Public Hearing & Adoption of the 2025 Water Shortage
Contingency Plan & 2025 Urban Water Management Plan
May 19, 2026 – Public Hearing
Carlos Cortes, Utilities Administrator
• State-mandated, municipal water supply &
demand planning document with 25-year
horizon
• Long-term water planning and efficiency strategy
• Establishes City’s water shortage contingency plan
(WSCP)
• Defined by the 1984 Urban Water Management
Planning Act in California Water Code (CWC)
§§10610-10657
• Applies to urban water suppliers which serve
either:
• More than 3,000 connections, or
• More than 3,000 acre-feet (AF) annually
Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) Overview
What is Required for Poway?
• Poway meets definition of urban water supplier
• Adoption of UWMP every 5 years
• including Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP)
appendix
• Submission of 2025 UWMP & WSCP to CA
Department of Water Resources (DWR) July 1, 2026
• Submission required to receive State grant funding
• Other compliance elements in the UWMP
• SB X7-7 – “20% by 2020”
• Water Loss Standard
Public Water System Information 2025
No. of Water Connections 14,486
Service Area Population*
*Excludes easternmost pop. not connected to water system 49,335
Volume of Water Supplied 9,876 AF
Municipal Area 39mi2
49,335
48,171
47,000
47,500
48,000
48,500
49,000
49,500
50,000
50,500
51,000
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Population Served
Y ear
• Population projections based on San Diego
Association of Governments (SANDAG)
2050 Regional Growth Forecast (Series 15)
Poway’s Service Area & Population
Pwy
City of Poway Service Area
CJ City of Poway Municipal Boundary
Poway’s Recent Water Demand Trends
• Total per capita potable water use has
decreased from FY 2021 to Present
• FY2023: Shortage Level 2 enacted
• Per capita potable water use
decreased 2023-2024 & rebounded in
2025
Fiscal Year Per Capita Potable
Water Use (GPCD)
2021 178
2022 180
2023 142
2024 136
2025 160
12,000
10,753 10,577
9,876
-
10,000
LL
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8,433 8,309
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0 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
■ Single Family ■ Multi-Family
■ Commercial ■ Industrial
■ Institutional/Governmental ■ Landscape
■ Agricultural ■ Sales/Transfers/Exchanges to other Suppliers Projected Water Demands 2030 to 2050
• Demand baseline established using 2021-
2025 (except 2023 due to WSCP Level 2)
• Growth aligned with SANDAG growth
projections
• 2050 demand - 9,660 AF
• 2% lower than 2025 demand
• Non-potable demands include
• Recycled water for South Poway
Bu
siness Park
• Raw water for Maderas Golf Course
• Lake Poway raw water losses
• Water loss approx. 3.5% of system supply
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
2030
■ Single Family (Potab le)
■ Industr ial (Potab le)
■ Agricultural (Potab le)
■ Landscape (Non-potab le)
2035 2040 2045 2050
■ Multi-Family (Potable) ■ Commercial (Potab le)
■ Institutional/Governmenta l (Potab le) ■ Landscape (Potab le) ■ Transfers (Potable ) ■ Water Loss (Potable)
■ Landscape (Non-potab le) ■ Other (opt ional) (Non-potab le) Poway’s Typical Water Supply
• 97% - Imported Raw Water, San Diego County Water
Authority (SDCWA)
• SDCWA’s water supply:
• State Water Project (SWP) supplies
• Colorado River supplies
• Local supplies
• 3% - Recycled Water, City of San Diego
• City of San Diego’s recycled water is considered a drought- resilient supply
• Supply Reliability & Drought Risk
• SDCWA 2025 UWMP reports enough drought-resilient water supply to meet member agency projections
• No shortages anticipated in a 5-year dry period
2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Supply T otals 10,702 10,639 10,771 10,996 11,122
Use T otals 10,702 10,639 10,771 10,996 11,122
Surplus/(Shortfall) 0 0 0 0 0
WSCP Shortage Levels & Demand Management
• Poway has Four Shortage Levels defined in its WSCP:
• Water use efficiency is a low-cost way to “augment supply” • Poway manages various water conservation programs to
promote reasonable and efficient use water:
• Water waste prevention ordinance (Poway Municipal Code Chapter 8.94) • All connections are metered
• Annual Water Loss audits
• Residential and commercial water use audits
• Public education and outreach
1 2 Upto 20% Level 2 Upto 20%
3 Upto30% Level 3 Upto40%
4 Upto40% Level 3 Upto40%
5 Up to SO% Level 4 >40%
4th Grade Water Awareness Outreach Program
Public Coordination & Input
• 60-day Coordination Letters & Availability Notices to Local Agencies:
• SDCWA
• City of San Diego
• SANDAG
• Ramona Municipal Water District
• Poway Chamber of Commerce
• San Diego County
• San Diego County LAFCO
• City of Escondido
• Public Hearing Notices – April 30 & May 7
• Chieftain Newspaper
• Public Hearing – Tonight
• Proposed Council Adoption – Tonight
• DWR submittal – by June 19
• WUE Portal, CA State Library
It is recommended that the City Council
1. Open the public hearing, take public input, approve
necessary changes, and close the public hearing on the City of Poway's 2025 WSCP & 2025 UWMP
2. Adopt the Resolution approving the 2025 WSCP and 2025 UWMP and authorizing staff to incorporate approved
changes and submit the plans to DWR and to the California State Library
Recommended Actions
Questions?