Drought & Conservation Reporting

Monthly Reporting Frequencies & Deadlines

Weekly Drought Order Reporting

Some water systems may be required to submit a Weekly Drought Order Report (due 7 days after the week) in additional to their Monthly Drought Order Reporting. Systems that must complete Weekly Drought Order reporting are those that the State Water Board or Local Primacy Agency have identified as experiencing a severe water shortage and must provide more frequent reporting to the State to facilitate better coordination of assistance and emergency tracking.

Water System Reporters – Where to Access the Report

• Log-in to the SAFER Clearinghouse
• Need an account? Request access
• Quick Reference Guide for Requesting a SAFER Clearinghouse account

Information Collected

Background

Drought has become a permanent fixture for California with climate change being a major driver. In October 2020, moderate drought conditions covered the state of California at 32% with severe conditions covering 22% of California. In October 2021, extreme and exceptional drought covered 42% and 46% of California, respectively.

Now in the third consecutive year of drought, January and February 2022 were the driest California has seen in recorded history, resulting in a statewide drought emergency proclamation by Governor Gavin Newsom. As current drought conditions continue to worsen, negative impacts to domestic wells and water systems are expected to increase in severity.

Drought is quickly becoming a way of life for all Californians. Since 2000, California has experienced 15 years of severe drought and is experiencing the worst megadrought in 1200 years. With improved collaboration and communication between water systems and regulatory staff, we can work together to reduce and eliminate drought impacts so that every Californian has access to a clean and reliable supply of drinking water.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• FAQ Updated 01.2024
• 2023 Brownbag Presentation Materials
  • Drought Reporting Brown Bag Video
  • Drought Data Collection in SAFER Clearinghouse Brown Bag Presentation

Legal Authorities to Require Drought & Conservation Reporting Include But Are Not Limited To:

California Health and Safety Codes Section 116530:
(a) A public water system shall submit a technical report to the state board as part of the permit application or when otherwise required by the state board. This report may include, but not be limited to, detailed plans and specifications, water quality information, physical descriptions of the existing or proposed system, information related to technical, managerial, and financial capacity and sustainability, and information related to achieving the goals of Section 106.3 of the Water Code, including affordability and accessibility.
(b) A public water system shall submit the report in the form and format and at intervals specified by the state board.

California Water Code 10609.61:
A small water supplier and a nontransient noncommunity water system that is a school shall each report annually water supply condition information to the state board through the state board’s Electronic Annual Reporting (EAR) System or other reporting tool, as directed by the state board. Water supply condition information includes, but is not limited to, both of the following:
(a) An inventory and assessment of each water supply source, including its available status and if any further investments or treatment are required for its utilization, any lead time required for its utilization, and its delivery parameters such as flow rate and total volume available.
(b) The reporting year’s total water demand volume for each month, and average and peak flowrate demand for each month and annually.

Section 991 of title 23 of the California Code of Regulations:
Urban water supplies must submit water production, usage, and other information to the State Water Board, and, during drought emergencies, must submit water contingency plan response actions and other specified additional information.

Section 64554 of title 22 of the California Code of Regulations:
Public water systems are required at all times to have source capacity available to meet their maximum day demand, to determine the capacity of their groundwater sources, and to report certain capacity data to the State Water Board.

Section 64561 of title 22 of the California Code of Regulations:
Requires public water systems to install a flow meter at a location between each active water source and the entry point to the distribution system, meter the quantity of water flow from each source, and record the total monthly production each month.

Help Resources

• Reporting User Guide Updated 12.2023
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Updated 01.2024
• Public Workshop held on July 12, 2023
  • Notice
  • Video | Presentation
• Brownbag Q and A Recorded Session held on April 25, 2023
  • Video | Presentation

Video Walkthroughs

• Clearinghouse Reporting Introduction
• Account Creation
• Website Navigation
• Annual Inventory Reporting
• Drought and Conservation Reporting Overview
  • Water Shortage Tab
  • Source Reporting
    • Groundwater
    • Surface Water
    • Spring Water
    • Consecutive Connections and Hauled Water
    • Batch Upload
  • Supply and Demand Reporting
    • About, Potable Supply, Potable Demand
    • Total Report Summary and Annual Summary
    • Non Potable Supply and Non Potable Demand
    • Batch Upload

Contact Us

• Have a technical question or identify an issue? Please contact us at ddw-drought@waterboards.ca.gov.
  • DDW District Office Contact Information
  • County Local Primacy Agency Contact Information

Request Technical Assistance from the State Water Board

The State Water Board offers assistance for water systems to help complete the Drought & Conservation Reporting through the Water Board’s Division of Financial Assistance Technical Assistance Program.

• Technical Assistance Application

Technical Assistance is available to Community Water Systems (CWS), Non-transient Non-community (NTNC) Water Systems, and Transient Non-community Water (TNC) Systems; with priority to CWSs serving small (less than 10,000 people) disadvantaged (median household income [MHI] < 80% statewide MHI) communities (small DACs).

Request Assistance from the Department of Water Resources

The California Department of Water Resources offer groundwater level monitoring assistance through the California Statewide Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) Program. For more information, please contact CASGEM@water.ca.gov.

The California Department of Water Resources can assist with locating Well Completion Reports, Well Completion Report Numbers, or Department of Water Resources Site Codes for entry into the State Water Board's Drought Reporting Tool. To request this information, please populate a request form.

Senate Bill 552 (2021) requires small water suppliers serving 1,000 to 2,999 service connections and nontransient noncommunity (NTNC) schools to have a water shortage contingency plan. The required water shortage contingency plan is an abridged version of the urban water management plans mandated for completion by urban water suppliers every 5 years. Small water suppliers (or small water suppliers integrated into urban water suppliers) that voluntarily choose to comply with specified existing law relating to urban water management plans are exempt from this requirement.

The minimum requirements for the abridged water shortage contingency plan for small water suppliers are provided in California Water Code §10609.60. The State Water Board, in collaboration with the Department of Water Resources and Sac State’s Consensus and Collaboration Program, have prepared two templates and best practice template examples to promote statewide consistency.

Water Shortage Contingency Plan Templates

Small Water Supplier 1,000 to 2,999 connections

• Small Water Supplier Template
• Small Water Supplier Best Practices Template Example

Nontransient Noncommunity (NTNC) Schools

• Schools Water Supplier Template
• Schools Best Practices Template Example

Water Shortage Contingency Plans are required to be completed by July 1, 2023, posted on the water supplier’s website, and available to the State Water Board and public upon request. The Plans must be updated every 5 years.