The Calaveras County Water District joined with 114 water agencies across the state in signing a joint comment letter regarding a 72-page draft proposal prepared by State agencies entitled “Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life”.
Gov. Brown issued Executive Order B-37-16 in May of this year, which tasked five state agencies (EO agencies) with drafting a proposal on implementing directives within his order. That proposal, entitled “Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life”, was released on November 30, 2016, and it lays out a road map for substantial changes in water conservation policy throughout the state.
During the development of the proposal, CCWD General Manager Dave Eggerton was named to the Urban Advisory Group (UAG), which was created to provide feedback to the EO agencies as the document was developed. CCWD has been actively involved in providing oral and written comments to the EO agencies throughout the development of the proposal over the past seven months.
After the draft proposal was released on Nov. 30, CCWD worked with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Leadership Group to help draft a comment letter that highlighted a number of serious concerns. The District also partnered with the Amador Water Agency to draft a supplemental letter that provided comments specific to our region. Both letters were submitted on December 19, 2016.
It is the District’s hope that many of the concerns mentioned in the comment letter will be incorporated into the proposal before a final draft is presented to Gov. Brown in January. However, if these concerns are not taken into account, CCWD is ready to work with ACWA on drafting legislation next year in order to seek common sense solutions that preserve local water management authority, flexibility in water conservation targets and maintain districts’ ability to maintain control of water rights.
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