipal and
state code requirements.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide
opportunities for continued education to
Community Development staff to maintain
state-of-the-art knowledge of the new code
and regulatory requirements.
Financial Services Finance The Finance Department is tasked with maintaining reliable accounting records,
payment of approved demands against the
City treasury, financial statement reporting,
preparation of the annual budget, prudent
fiscal planning, payroll processing, and debt
administration.
Expansion and Improvement: Assist with key
mitigation activities associated with cost
tracking hazard events and disasters,
identifying grant funding opportunities, grant
reporting and administration, and establishing
financial risk calculations that can help assist
with budgeting of operations, maintenance,
and capital improvements.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Human Resources Human
Resources
The Human Resources Department plans,
coordinates and administers a comprehensive
human resources management program for
the City of Pasadena and its employees. This
includes the recruitment and retention of
highly qualified employees, maintenance of a
competitive employee compensation program,
implementation and use of current technology
for the City's human resources, organizational
and employee development, and
employee/labor relations. Identifies, evaluates
and manages the City's risk and liability
programs. This includes claims
administration, the maintenance of
liability/insurance coverage as well as the
compliance with governmental regulation. In
addition, the department administers the
City's workers' compensation and employee
safety programs.
Expansion and Improvement: Increase
knowledge and information through better
data collection and tracking.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
Floodplain
Manager
Planning and
Community
Development
Department
The duties and responsibilities of the
Floodplain Administrator shall include, but not
be limited to:
• Permit review
• Flood hazard reduction
• NFIP program administration
• Construction inspections
Expansion and Improvement: The Floodplain
Administrator supports compliance with NFIP
requirements, advocates for appropriate
development in flood hazard areas, and
provides technical expertise on effective flood
mitigation activities. This can support
mitigation activities.
Planning
Commission
Planning and
Community
Development
Department
The Planning Commission is responsible for
reviewing proposed residential and
commercial development projects,
subdivisions, and land use requests on
private property, to determine their
compliance with applicable City regulations.
The Commission has the authority to approve
various development project addition. The
Commission makes recommendations to the
City Council with respect to the City's General
Plan, Zoning Code, Specific Plans and other
matters related to development within the
City. The Commission may be responsible for
implementing mitigation items pertaining to
the Commission's scope.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide
opportunities for continued education to
members of the Planning Commission to
maintain state-of-the-art knowledge of new
code and regulatory requirements.
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Resource Name Lead
Department Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation)
City Attorney City Manager's
Office
Reviews and approves resolutions and
ordinances.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide
opportunities for the City Attorney to review
updates to regulatory information to provide
expert review of City resolutions and
ordinances that may address hazard
mitigation
GIS
Department of
Information and
Technology
Provides complex mapping and data
management of City facilities, land use, and
potential hazards. Supports visualization of
complex data sets using geo-location and
data correlation.
Expansion and Improvement: Acquire and
conduct training for GIS technicians on the
latest versions of ArcGIS.
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4.7.3 Financial Capabilities
Financial capabilities include grants, general funds, property sales, income taxes, development impact fees, or stormwater utility fees. Based on procedures for each resource, these financial resources may be used to support mitigation activities.
Table 4-17: Financial Capabilities
Resource Name Administrator Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation) General Fund
https://www.cityof
pasadena.net/fina
nce/general-fund/
Department
Specific
Program operations and specific projects.
Consists of property tax, sales tax, transient
occupancy tax, and franchise tax that can be
used for general purposes.
Expansion and Improvement: Hazard
mitigation projects may be considered during
the annual budgeting process for funding
from the general fund.
Enterprise Funds Fund specific The City operates a variety of Special Revenue Funds. Special Revenue Funds are
used to account for revenue derived from
specific taxes or other revenue sources that
are restricted by law or administrative action
to be expended for specified purposes.
Expansion and Improvement: Where
permissible, Special Revenue Funds may be
considered during the annual budgeting
process for funding mitigation projects.
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Resource Name Administrator Description (Effect on Hazard Mitigation) Community
Development
Block Grants
(CDBG)
Fund Specific The CDBG program provides funding for
eligible senior activities such as in-home
care, art classes, counseling, and home-
delivered meals. HUD also provides Disaster
Recovery Assistance in the form of flexible
grants to help cities, counties, and States
recover from Presidentially declared
disasters, especially in low- income areas,
subject to the availability of supplemental
appropriations.
Expansion and Improvement: Where
applicable, CDBG grants should be used to
fund mitigation projects that enhance the
resiliency of low-income and underserved
communities.
Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program
(HMPG)
Emergency
Management
Provides support for pre-and post-disaster
mitigation plans and projects.
Expansion and Improvement: Train staff on
notice of intent (NOI) procedures and track
opportunities on the Cal OES mitigation
website to initiate applications for grant
funding.
Flood Mitigation
Assistance grant
program (FMA)
Grant Funding Mitigates structures and infrastructure that have been repetitively flooded.
Expansion and Improvement: Train staff on
notice of intent (NOI) procedures and track
opportunities on the Cal OES mitigation
website to initiate applications for grant
funding.
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4.7.4 Education and Outreach Capabilities
These capabilities include fire safety programs, hazard awareness campaigns, and public information or communications offices. Education and outreach capabilities can be used to inform the public on current and potential mitigation activities.
Table 4-18: Education and Outreach Capabilities
Resource Name City Leads Description (Effect on Hazard
Mitigation)
Public Information Officer City
Managers
Officer
Develops and delivers outreach and
engagement programs that promote
hazard awareness.
Expansion and Improvement: Provide
additional information to the community
about hazard mitigation activities.
City Web Sites
https://www.cityofpasaden
a.net
https://www.cityofpasaden
a.net/fire/
Various Provides easily accessed information
about the City. Used for LHMP public
outreach and engagement.
Expansion and Improvement: Use the
City website to provide additional
information to the community about
hazard mitigation activities.
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Resource Name City Leads Description (Effect on Hazard
Mitigation)
City Social Media
Accounts
https://www.instagram.co
m/cityofpasadena
https://x.com/pasadenagov
https://www.facebook.com/
cityofpasadena
https://www.instagram.co
m/pasadenafiredepartment
/
https://www.facebook.com/
PasadenaFD
Various Provides easily accessed information
about the City. Used for LHMP public
outreach and engagement.
Expansion and Improvement: Use the
City social media platforms to provide
additional information to the community
about hazard mitigation activities.
341
CITY OF PASADENA 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
159
4.8 National Flood Insurance Program Participation
The City of Pasadena adopted the Model Floodplain Management Ordinance within the City to maintain eligibility within the National Flood Insurance Program. Table 4-19 contains information from the FEMA Community Status Book Report for communities participating in the NFIP.
Table 4-19: City of Pasadena NFIP Information
CID Community
Name County
Initial
FHBM
Ident
Initial
FIRM
Ident
Current
Eff Map
Date Reg-
Emer Date
065050C City of
Pasadena
Los Angeles 05/02/1972 09/26/08 (NSFHA) 09/07/1984
Since 1968 the NFIP has provided federally funded flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and businesses in communities that adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. The adoption of Pasadena Municipal Code (PMC) Chapter 14.27, passed in 2006, allows residents of the City to remain eligible to purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. The Ordinance meets the minimum standards set forth in Title 44, Section 60.3 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The City of Pasadena participates in the Community Rating System.