City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: June 23, 2026 FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF THE 2025 URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN ISSUE:
Adoption of the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council adopt a resolution adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan prepared by the City of Riverside’s Public Utilities Department.
BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS:
On June 8, 2025, the Board of Public Utilities met with all members present and conducted a public hearing to review the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan; Following the discussion, the Board voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt a resolution adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan prepared by the City of Riverside’s Public Utilities Department with the typographical revisions as requested by the Board.
BACKGROUND:
California urban water suppliers that serve more than 3,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) are required to prepare an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) every five years. These reports are submitted to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), who reviews the reports and verifies that they meet the requirements of the California Water Code (CWC). The CWC defines an urban water supplier (Supplier) as an agency that provides water for municipal purposes to more than 3,000 customers or serving more than 3,000 AFY; Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) delivers more than 3,000 AFY and is thus required to prepare a UWMP every five years. RPU’s last UWMP was submitted in June 2021 and included data through the end of 2020.
In addition to preparing a 2025 UWMP to meet the 2025 guidelines, RPU prepared a Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) as a stand-alone document that will be reviewed and considered for adoption alongside the UWMP.
This UWMP summarizes RPU’s projected retail and wholesale water demands and characterizes the source waters available to meet those demands for the next 25 years. The plan also describes the reliability of RPU’s water supplies.
Discussion:
Since the previous 2020 UWMP, there have been a few changes in the guidebook. Riverside Public Utilities’ 2025 UWMP have reflected these changes where applicable.
Updates have included the following:
Minor changes to the California Water Code
Criteria for suppliers with multiple public water systems DWR submittal tables
Compliance with 2028 Water Loss Standard for Water loss reporting Direct potable reuse (highly treated recycled wastewater for drinking water use) Optional lower-income housing forecasting methodology
Reporting groundwater recharge and other water storage
Water Demand
The total potable and raw water demand projection for CY 2025 from the 2020 UWMP was 85,012 AFY. However, the actual demands since the last 2020 UWMP have decreased. The actual and projected demands are shown in the following tables:
Actual Demand
History of Total Actual Demand
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Potable
68,198
68,724
57,832
61,990
63,169
Raw Water and Recycled Water Demand
13,922
13,165
9,164
9,768
11,765
Total Water Use:
82,120
81,889
66,996
71,758
74,934
Projected Demands
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
Potable Water (AF)
63,169
71,860
72,436
73,200
73,603
74,195
Raw water and Recycled Water Demand (AF)
11,765
19,800
23,370
23,370
23,370
23,370
Total Water Use: (AF)
74,934
91,660
95,806
96,570
96,973
97,565
The demand projections were developed considering variables such as climate, population growth, new expanding projects and customer behavior. RPU prepared projections of future demand using the period from 2020 to 2025 as a baseline to account for the variability in customers consumption behavior related to wet and dry years, projecting population growth using an annual growth rate, and assuming demand per customer would remain relatively constant. The annual growth percentage incorporated the expected increase in service area population based on regional growth forecasts.
Water Supplies
The projected water supply for the next 25 years, including the assumed increase of recycled water supply, is expected to increase by a total of 20,350 AF. These future supply projects are identified in the 2025 UWMP document and will be refined in the future Integrated Water Supply and Demand Management Plan (IWSDMP). The IWSDMP will provide a detailed perspective and timeline on the feasibility of these potential water supply projects. The Table below summarizes the increase in water supply reliability of these identified projects:
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
Projected Water Supply
107,473
108,873
112,973
116,773
118,273
118,273
Projected RW Supply
200
5,700
9,750
9,750
9,750
9,750
Projected water supply:
107,673
114,573
122,723
126,523
128,023
128,023
Water Supply Reliability
Historically, RPU’s source waters have proven reliable, even during dry year periods, including the multi-year droughts from 1984 to 1990, 1999 to 2002, 2006 to 2009, 2012 to 2016, and 2018 to 2022. To date, RPU has not experienced any significant water supply deficiencies. RPU, along with other local water agencies, is cooperating to increase groundwater reliability. In summary, a comparison of projected supply and demand is shown in the following table. 2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
Supply Totals (AF)
107,673
114,573
122,723
126,523
128,023
128,023
Demand Totals (AF)
74,934
91,660
95,806
96,570
96,973
97,565
Difference: (AF)
32,739
22,913
26,917
29,953
31,050
30,458
RPU staff will file a copy of the UWMP with the California Department of Water Resources, as required by the CWC, by the July 1 deadline following adoption by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Prepared by: Robin Glenney, Utilities Assistant General Manager/Water Approved by: David A. Garcia, Utilities General Manager Certified as to
availability of funds: Julie Nemes, Interim Finance Director Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Interim Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan
Resolution
Presentation
2025 Urban Water Management Plan ● Page 2