Four key bills relating to land use and water supply planning were passed into law in 2001. A short description of each piece of legislation follows below. All four became effective January 1, 2002.

Land Use: water supplies
Prohibits approval of a tentative map, or a parcel map for which a tentative map was not required, or a development agreement for a subdivision of property of more than 500 dwelling units, including the design of the subdivision or the type of improvement, unless the legislative body of a city or county or the designated advisory agency provides written verification from the applicable public water system that a sufficient water supply is available, or a specified finding is made by the local agency that sufficient water supplies are, or will be, available prior to completion of the project.
(Chapter 642, SB 221 -- Kuehl)

Water Supply Planning
Requires a city or county that determines a project is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act to identify any public water system that may supply water for the project and to request those public water systems to assess whether its total projected water supplies will meet the projected water demand associated with the proposed project. Requires the assessment to include an identification of existing water supply entitlements, water rights, or water service contracts held by the public water system and prior years water deliveries received by the public water system. Requires the city or county, if a public water system does not submit the assessment within 90 days, to request the Department of Water Resources to submit the assessment to the city or county not later than 90 days from the date on which the request was received. Provides for the recovery of the costs incurred by the department in connection with the preparation of the assessment. Requires the city or county to include the water supply assessment and other prescribed information in any environmental document prepared for the project pursuant to the act. Requires additional information to be included as part of an urban water management plan if groundwater is identified as a source of water available to the supplier. Requires an urban water supplier to include in the plan a description of all water supply projects and programs that may be undertaken to meet total projected water use. Prohibits an urban water supplier that fails to prepare or submit the plan to the department from receiving funding made available from specified bond acts until the plan is submitted. Until January 1, 2006, requires the department to take into consideration whether the urban water supplier has submitted an updated plan in determining eligibility for funds made available pursuant to any program administered by the department.
(Chapter 643, SB 610 -- Costa)

California Water Plan: urban water management plans
Requires the Department of Water Resources to include in the California Water Plan a report on the development of regional and local water projects within each hydrologic region of the state to improve water supplies to meet municipal, agricultural, and environmental water needs and minimize the need to import water from other hydrologic regions.
(Chapter 320, SB 672 -- Machado)

Water Supply Planning
Requires urban water management plans to include information, to the extent practicable, relating to the quality of existing sources of water available to an urban water supplier over given time periods, and the manner in which the water quality affects water management strategies and supply reliability. Requires a plan to describe plans to supplement a water source that may not be available at a consistent level of use.
(Chapter 644, AB 901 -- Daucher)

If you have any questions, please call the State Legislative Department at 916.441.4545.