Member Article

On July 15, 2014, the State Water Resources Control Board approved Resolution No. 2014-0038 adopting an emergency regulation for statewide urban water conservation, and the emergency regulation became effective on July 28, 2014.  The emergency regulation added Sections 863, 864, and 865 to Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.

• Section 863 includes the State Board's findings for the emergency regulation.
• Section 864 identifies four specific prohibitions for outdoor use of potable water.
• Section 865 establishes mandatory actions required by water suppliers. 

In general, an urban water supplier must implement the stage of its water shortage contingency plan that imposes mandatory restrictions on outdoor irrigation of ornamental landscapes or turf with potable water or seek approval of an alternate plan that includes an allocation based rate structure that achieves a certain level of water conservation. Water suppliers without an approved water shortage contingency plan must limit outdoor irrigation of ornamental landscaping or turf to not more than two days per week or implement another mandatory conservation measure intended to achieve certain water conservation levels.  In addition, larger urban water suppliers must comply with monthly monitoring report requirements.

Pat Miyaki has been representing local government agencies for more than 20 years as both general counsel and special counsel. He represents water districts, transportation districts, sanitary districts, cities, and joint powers agencies.