California Water Service
Quality. Service. Value.®
Making Conservation a California Way of Life
Requirements, Impacts, and Compliance
May 2025
Agenda
Historical and Current Context
Making Conservation a California Way of Life – Regulatory Framework Visalia Urban Water Use Objective
Visalia Current Conservation Programs
Visalia Compliance Plan
Visalia Production and Population (2004 – 2023)
35 %
14 %
Visalia Per Capita Water Use (2004 – 2023)
36 %
How Did We Get Here?
How Did We Get Here?
Three Major Components
CII Performance Measures
Action
Compliance Date
Ongoing Activities
Identify buildings that meet “disclosable buildings” threshold according to CEC and supply building owners information by request.
June 2024 or regulation effective date
Classification of CII properties with ENERGY STAR ++++
June 30, 2027
Maintain 95%, assessed annually
CII Best Management Practices Options
Action
Compliance Date
Ongoing Activities
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 Defined Thresholds
Track 1: June 30, 2025
Track 2: June 30, 2027
Track 3: June 30, 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
The 5 CII BMPs Categories
Outreach, Technical Assistance, and Education BMP
Examples: workshops, advertisements, phone calls/visits Incentive BMP
Examples: rebates/cost-sharing for fixtures, certification programs Landscape Programs BMP
Examples: irrigation check-ups, irrigation schedule training, turf removal program Collaboration and Coordination BMP
Examples: coordination with “green” building certification, collaboration with NGOs on outreach Operational BMP
Examples: smart meter replacement, billing procedures
CII Performance Measures
Action
Compliance Date
Ongoing Activities
DIM installation or in-lieu technology plus 2 BMPs on large landscapes (threshold = ½ acre landscape) June 30, 2039
Maintain 95%, assessed on annual basis
In-Lieu technologies include at least one of the following:
Water budget-based rate structure
Water budget-based management program without a rate restructure Installation of technologies that enable the supplier to identify, estimate, and analyze outdoor water use (may include AMI) Use of technologies that enable the supplier to identify, estimate, and analyze outdoor water use (may include remote sensing) Other in-lieu technologies that enable the supplier to identify, estimate, and analyze water use or improve outdoor water use efficiency
Calculating the Urban Water Use Objective
Indoor Residential Water Budget - SB 1157 (2022)
ORIGINAL indoor standard (from 2018 legislation)
2020: 55 GPCD
2025: 52.5 GPCD
2030: 50 GPCD
Indoor Residential Standard x Service Area Population x 365 days 2020-2024: 55 GPCD
2025-2029: 47 GPCD
2030 onward: 42 GPCD
Outdoor Residential Water Budget
(Routdoor) = LAM x LEF x (ETo-Peff) x 0.62
Routdoor = Water budget for efficient residential outdoor water use (gallons/year) LAM = Landscape area for a water supplier (sq. ft)
LEF = Landscape Efficiency Factor (unitless) represents a percentage of reference ETo; function of plants’ water needs & irrigation efficiency ETo = Reference evapotranspiration (inches)
Peff = Effective precipitation (inches)
0.62 = unit conversion factor
Outdoor Landscape Efficiency Factors (LEF)
Compliance
Start Date
Irrigable – Irrigated (II)
Irrigable – Not Irrigated (INI)
Special Landscape Areas (SLA)
New Construction (post 1/1/2019)
July 1, 2025
0.80 0.80
until LAM data updated
1.0 0.55
July 1, 2035
0.63 N/A
until LAM data updated
1.0 0.55
July 1, 2040
0.55 N/A
until LAM data updated
1.0 0.55
Visalia Urban Water Use Objective (including 20% INI Buffer) Compliance Year
Standard-based budgets (R-GPCD + Water Loss)
Urban Water Use Objective
(R-GPCD + Water Loss)
2022-23 Avg. Use
(R-GPCD + Water Loss)
Residential Indoor*
Residential Outdoor*
CII landscapes with DIMs
Real Water Loss
2024
55.0 72.0
0.0 1.9
128.9
117.3
2027
47.0 72.0
0.0 1.9
120.9
2030
42.0 72.0
0.0 1.9
115.9
2035
42.0 57.9
0.0 1.9
101.8
2040
42.0 51.3
0.0 1.9
95.2 * Includes 20% INI Buffer and variances for pools and residential agriculture. State Water Board may elect to eliminate buffer once landscape measurements are updated by DWR. Outdoor budget calculated with 2020-21 avg Net ET.
Cal Water Rebates
Residential
High-efficiency toilet
High-efficiency clothes washer
High-efficiency sprinkler nozzle
Smart irrigation controller
Lawn-to-garden
Commercial
High-efficiency valve-type toilet
High-efficiency tank-type toilet
High-efficiency urinal
High-efficiency sprinkler nozzle
Spray body with integrated pressure
regulation and check valve
Large rotary nozzle
Smart irrigation controller
Lawn-to-garden
Customized incentive
Conservation Kits
Each conservation kit contains:
Two high-efficiency shower heads
Leak detection tablets
Two high-efficiency bathroom faucet aerators
One garden hose nozzle
One high-efficiency kitchen faucet aerator
Evaluation of irrigation system
Identification and improvement of irrigation leaks, broken equipment, and other water-saving opportunities Installation of smart irrigation controllers
Installation of high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles
Repair of drip irrigation
Repair and replacement of irrigation valves
Repair and replacement of spray bodies
Smart Landscape Tune- Up Program
Lawn-to-Garden Rebate
Lawn removal projects that transform turf into water-wise gardens and landscapes $3 per square foot for residential customers
$1 per square foot for commercial customers
Requires 50% of the converted area to be drought tolerant, California native, low water use plants A minimum of 250 square feet of lawn must be removed
Artificial/Synthetic Turf is not allowed
Utilized optimization model to develop conservation program that maximizes water savings at lowest cost Annual program compliance cost estimate (excluding Performance Measures): $2,395,870 Immediate ramp up of conservation programs balancing compliance, implementation feasibility, and affordability Limit annual increase to 5x current program budget
Current authorized annual programs budget: $239,587
Proposed annual programs budget: $1,197,935
Includes additional marketing and staffing to support expanded programs Proposed total annual conservation program budget for Visalia: $1,946,928 Adaptive management approach to determine future program adjustments Compliance Plan – GRC
Identifying grant programs to support program expansion Program budget to be utilized primarily for residential programs Expand activity in current programs with focus on outdoor programs Assessing implementation of Bathroom Fixture Replacement Program Targeted to multi-family residential and low-income customers Assessing need and timing of increased incentive amounts Assessing expansion of Flume program
Compliance Plan – Program Considerations
Build on significant interest in Smart Landscape Tune-Up Program Assessing maximum project square footage and developing additional support for Lawn-to-Garden Program Developing water targets to provide customer water-use insights and customized recommendations Compliance Plan – Program Considerations