By California Municipal Utilities Association
For decades, California’s water planning efforts largely focused on managing scarcity. Senate Bill 72 marked a significant shift toward a different approach: building long-term water resilience through measurable supply targets, improved planning, and greater statewide coordination.
That shift began several years ago when a group of local water agency leaders came together to discuss how California could better prepare for a future defined by climate volatility, aging infrastructure, and increasingly unreliable water supplies. Those conversations ultimately helped launch the California Water for All coalition and a broader statewide movement to modernize California’s approach to water planning.
One idea quickly rose to the forefront: California needed clear, long-term water supply targets embedded into the state’s official planning process to ensure durability across leadership changes.
Recognizing that legislative action would be required, the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), California State Association of Counties (CSAC), and California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB) co-sponsored Senate Bill 72, authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced). Signed into law in 2025, the legislation established California’s first-ever statewide water supply target: identifying 9 million acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040 to help offset projected climate-driven losses.
The legislation also modernized the California Water Plan process by emphasizing better data, measurable benchmarks, accountability, and stronger alignment between state, regional, and local planning efforts. Approximately 200 local water agencies, business organizations, agricultural leaders, labor groups, and other stakeholders ultimately came together in support of the bill.
Now, as implementation begins through the 2028 California Water Plan Update, there are encouraging signs that California is approaching this work with renewed collaboration and shared purpose.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has launched a new public engagement process, established a comprehensive website, formed an advisory committee representing diverse statewide interests, and emphasized transparency throughout the planning effort. DWR leadership has repeatedly stressed the importance of collaboration, communication, and broad participation as the process moves forward.
At the committee’s inaugural meeting in Sacramento this May, DWR Director Karla Nemeth reinforced the urgency of the moment, noting:
“California’s hydrology is changing. We’re living that now. Extreme wet swings to intensely dry within the same season. The work of crafting the next California Water Plan will help us plan smarter to deal with the way climate change is testing our water systems.”
Western Municipal Water District General Manager and CMUA Board President Craig Miller, one of 36 advisory committee members and an early convener of the California Water for All coalition, said the meeting demonstrated that California has both the expertise and leadership necessary to meet these challenges — but success will require new ways of working together across regions, interests, and traditional divides.
DWR’s Deputy Director, Joel Metzger, said, “The new California Water Plan is where vision meets accountability. We’ll set measurable targets, improve our data, and align planning efforts in ways that deliver real results on the ground.”
That collaborative mindset may ultimately be one of the most important outcomes of SB 72.
The road ahead will not be easy. The planning process will continue through 2027 and will undoubtedly involve difficult discussions, competing priorities, and complex policy decisions. But there is growing momentum around a more proactive, actionable, and forward-looking approach to statewide water management.
Equally important, California’s water leaders appear to be embracing a broader shift in mindset: moving beyond managing shortages toward building long-term water resilience and abundance for communities, agriculture, businesses, and the environment alike.
That spirit of optimism, accountability, and collaboration was foundational to Senate Bill 72. Encouragingly, those principles are already shaping the next chapter of California water planning.
To read more blogs about Northern California Water, visit norcalwater.org/blog/.
