City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: JUNE 10, 2024 FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: 2025-2026 Annual water Supply and Demand Assessment ISSUE:
Receive and adopt Riverside’s 2025-2026 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council receive and adopt Riverside’s 2025-2026 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment.
BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
On May 12, 2025, the Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council approve and adopt the Riverside 2025–2026 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment.
BACKGROUND:
California Water Code Section 10632.1 requires urban water suppliers to prepare an Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment (AWSDA) and submit an Annual Shortage Report to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) by July 1 each year, beginning in 2022. Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) submitted its third report in June 2024, following Board of Public Utilities approval on May 13, 2024, and City Council adoption on June 11, 2024.
The purpose of the Annual Assessment is to:
Evaluate the water supply reliability for the current year and one dry year; and Generate and submit an AWSDA detailing anticipated shortages to DWR by July 1 every year starting July 1, 2022.
The AWSDA and associated Annual Shortage Report was prepared by staff according to the procedures detailed in the 2020 RPU adopted Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) and the recommendations provided by the DWR AWSDA Guidance document, which was released in April 2022, followed by guidance addendum on May 10, 2023, and updates on April 23, 2024.
DISCUSSION:
The following table (Table 1) summarizes the topics that DWR requires as part of the AWSDA:
Table 1. Elements of the AWSDA Required Submittal
Report Topic
Table 1
Annual Assessment Information
Table 2
Key Data - Demands, containing estimated unconstrained demand from July of 2025 – June of 2026 Table 3
Key Data - Supplies, containing estimated available supplies from July of 2025 – June of 2026 Table 4
Annual Water Shortage Assessment, showing a summary of monthly supply/demand balances, shortages, and results of planned actions Table 5
Planned Water Shortage Response Actions, containing information on planned water shortage response actions (if any) RPU Methodology
Optional attachments to include details on implementing the procedures that took place this year. Information may consist of descriptions of the steps followed, data sources considered, methodologies used, and the decision-making process Riverside’s Available Water Supply Projection for 2025-2026. RPU’s AWSDA reflects the available water supply from groundwater extraction rights in the San Bernardino Basin Area (SBBA), Riverside Basins, and the Rialto-Colton Basin, as shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Riverside’s Annual Extraction Rights (in acre-feet) Groundwater Basin
RPU Annual Extraction (AF)
SBBA
55,263
Rialto-Colton
2,728
Riverside North
10,902
Riverside South
16,880
Total
85,773
In addition to its extraction rights, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) has access to a maximum of 21,700 acre-feet per year (AFY) of imported water via an agreement with Western Municipal Water District (WMWD), and up to 800 AFY of recycled water for non-potable use provided by the City of Riverside's Regional Water Quality Control Plant. RPU's production generally remains below its extraction rights, and projections indicate that, as of 2025, it can meet all water supply demands using local groundwater.
Riverside’s Water Demand for 2025-2026
The total potable and non-potable monthly water demand projections for RPU from July 2025 to June 2026 are estimated by adding next year’s projected water demand for all customer categories. The estimated Potable demands are based on the last five years’ monthly average gallon per capita per day (GPCD), projected population changes, weather, and growth.
Projected Water Supply vs. Water Demand)
Following the DWR AWSDA guidebook methodology, supply projections indicate RPU can meet next year's demand without planned reductions. This is visually represented in the graph below, demonstrating RPU's ability to meet demands without demand reduction measures or imported water purchases. These demand figures are projected to decrease in future years as the newly adopted Urban Water Use Objective, within California's 'Making Conservation a California Way of Life' framework, will progressively tighten water conservation requirements through 2040. This will enable the City to accommodate growth during normal years and reduce the necessity for implementing emergency water use reductions during drought periods.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The AWSDA aligns with the Environmental Stewardship Priority from the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan and contributes to the achievement of the following Goal:
Environmental Stewardship:
Goal No. 4.2 Sustainably manage local water resources to maximize reliability and advance water reuse to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable water to our community.
This item aligns with EACH of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The AWSD assessment identifies the following year’s supply and demand for RPU customers to ensure their water needs are met, thereby enhancing community trust.
Equity – All customers within RPU’s service area will benefit from the assessment of having reliable drinking water to meet demand.
Fiscal Responsibility – The AWSDA will help keep the cost of water affordable to customers by ensuring RPU’s anticipated supplies will meet demand in the near term without purchasing imported water.
Innovation – Riverside is proactively preparing the AWSDA to evaluate water system reliability for the coming year and determine if any current water shortage response actions are needed.
Sustainability & Resiliency – Riverside is committed to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future and ensuring the City’s capacity to persevere, adapt and grow during good and challenging times.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this informational report.
Prepared by: David A. Garcia, Utilities General Manager Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Rebecca Mckee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
2025-RPU Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment Methodology AWSAD- Reporting tables
Presentation
Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment ● Page 3