Item Number: 1
City Council / Board of Directors
Public Hearing(s)
Meeting of: June 16, 2026
Submitted By:
Doug Mathews, Director of Public Works and Water
Subject:
Adoption of the 2025 Regional Urban Water Management Plan and the 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan
Recommendation:
That the Honorable Victorville Water District Board of Directors:
(1) Open and conduct a Public Hearing;
(2) Receive testimony and close the public hearing;
(3) Approve Resolution No. VWD 26-002 adopting the 2025 Regional Urban Water Management Plan; and
(4) Approve Resolution No. VWD 26-008 adopting the 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
Strategic Plan Goal:
This item aligns with Goal E. Invest in Infrastructure. By investing in a consultant to update the Urban Water Management Plan and the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, the District can continue supporting a healthy, livable community for all residents.
Background:
The Urban Water Management Planning Act of 1983, as amended and codified in California Water Code Sections (CWC) 10610 through 10656 (the Act), requires urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP), or a Regional Urban Water Management Plan (RUWMP) when participating in a regional planning effort, for submission to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
The Act is intended to ensure that water suppliers evaluate long-term water resource needs, maintain reliable water supplies, promote efficient water use, and plan for future water demands and drought conditions.
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Water Shortage Contingency Plans (WSCPs) have been required under CWC Section 10632 since the early 1980s and serve as an essential component of water supply planning. A WSCP establishes the actions a water supplier will take during water shortage conditions and includes required elements addressing shortage response actions, dry- year supply assessments, catastrophic supply interruptions, demand reduction measures, financial impacts, and monitoring and reporting requirements. The WSCP serves as the operational framework the Victorville Water District (“District”) will use to respond proactively to water shortages and minimize service disruptions.
To comply with State law, the UWMP and WSCP must be updated every five years and are intended to function as integrated planning documents. The UWMP provides the District’s long-term strategy for maintaining water supply reliability under normal and dry- year conditions, while the WSCP establishes the operational measures that will be implemented during actual or anticipated water shortages.
The District adopted its 2015 Urban Water Management Plan on June 21, 2016, and subsequently adopted its 2020 Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan on June 15, 2021, following a publicly noticed hearing. These plans established the District’s long-term water supply planning framework, updated demand and supply projections, and documented compliance with applicable State conservation and planning requirements.
The 2025 Regional Urban Water Management Plan (2025 RUWMP) updates the District’s 2020 UWMP and incorporates new data, analyses, and planning assumptions developed since 2020. As the first regional plan prepared for the Mojave Basin Region under the RUWMP framework, the 2025 RUWMP establishes a coordinated approach to regional water resources planning and management through the year 2050. The 2025 RUWMP encompasses the Mojave Water Agency (MWA), the regional wholesale water supplier responsible for regional groundwater management, and participating urban water suppliers within MWA’s service area.
The 2025 RUWMP evaluates existing and future water supply reliability, forecasts future water demands, summarizes demand management accomplishments, and identifies local and regional strategies to meet projected water needs. The 2025 RUWMP provides a consistent regional assessment of water supply conditions and supports long-term planning efforts related to groundwater sustainability, drought preparedness, climate variability, and future population growth. The 2025 RUWMP is intended to inform elected officials, water supplier staff, water users, interested community stakeholders, and the State of California regarding current conditions, projected demands, and strategies to ensure reliable and sustainable water supplies.
The District retained Water Systems Consulting, Inc. (WSC) to prepare the District- specific chapters of the 2025 RUWMP. WSC also prepared the District’s 2015 and 2020 UWMPs and possesses extensive knowledge of the District’s water system, planning assumptions, and regulatory requirements. Preparation of the 2025 RUWMP required 4 7
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coordination with MWA and its consultant, which prepared the shared regional chapters of the plan.
The 2025 RUWMP serves several important planning purposes, including:
Providing a standardized methodology for water suppliers to evaluate water supply availability and future water resource needs;
Serving as a resource for the public, stakeholders, and other interested parties regarding water supply, demand, conservation, and related water management issues;
Providing information used by cities and counties when evaluating proposed development projects and preparing long-range planning documents, including General Plans; and
Supporting regional and statewide water planning efforts, including Integrated Regional Water Management Plans and the California Water Plan.
Discussion:
The 2025 RUWMP (Exhibit 1 to Resolution No. VWD 26-002) evaluates the District’s projected water demands, available supplies, long-term reliability, and drought resilience through the year 2050. For calendar year 2025, the District’s total water use was 21,402 acre-feet per year (AFY), with demands projected to increase to 26,282 AFY by 2050 as population and economic development continue within the Victorville Water District service area.
The 2025 RUWMP consists of regional chapters applicable to the Mojave Basin Region as a whole, together with agency-specific chapters prepared by each participating urban water supplier. While the complete 2025 RUWMP includes information and analyses prepared for all participating agencies, the Board’s approval pertains to the regional chapters and the Victorville Water District-specific chapters that satisfy the District’s planning requirements under the Urban Water Management Planning Act.
The 2025 RUWMP demonstrates that the District has adequate, reliable water supplies to meet projected demands under average, single-dry, and multiple-dry year conditions through 2050. The District’s supplies are derived primarily from native groundwater and are supplemented regionally through imported State Water Project water managed by the MWA through basin recharge and management programs. Natural groundwater supply estimates are based on long-term hydrologic averages that incorporate both wet and dry periods. Because of the regional adjudication governing groundwater production in the Mojave Basin Region, the District does not experience reduced groundwater availability during dry or multiple-dry years, as permitted pumping is based on long-term natural supply conditions rather than annual variability.
The 2025 RUWMP also documents the District’s continued commitment to water use efficiency. Through implementation of its active water conservation program, the District successfully achieved its State-mandated 2020 Gallons Per Capita Per Day (GPCD) 4 7
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target of 202 GPCD, with actual water use of 145 GPCD. Continued improvements in residential and landscape water use efficiency will remain important as the District prepares to meet the requirements of the State’s Conservation as a California Way of Life framework. To support these objectives, the District will continue expanding conservation programs, public outreach efforts, recycled water use opportunities, and participation in regional water supply initiatives that further strengthen long-term reliability.
The District’s WSCP (Exhibit 1 to Resolution No. VWD 26-008), prepared in conjunction with the 2025 RUWMP, evaluates the District’s ability to respond to water shortages and supply interruptions. The WSCP concludes that agencies relying primarily on adjudicated groundwater, such as the District, are generally less vulnerable to shortages than agencies dependent on variable surface water supplies. Nevertheless, groundwater producers may be required to reduce pumping during extended drought conditions to prevent excessive overdraft and preserve long-term basin sustainability.
The WSCP establishes a four-stage shortage response framework with corresponding demand reduction measures, operational actions, enforcement provisions, communication protocols, and financial considerations. To comply with current State requirements, the WSCP also incorporates a crosswalk between the District’s four shortage stages and the California Department of Water Resources’ six standardized water shortage levels, as illustrated in Figure 1-1.
The WSCP authorizes the City Manager, acting in the capacity of the District’s General Manager, to declare and implement appropriate shortage stages when warranted by supply interruptions, infrastructure failures, or other emergency conditions. The WSCP also identifies emergency interagency supply options available during catastrophic events and incorporates findings from the District’s Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan to strengthen operational preparedness and system reliability.
To satisfy public review and hearing requirements, the Public Draft 2025 RUWMP and Public Draft 2025 WSCP were posted on the City’s website on June 1, 2026, and hard copies were made available for review at the City Clerk’s Office. In accordance with CWC Section 10642, notice of the public hearing was published in the Valley Wide Newspaper on May 29, 2026.
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Based on the findings presented in the 2025 RUWMP and 2025 WSCP, staff recommends that the Board of Directors adopt Resolution Nos. VWD 26-002 (Attachment A) and VWD 26-008 (Attachment B), respectively, and authorize submission of both documents to the California Department of Water Resources by July 1, 2026.
Staff is available to answer any questions the Board may have.
Prepared By:
Alejandra Garcia, Management Technician
Daniel Best, Assistant Director of Water
Mel Krejckant, Public Works and Water Administrative Manager Attachments: A. Resolution No. VWD 26-002
B. Resolution No. VWD 26-008