Agenda Item Wording:
title
Authorize City staff to submit comments in response to California Proposed Rule Making on Water Conservation Draft Regulations, Title 23 Article 21 - MAKING CONSERVATION A CALIFORNIA WAY OF LIFE
body
Deadline for Action: 10/4/2023
Submitting Department: Administration
Contact Name and Phone Number: Rhett Anderson, 559-713-4530
Department Recommendation:
It is the staff recommendation that the City Council authorize staff to submit comments to the proposed rule making on Article 23, "Making Conservation A California Way Of Life." The deadline to provide comments is October 17, the day after the next Council meeting. Suggested comments to Cal Cities, the lobbying association for cities, are requested by Oct. 11 to be considered in the Cal Cities comments.
The draft regulations are complex, and there has been limited time to assess, analyze and confer with other partners including California Water Service, which is the water purveyor in Visalia. Staff anticipates working on the comments up until the final days in order to provide accurate and comprehensive comments. The essence of the comments that are already on the list as some of Staff's comments are included in the summary below:
Summary:
City staff has made efforts to work with California League of Cities (Cal Cities) and their lobbyists to identify conflicts that City staff have identified, and formally submit these concerns to the state legislature. Some of the primary issues Staff recommends be included in comments to Cal Cities and to the State include:
1. The current formula utilized by the State Water Resources Control Board do not account for any recycled water that is circulated within the system. The City of Visalia has an extensive water recycling program that should be considered when calculating total water consumption, as it is estimated that the City recycles over 40% of its total freshwater delivered.
2. Additional efforts made by the City to manage surface...
Click here for full text