June 26, 2024

Senate Bill 366 authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced) and co-sponsored by CSAC passed Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee unanimously on June 25, 2024. Supported by the CA Water for All coalition, SB 366 will establish statewide water supply targets while requiring the State, water community, and stakeholders to follow through on comprehensive, long-term water supply solutions that will transform water management in California, ensuring adequate and reliable supplies for all beneficial uses.

SB 366 was approved by the Committee on a unanimous 13 – 0 vote and will face its next hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August.

“We’re pleased that the Committee sees the importance of SB 366 and understands the urgency in which California must make a change to secure a long-term and reliable water supply for the State’s future. We’d like to thank the Committee for keeping this vital legislation moving forward,” said Danielle Blacet-Hyden, Deputy Executive Director, California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), co-sponsor of SB 366. “The Governor said himself, ‘the water system in California was designed for a world that no longer exists.’ With SB 366, the state can reverse the trend of overreliance on water cutbacks and rationing by working with the water community to rectify the decades-long, statewide water supply threats that are impacting 40 million Californians.”

SB 366 would secure California’s future water supply by doing the following:

• Establish necessary water supply targets to capture and produce enough water for all uses.
• Modernize the California Water Plan for a 21st century climate.
• Ensure accountability for state agencies on water management issues.
• Compliment and amplify Governor Newsom’s Water Supply Strategy, ensuring there are water supply targets that extend beyond any single Administration.

“It is critical that the California Legislature take the necessary steps to address the inadequacies in California’s water system that are evident in times of drought and heavy rain, impacting supply for all Californians,” said Senator Anna Caballero, author of SB 366. “We have new UC research that shows significant water supply losses that we can expect annually in coming years. A new approach guided by state policy must be implemented to meet these ongoing and anticipated challenges. My communities and communities statewide need bold action to secure our state’s water supply future.”

As a result of evolving and worsening climate conditions, an aging water infrastructure, a growing population, a global economy, and antiquated state policies, California will continue to face an ongoing water supply shortage of historic proportions. California’s current water system requires extraordinary commitment and investment in new water supplies. Policy solutions must be advanced to meet environmental, agricultural and urban uses, we all have a responsibility to ensure the future of our water supply.

Co-sponsors of SB 366 include the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), CSAC, and the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB).

For more information, please contact Catherine Freeman, Senior Legislative Advocate for the Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources portfolio at CSAC.