Making Conservation a California Way of Life is a new way of regulating and managing urban water use. The regulation, passed unanimously by the California State Water Resources Control Board last July, went into efffect January 1 and establishes unique efficiency goals for each urban retail water supplier in California. The first data table from the Fiscal Year 2023–2024 Annual Urban Water Use Objective and Water Use Report, submitted in support of the new regulation, is now publicly available via the California Open Data Portal.  

Available online is the recording of the February 5 DWR-hosted webinar “Water Shortage Vulnerability Tool Overview and Tutorial” and the webinar's  accompanying materials. The webinar reviewed the 2024 update to the Water Shortage Vulnerability Scoring for small water systems and demonstrated the tool’s features to address common questions. More information about this useful tool is provided on the tool’s webpage.

The next Basin Characterization Exchange (BCX) online meeting and webniar will be on Tuesday, April 22, at 12:30 p.m. The hour-long webinar, “Aquifer Recharge Potential (ARP) Analysis and Mapping Process,” will describe the datasets, methodologies, and considerations used in creating ARP maps, as detailed in the ARP process document. Following this overview presentation, the ARP process document will be shared on BCX Hub for review and comment. Registration is required to attend this event. Also on BCX Hub is the recording of the March 5 BCX meeting and the meeting’s presentation slides. More information about BCX is available on DWR's Basin Characterization Program webpage.

Join Jonathan Walter, an aquatic ecologist at the University of California Davis’s Center for Watershed Sciences, for a discussion on riverine heat waves and how they can stress aquatic life, affect cool refuges needed for survival by fish and other aquatic species, and alter overall ecosystem health. The discussion will also address how this research has important implications for California's water management strategies. The 90-minute webinar will be on Wednesday, April 23, beginning at noon. Registration is required. The Data for Lunch series is hosted by the California Water Data Consortium and is free and open to the public.

DWR’s Water Use Efficiency team will host an informational meeting to discuss requirements for, and to provide updates on, the next round of the Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessments (AWSDAs) that are due on July 1. The assessment reports are used to increase drought resilience and improve communication of water-shortage response actions. This two-hour online meeting will be on Wednesday, April 23, beginning at 10 a.m. Registration is required. Urban water suppliers, consultants, and interested parties are encouraged to attend. More information about AWSDA requirements and deadlines is provided on DWR’s AWSDA webpage.