Tia Fleming is the co-executive director of the California Water Efficiency Partnership (CalWEP). She can be reached at tia@calwep.org.

In drought-prone California, pioneering water-saving initiatives have become indispensable to a sustainable future. Yet although water use has plateaued in some regions — even as the population has grown — a warming climate means all cities will need to conserve more. As a result, the state passed new water standards, Making Conservation a California Way of Life, which become effective Jan. 1, 2025.

This new rule shifts away from a one-size-fits-all approach to community-specific conservation management. Historically, state-enacted emergency orders required all urban water suppliers to reduce their water use — no matter their water supply source or water use conditions. It’s much more difficult (and expensive) to squeeze 25% savings out of an already efficient community than it is to get those same savings from a community that has never invested in conservation.

To better level the playing field and bring all communities to a baseline of efficiency, urban water suppliers now have a unique water budget they must achieve.

Why water conservation and efficiency matter

Conservation and efficiency efforts are essential to ensuring cities have a reliable source of water, even during droughts. Besides increasing water sustainability, such efforts can decrease greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the energy required for water extraction, treatment, and distribution. Programs that replace water-intensive grass with drought-tolerant vegetation can mitigate the heat island effect, decrease stormwater runoff, and increase biodiversity.

Prudent water management can also lessen the economic impacts of water shortages and support communities with climatic uncertainties — as shown by cities like Los Angeles. Conservation efforts can help keep water rates stable by reducing the need for costly new water supply projects and infrastructure expansions. Efficient water use also lowers operational and capital project costs, providing financial benefits to both the utility and its customers.

What is an urban water use objective?

A key part of this new rule is the urban water use objective: the sum of water use efficiency standards for residential indoor water use and residential outdoor water use, as well as commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) landscapes with dedicated meters that measure outdoor irrigation. It also covers water loss in the supplier’s conveyance and distribution system.

These standards incorporate local factors, such as population size, climate, and landscape area. The urban water use objective also includes adjustments for specified unique water uses, including evaporative coolers, temporary provisions that allow for certain needs of water use, and/or a bonus for potable reuse or recycled water if applicable.

Urban water suppliers can learn more about their expected urban water use objective by using the State Water Resources Control Board’s Water Use Objective Exploration Tool.

Other requirements

Every urban water supplier must also comply with CII performance measures, including best practices. CII water users are nonresidential water users, like businesses, office buildings, hotels and motels, schools, car washes, and manufacturing sites. Performance measures are services and programs that water suppliers can offer to CII water users to increase water use efficiency both indoors and outdoors. Even if a supplier is meeting its urban water use objective, it will need to implement these measures.

The requirements include identifying and categorizing the types of CII water users within the supplier’s jurisdiction, adding dedicated water meters or advanced technology for tracking irrigation use to larger landscapes, and implementing best practices for CII water users using a significant amount of water.

Starting Jan. 1, 2024, urban water suppliers must also send annual reports to the State Water Board and the Department of Water Resources that include their urban water use objective, actual urban water use, documented implementation of CII performance measures, and a description of progress made towards meeting their water use objective.

Preparing for implementation

All 402 urban water suppliers will need to become more efficient. Although this new regulation will affect almost every city, it will directly impact the 199 cities classified as urban water suppliers. While cities will face unique challenges meeting these new rules, they also have increased opportunities for innovation and impact.

Preparing for implementation will look different depending on a city’s level of data sophistication. This regulation forces suppliers to actively manage their water resources to better understand who is using water and for what purpose. This may require a new level of data complexity. But with the right data, a city can identify which standard presents the greatest opportunity for savings: indoor, outdoor, residential, commercial, or water loss.

For example: Early in the rulemaking process, the Oceanside Water Department realized it did not have all the data required to implement this regulation. Instead of reinventing the wheel, staff began reaching out to other city departments to identify data sources that could help. By collaborating with the city’s climate action team, housing and development office, and others, staff found many of the data sets they needed to get a leg up on the requirements.

Other cities are also piloting innovative funding partnerships to advance water conservation. Glendora teamed up with the Southern California Gas Company to leverage their energy upgrade programs, adding a water conservation component with a shared funding model. Establishing partnerships like this — especially with energy providers already in the field working with customers — can create far-reaching programs that save even more water and cost suppliers less.

Still, many water challenges remain for cities. Population growth, economic development, and climate change pressures necessitate ongoing innovation and adaptation in water management practices. Future strategies may include further advancements in water recycling, stormwater capture, and desalination. Conservation and efficiency are critical to protecting and improving local water supplies, as well as reducing the costs of massive investments in alternative supply sources.

CalWEP is your implementation partner

The California Water Efficiency Partnership helps water providers maximize water efficiency. Our organization has many resources that can help providers meet these new requirements and we plan to expand those offerings to meet the unique challenges this regulation presents.

Many of CalWEP’s publications and resources are available to the public. Even more are available to our members — including designs for outdoor landscaping programs, residential audits, and trainings for new conservation staff and customers. In the coming months, CalWEP will produce new guides on how to reclassify accounts, manage dedicated irrigation meters, and accurately measure water savings.

Conservation programs can take a lot of administrative overhead. For small providers, launching new programs can be a herculean task. CalWEP’s member-only programs make it easy for water suppliers to rapidly launch programs in their communities by helping them process rebates, accelerate the adoption of water-saving technologies, and run landscape trainings. CalWEP also has several member-only services to help reduce the cost of hiring consultants.

Water conservation and efficiency are critical to ensuring a sustainable water future. Many cities have already made great strides in conservation programs and are seeing inspiring results. By making water conservation a way of life through technological innovation, public engagement, and proactive infrastructure management, we can safeguard our water resources for generations to come.