California has made great strides in water supply and climate resilience over the past year

SACRAMENTO – The state of California, under the leadership of Governor Gavin Newsom, has made significant progress in securing and improving water supplies while strengthening resilience to climate change. Over the past year, California has implemented innovative water management strategies and invested heavily in drinking water systems, groundwater protection and infrastructure projects, benefiting millions of residents across the state.

As the state begins a new water year, here is a look at some key developments:

Important milestones

• Connecting hundreds of thousands of people to clean drinking water: Thanks to consolidation efforts and infrastructure improvements that benefit underserved areas across the state, nearly 900,000 more Californians have access to clean drinking water since 2019. Since Governor Newsom took office, California has reduced the number of people without access from 1.6 million to about 700,000.

• Support of drinking water systems: Nearly 400 communities across California received support in the 2023-2024 fiscal year alone through the State Water Board's allocation of $880 million to strengthen their drinking water and wastewater systems and increase their resilience to climate impacts. These projects, which focus on both immediate and long-term needs, provide cleaner, more reliable water access for local communities. Since 2019, California has facilitated more than 140 water system consolidations to provide safe drinking water, and the governor signed SB 1188 (Laird) last month to provide technical resources to struggling small water systems.

• Streamlining Sites Reservoir Project: California is moving forward with this major water storage project that could store enough water for the annual consumption of 3 million households. The Sites Reservoir project has cleared a legal hurdle last month Subject to expedited judicial review enabled by the Governor's Infrastructure Optimization Act.

• Progress on the Delta Transport Project: California released the final environmental impact report for this critical project and a new one Cost-benefit analysis This shows it would bring billions of dollars in benefits to California communities – including reliable water supplies, climate change adaptation, earthquake preparedness and improved water quality. Every $1 spent would generate $2.20 in benefits. Throughout the rest of the year, local water districts that depend on the State Water Project will vote on funding for the project. So far, the boards of the first three electoral districts have committed to providing planning funds for the project.

• 10 years of groundwater protection: California last month marked the first decade of protecting and maintaining our critical groundwater supplies through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which empowers local authorities to address overpumping that threatens water supplies to communities, agriculture and ecosystems. Since the Act's enactment, more than 300 local groundwater sustainability agencies have been established to implement enforceable groundwater sustainability plans. The state has invested nearly $1 billion in SGMA to ensure groundwater sustainability for future generations.

• Rising groundwater supplies: California has increased its groundwater reserves and invested in projects that recharge groundwater basins, including the capture of excess rainwater. In 2023 alone, targeted measures added 4.1 million hectares of water to underground aquifers.

• Extreme Weather Water Plan: Governor Newsom unveiled an update to California's water plan, outlining comprehensive solutions to improve the state's ability to capture and store more water, particularly during extreme weather events such as flooding. This plan includes infrastructure improvements and technological advances to strengthen climate resilience.

• Settling Water Utilities' $880 Million Debt: The state provided $880 million to eliminate water utility debt for 4 million Californians, reducing financial burdens on residents and businesses and ensuring continued access to water services during difficult economic times.

As California begins a new water year, the state remains prepared to respond to changing water conditions, including the possible return of dry conditions. With estimates that hotter and drier conditions could reduce California's water supply by up to 10% by 2040, the state is implementing a comprehensive approach to securing and increasing water supplies, as outlined in the California Water Plan, Water Supply Strategy and Water Resilience Portfolio.