DATE: March 14, 2016
TO: Council Sustainability Committee
FROM: Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
SUBJECT
Title
Update on City-Wide Water Conservation and Revised Emergency Regulations for Statewide Urban Water Conservation
End
RECOMMENDATION
That the Committee reviews and comments on this report.
Body
SUMMARY
This report provides information on the City's water conservation efforts for 2015, as well as an overview of the City's compliance with the State's Emergency Regulations for Statewide Urban Water Conservation, initially adopted in July 2014, and recently extended through October 2016.
BACKGROUND
The past four years have seen exceptionally dry conditions throughout the State, prompting Governor Brown to call for a twenty percent reduction in state-wide water use in January 2014. At that time, the City's wholesale water supplier, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), asked its customers to reduce consumption by ten percent. The State Water Resources Control Board (also known as the State Water Board) determined that insufficient progress had been achieved throughout the State towards the twenty percent reduction goals, and in response, adopted Emergency Regulations for Statewide Urban Water Conservation (Emergency Regulations) on July 15, 2014, prohibiting wasteful outdoor water use, and requiring all urban water suppliers, including Hayward, to implement their Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP). On September 23, 2014, the Council approved an amendment to the City's WSCP, which incorporated the State's mandatory prohibitions into the Stage I actions, and declared a Stage I water shortage.
On March 17, 2015, the State Water Board approved an extension of the Emergency Regulations and also included additional requirements for urban water suppliers, including more specific irrigation, food service, and hospitality restrictions, as well as increased reporting require...
Click here for full text