Agenda Item #13.9
For Council Meeting of: June 16, 2026
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JENNIFER BURKE, DIRECTOR, SANTA ROSA WATER
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF THE 2025 URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN AND 2025 WATER SHORTAGE CONTINGENCY PLAN AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
Santa Rosa Water recommends that the Council, by resolution, adopt the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan. This item has no impact on current fiscal year budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In conformance with the California Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act), the City of Santa Rosa has prepared its 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and its 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Shortage Plan). The Council reviewed the 2025 UWMP and 2025 Shortage Plan in a public hearing on June 2, 2026, as per the requirements of the Act.
GOAL
This item relates to Council Goals #2 and #3 - Invest in the Development and Maintenance of the City’s Infrastructure and Promote Citywide Economic Development, as the plans identify long-term water supply and demand projections and water management objectives through 2050 in support of the City’s General Plan.
BACKGROUND/PRIOR COUNCIL REVIEW
The Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act) requires every urban water supplier that serves more than 3,000 connections or supplies more than 3,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) of water to adopt and submit an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) every five years. The Act requires specific information to be included in the UWMP and requires the urban water supplier to hold a public hearing to review and adopt the UWMP. The deadline for water suppliers to submit their adopted 2025 UWMP is July 1, 2026.
The City is an urban supplier of water for approximately 54,000 connections supplying approximately 17,000 AFY of water and is therefore required to comply with the Act. The City’s previous UWMP was the 2020 UWMP, which was adopted by the City Council in June 2021.
The Act also includes a requirement to prepare a Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Shortage Plan), which details how a water supplier plans to respond to water shortage levels ranging from up to 10 percent to over 50 percent. The Act requires specific information to be included in the Shortage Plan and requires the urban water supplier to hold a public hearing to review and adopt the Shortage Plan. The deadline for water suppliers to submit their adopted 2025 Shortage Plan is July 1, 2026. The City’s previous Shortage Plan was the 2020 Shortage Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in June 2021, and re-adopted with modifications in November 2021.
ANALYSIS
The City’s 2025 UWMP includes details about Santa Rosa's planned water supplies and projected demands through 2050 during an average water year, a single dry year, and dry five-year periods; demand management program details; and information about our regional water supply.
The City’s 2025 UWMP includes a demand analysis based on population and employment projections, known and projected development and land use changes, water use trends by all customer sectors, non-revenue water (e.g., firefighting, line flushing, and losses from the distribution system), and the potential impacts of climate change. It also incorporates estimated passive water savings from plumbing codes and water conservation regulations and ordinances. The analysis projects total water demand of approximately 21,403 acre-feet in 2050.
Santa Rosa has three existing and planned sources of water: entitlement of 29,100 acre-feet per year (AFY) from the Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) pursuant to the Restructured Agreement for Water Supply, which was executed in 2006; approximately 2,300 to 4,100 AFY; and 140 AFY of recycled water supply.
The 2025 UWMP concludes that sufficient water supplies will be available to meet the projected water demands for Santa Rosa through 2050 during average water years, single dry year conditions which are equivalent to the driest year on record (1977) and multiple dry years during dry five-year periods equivalent to the driest five-year period on record (1987-1991).
The 2025 UWMP also concludes that sufficient water supplies would be available to meet estimated “unconstrained” (normal) water demands for the immediate five-year period (2026-2030) if hydrologic conditions were equivalent to the driest five-year period on record (1987-1991).
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this action does not have a fiscal impact on the City’s General Fund or the Water Department’s Enterprise Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to Water Code Section 10652, the preparation and adoption of an Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including implementation of actions taken pursuant to those plans.
In addition, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the recommended action is not a “project” subject to CEQA because it does not have the potential to result in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the recommended action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty there is no possibility that the recommended action may have a significant effect on the environment.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On February 11, 2026, the Water Conservation Subcommittee of the Board of Public Utilities reviewed and provided input on the 2025 UWMP and the 2025 Shortage Plan.
On May 21, 2026, the Board of Public Utilities approved a recommendation to Council to hold a public hearing and adopt these plans. On June 2, 2026, the City Council conducted a public hearing on these plans.
NOTIFICATION
A bill insert was included in the February water bills advertising the upcoming public review period of the 2025 UWMP and the 2025 Shortage Plan. During the public review period, all documentation was available on the dedicated City webpage srcity.org/uwmp, and hard copies of the draft plans were available at specified public counters at City Hall and Municipal Services Center South. Public hearing notices were published on May 6, 2026, and May 17, 2026, in the Press Democrat.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan
Attachment 2 – Draft 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan Resolution
PRESENTER(S)
Claire Nordlie, Senior Water Resources Planner
2025 URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN AND 2025 WATER
SHORTAGE CONTINGENCY PLAN
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