With Rainfall, California Water Utilities Lobby For Regulation Lifts

As California gets soaked in rain, water utilities are lobbying state officials to lift regulations — a move that would likely benefit water suppliers across the state.

The State Water Resources Control Board will decide on February 7 “whether to extend measures requiring local water districts to enforce conservation rules, provide monthly reports on water usage and show they have a three-year water supply,” the Associated Press reported.

Water regulators are pushing the state to repeal current regulations. “Water districts have been lobbying the board to back down. They say they are committed to conservation and better positioned than the state to ensure residents do not return to old habits,” the report said.

Lifting water regulations in California would be a positive shift for water utilities, analysts say. The last time the state reined in water rules, Fitch Ratings predicted that deregulation would likely result in “higher sales and better financial performance for water issuers.”

Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, told the AP: "We do strongly object to doing this under the banner of a drought emergency that everybody sees no longer exists."

He noted that water utilities invest heavily in ensuring they have reserve water supplies. “Quinn said maintaining the state's emergency declaration gives water regulators extraordinary authority to require cutbacks from districts even if they have ample supplies. Water districts fear losing the public's trust,” the report said, citing Quinn.

Even if water regulators slacken rules in February, some mandates may remain permanent. “State officials are moving to permanently ban water wasting habits such as spraying sidewalks with hoses, running sprinklers within 48 hours after measurable rainfall and washing cars using hoses that do not have turn-off nozzles,” the report said.

Drought conditions have lifted in certain parts of California in recent months. “As of last week, Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir and a major source of water for San Joaquin Valley agriculture, is 82 percent full and releasing water to create more storage room. Oroville, which supplies the State Water Project, is 77 percent full and also making releases,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

To read more about California’s drought visit Water Online’s Source Water Scarcity Solutions Center.