Planning for California’s Water Future Starts Now by Cindy Messer Aug 21, 2026 Voices on Water The Department of Water Resources submitted this guest column to share information about the 2028 California Water Plan and encourage member agency participation. Learn more at CaliforniaWaterPlan.com. ____ California has never had the luxury of taking water for granted. Every generation has faced its own water challenges and responded by building the infrastructure, partnerships and policies needed to keep our communities, economy, agriculture and environment thriving. Now it’s our turn. California’s water system is being tested in new ways. We’re experiencing rapid swings between floods and droughts, sometimes within the same season. Warmer winter storms are bringing more rain instead of snow, reducing mountain snowpack that has long served as one of California’s largest natural reservoirs while increasing the risk of devastating floods. The infrastructure and planning frameworks that served California for decades were designed for a climate that no longer exists. Meeting today’s challenges will require more than responding to the next drought or flood emergency. It requires a forward-looking, comprehensive statewide strategy built on sound science, comprehensive data, and a shared commitment to ongoing collaboration and implementation. Recognizing this need, the California Legislature, through Senate Bill 72, directed the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2025 to fundamentally modernize the California Water Plan. The goal is ambitious but clear: transform the Water Plan into an action-oriented roadmap to meet a statewide water supply target that will help improve reliability and climate resilience for decades to come. That transformation is already underway. DWR is rebuilding the California Water Plan from the ground up using the best available science, rigorous analysis and meaningful collaboration with water agencies, Tribes, local governments, communities, nongovernmental organizations and partners across California. Together, we’re identifying current and future water supply challenges, evaluating practical solutions to stem those gaps to help guide investments where they can deliver the greatest benefit. Starting this fall, DWR will host public, in-person forums across California to hear directly from local water managers and other community groups. This robust planning process will produce three key outcomes: a shared statewide understanding of future water supplies and demands; strategies to help achieve California’s goal of adding 9 million acre-feet of water supply by 2040; and an evaluation of the key actions needed to close future water supply gaps. This work will unfold over multiple planning cycles. The 2028 California Water Plan will establish the qualitative foundation while planning, technical analysis and engagement continue. The 2033 Water Plan will build on that work by evaluating regional portfolios of projects, strengthening partnerships, and providing information federal, state and local agencies need to make informed investment decisions. Like ACWA’s Vision for Our Water Future, the modernized California Water Plan is an opportunity to bring Californians together around practical solutions that strengthen communities, support agriculture, protect the environment, and prepare our infrastructure for a changing climate. We look forward to partnering with ACWA as this work moves forward. Whether you manage water, farm the land, steward California’s ecosystems, represent a community, or simply care about the future of our state, your voice matters. We encourage you to visit CaliforniaWaterPlan.com, learn more about this effort, and join us as we build a more resilient water future for California.
