California Water Commission Meeting

• California Water Commission
• Sacramento, CA

At the January 21, 2026, meeting of the California Water Commission, Department of Water Resources (DWR) staff will brief the Commission on the new era of the California Water Plan (Water Plan), which is being modernized following the passage of Senate Bill 72 in 2025.

Senate Bill 72 (Caballero) directs DWR to consult with the Water Commission on the establishment of an advisory committee to inform the development of the 2028 update to the Water Plan. The 2028 update will usher in a new emphasis on setting and meeting quantifiable water supply goals. This builds on California’s Water Supply Strategy (2022), which outlined necessary actions for the state to adapt to a hotter, drier future where the changing climate leaves less water to meet California’s needs. The Water Supply Strategy included an interim statewide goal of increasing water supply by 9 million acre-feet by 2040. The 2028 update to the Water Plan will take that goal as a starting point.

SB 72 requires a data-driven foundation for statewide water resilience. The 2028 update to the Water Plan will allow DWR’s scientists, engineers, and water managers the opportunity to dig into the data, look at opportunities and challenges, and come up with a path forward to meet the state’s water supply target. The modernized Water Plan will quantify statewide and watershed-level water supply gaps; identify effective water management actions with economic analyses; and set measurable statewide and watershed level targets. This information will help equip local water managers with the tools needed to adapt to weather extremes and a changing climate.

As part of its public engagement and transparency efforts, DWR will engage the Commission via its public forum in the development of the 2028 update to the Water Plan. At the Commission’s January meeting, DWR will outline its approach to developing a diverse advisory committee.

The meeting is open to the public and will also be live streamed online.

California Water Commission meeting
When: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 21
Where: California Natural Resources Building, Second Floor, Room 302
715 P Street, Sacramento, 95814
Info: (916) 873-5774, www.cwc.ca.gov
The meeting will be live streamed at www.water-ca.com
To comment remotely, Zoom login information can be found on the public participation guide.

Also on the January meeting agenda, the Commission will elect officers for 2026, hear from two project proponents in the Water Storage Investment Program – Kern Fan Project and Sites Project – and receive presentations on the State Water Project Annual Review and Commission workplan for the year ahead.