Attachment B
Making Conservation a
California Way of Life
Legislative Overview
Overview
SB 606 and AB 1668, signed in 2018 are intended to “Make Water Conservation a California Way of Life.” In total, three water use standards (indoor residential, outdoor residential, and outdoor commercial, industrial and institutional (CII-DIM)), one water loss standard, and a variety of adjustments are used to calculate each urban water supplier’s overall budget. The sum of these is known as an Urban Water Use Objective (UWUO).
Provisional Data
In March 2024, the State Water Board released
updated provisional data for every urban water
supplier in the state used for their Water Use
Objective Exploration Tool. The chart to the right
shows projections for reductions needed by water
suppliers in 2040 based on the State’s provisional
data. (Note the provisional data does not include
potential variances that suppliers may be able to
utilize to adjust their UWUO. )
Making Conservation a California Way of Life
Outdoor Residential
Water Budget
CII-DIM Outdoor
Water Budget
Water Loss
Budget
Urban Water Use Objective (UWUO)
Indoor Residential
Water Budget
Adjustments if
applicable:
Variances, Temporary
Provisions, and/or
Bonus Incentive
Adjustments to an UWUO can be made via variances, temporary provisions, and/or a bonus incentive for potable reuse, where applicable per supplier. A variance or temporary provision must receive prior approval by submitting a request to the State Water Board.
In addition to the UWUO, every urban supplier will need to comply with a set of CII performance measures. These performance measures are intended to enable water-usage benchmarking per CII classification category as well as establish BMPs for indoor and outdoor CII water use regardless of CII- DIM status. Even if an agency meets its UWUO, it will still need comply with the CII Performance Measures.
Use the QR code to go to the Water Use Objective Exploration Tool.
February 2025
CalWEP is your implementation partner.
CalWEP has been making conservation a california way of life since 1991. We are uniquely suited to help water agencies meet and exceed their urban water use objective, and comply with CII performance measures.
AVAILABLE NOW:
Cut sheets
Framework 101 slide deck
NAICS to ESPM Crosswalk
Disclosable Buildings Toolkit
CII DIM Identification Guidebook
RFP Guidance and Template RFP
CalWEP LAM Viewer Powered by WaterView
CalWEP’s Compliance Resource Hub (scan QR code)
CII Classification Guidance Document
Variance Modeler
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Alternative Compliance Support Tools
Qualified Vendors List
Direct Technical Assistance Program
Timeline for Implementation and Reporting
For more information, please visit: www.calwep.org or email [email protected] 2 February 2025
Indoor Residential Water Budget (gal/yr) = Indoor Residential Standard x Population x 365 days The Indoor Residential Standard is the maximum allowed indoor water use measured in gallons per capita per day (GPCD). It is intended to represent efficient use. The Indoor Residential Standard will decrease over time.
Indoor Residential Standard by year
Compliance Year Allowable GPCD
2020-2024
2025-2029
2030 onward
55 47
42 Making Conservation a California Way of Life
DIVE INTO THE DETAILS
Indoor Residential Water Budget
5 Outdoor Residential Water Budget (gal/yr) = LAM x LEF x (ETo-Peff) x 0.62 Factor Definition
LAM Landscape Area Measurement includes the following landscape types:
Irrigable-Irrigated (II),
Irrigable-Not-Irrigated (INI) – up to 20% until LAM data is updated, Special Landscape Areas (SLA), and
New Construction
Aggregate data provided by DWR for all designations except for new landscapes installed beginning 1/1/2019.
LEF Outdoor Residential Standard or landscape efficiency factor (unitless).
ETo Reference Evapotranspiration (inches per year). Provided annually by DWR.
Peff Effective Precipitation (inches per year). Capped at 25% of total precipitation or a lower value generated by the Cal-SIMETAW model. Provided by DWR.
0.62 Conversion Factor to generate units in gallons per year.
Outdoor Residential Water Budget
The annual outdoor water budget is calculated as follows:
In the most general terms, the outdoor water budget consists of a supplier’s residential landscape area, multiplied by an efficiency standard and a climate factor that’s reflective of a supplier’s unique service area conditions. 3 *For new homes built after the DWR Landscape Area Measurement (LAM) data was generated, the water budgets should be calculated with an LEF of 0.55.
Compliance
Start Date
Irrigable-
Irrigated (II)
July 1, 2025 0.80
0.63 Irrigable-Not -
Irrigated (INI)
0.80until LAM data updated 1.0
1.0 Special
Landscape
Areas (SLA)
New Construction
(post 1/1/2019)*
0.55 0.55
July 1, 2040
July 1, 2035
0.55 1.0
Outdoor Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Water Budget
0.55 Outdoor Residential Water Budget (cont.)
CII Residential Water Budget (gal/yr) = ((DIM LA - DIM SLA) x LEF) + (DIM SLA x 1.0) x (ETo-Peff)x 0.62
Factor
Definition
DIM LA
DIM SLA
Landscape Area Measurement includes the following landscape types:
Irrigable-Irrigated (II) of connections served by dedicated irrigation meters (DIM) Landscape Area Measurement for CII Special Landscape Area includes the following landscape:
Edible plants
Recreation
Recycled water
Slopes with live vegetation
Ponds or lakes for sustaining wildlife
Plant collections, botanical gardens, and arboretums
Public pools
Cemeteries (build before 2015)
The LEF is an efficiency factor determined by the State Water Board. It is proposed to decrease overtime as presented in the table below.
Example landscape types with associated LEFs from least efficient to most efficient.
N/Aassumes LAM data updated
N/Aassumes LAM data updated
4 Outdoor Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Water Budget (cont.) Factor Definition
LEF Outdoor CII Standard or landscape efficiency factor (unitless).
ETo Reference Evapotranspiration (inches per year). Provided annually by DWR.
Peff Effective Precipitation (inches per year). Capped at 25% of total precipitation or a lower value generated by the Cal-SIMETAW model. Provided by DWR.
0.62 Conversion Factor to generate units in gallons per year.
DWR is currently mapping water agencies CII landscape area. This project is expected to be completed over the next few years. Agencies can choose to generate their own CII landscape area measurements or wait and utilize the dataset provided by DWR as a technical resource for measuring their CII landscape area. Suppliers must distinguish CII-MUM area from CII-DIM area. Below are simplified steps to identify and measure CII-DIM landscape area. CalWEP and the California Data Collaborative have a comprehensive guidebook for measuring DIMs available for members.
Water Loss Budget
Compliance
Start Date
Irrigable-
Irrigated (II)
July 1, 2028 0.80
0.63 1.0
1.0 Special
Landscape
Areas (SLA)
New Construction
(post 1/1/2019)*
0.45 0.45
July 1, 2040
July 1, 2035
0.45 1.0 0.45
*Applies to CII-DIM accounts subject to MWELO. See 23 CCR Section 495 (b)(6) 5 The water loss standard is the maximum allowable “real” water loss measured in gallons per connection per day for each supply system in an urban water supplier’s service area. Therefore, a supplier could have multiple water loss standards. The standards are intended to represent cost effective real water loss. Real losses can be defined as the volume of annual leakage due to physical water leakage in a supplier’s distribution system.
Starting July 1st 2028, suppliers will use total Irrigated Irrigable (II) square footage for all DIMs. The CII-DIM LEF is proposed to decrease overtime as presented in the table below Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Performance Measures All urban water suppliers will also be required to meet a list of performance measures. These performance measures are intended to enable water-usage benchmarking per CII classification category as well as establish BMPs for indoor and outdoor CII water use regardless of CII-DIM status. A simplified rundown of the CII Performance Measures are as follows:
For more information, please visit: www.calwep.org or email [email protected] 6 It is important to note the following as it relates to the water loss standard:
The water loss standard is unique in that it was originally regulated under prior and independent 2015 legislation – Senate Bill 555 (Wolk, Chapter 679, Statues of 2015). Therefore, compliance can be enforced individually for water loss , unlike other standards within the Framework legislation.
Water loss standards apply to systems with more than 200 connections. Systems with under 200 connections are not subject to a water loss standard if conditions in Water Code Section 980 (ddd) are met.
The State Water Board cannot issue a notice or order to a supplier under the Framework legislation for exceeding the UWUO due solely to water loss budget overages if the State is already taking enforcement action under SB 555. The water loss standard guidelines and requirements are complex with many caveats not covered in this cut sheet. Therefore, it is recommended that a supplier review the entire regulation text for a complete understanding.
Water Loss Budget (gal/yr) = Water Loss Standard x (C or M) x days in the year Equation 2: Annual Water Loss Budget
Where,
C = Number of total service connections
M = Length of the distribution system in miles
The water loss standard is derived by entering a supplier’s system-specific validated baseline water loss audit data and other related data into the Water Loss Economic Model (Model) developed by the State Water Board. The Model calculates the water loss standard based on water use, system characteristics, and economic cost data. The State Water Board provides initial water loss standards for each applicable supplier’s systems on their water loss website. For about half of the State’s urban water suppliers’ systems, the Model cannot calculate a cost-effective water loss standard. In these cases, a supplier’s impacted systems’ water loss standard will revert to baseline loss (average of 2017-2020 water loss audit real loss).
The water loss standard is used to calculate the annual maximum allowed water loss volume (in gallons) per system. This maximum is referred to as the water loss budget. The annual water loss budget is calculated using Equation 2. For suppliers with multiple systems the total water loss budget is equal to the sum all of water loss budgets per system.
Action
Compliance Date
Ongoing Activities
Identify buildings that meet “disclosable buildings” threshold according to CEC and supply building owners information by request.
January 1, 2025
Classification of CII properties with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s broad categories plus 4 additional categories
July 1, 2027
Maintain 95%, assessed
annually
BMP Choose Your Own Adventure PART I
Track 1: ID top 2.5% CII Users & Top 20% CII Users
Track 2: ID top 2.5% CII Users & Top 20% CII Users in each classification category
Track 3: ID CII Users based on Supplier Defined Thresholds
Track 1: 06/2025
Track 2: 06/2027
Track 3: 06/2029
Maintain 95%, assessed on
annual basis
BMP Choose Your Own Adventure PART II
Track 1 and 2: Top 2.5% CII Users design implement 2 BMPs from each category
Track 1 and 2: Top 20% CII Users design and implement 1 BMP from each category
Track 3: Design and implement 1 BMP from each category
All Tracks:
June 30, 2039
Maintain programs
Identify CII mixed-use meters (MUMs) associated with large landscapes
(large landscape threshold = ½ acre)
Option 1: Identify all
CII MUMs with large
landscapes: July 1,
2027
Option 2: Identify all
CII large landscapes
that exceed their
outdoor water budget
by July 1, 2029
DIM installation or in-lieu technology plus 2 BMPs on large landscapes
(large landscape threshold = ½ acre)
July 1, 2039
Maintain 95%, assessed on
annual basis
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