HomeMy WebLinkAbout14 Attachment 1, Executive Order N-7-22EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-7-22
WHEREAS on April 12, 2021, May 10, 2021, July 8, 2021, and October 19,
2021, 1 proclaimed states of emergency that continue today and exist across all
the counties of California, due to extreme and expanding drought conditions;
and
WHEREAS climate change continues to intensify the impacts of droughts
on our communities, environment, and economy, and California is in a third
consecutive year of dry conditions, resulting in continuing drought in all parts of
the State; and
WHEREAS the 21 st century to date has been characterized by record
warmth and predominantly dry conditions, and the 2021 meteorological
summer in California and the rest of the western United States was the hottest on
record; and
WHEREAS since my October 19, 2021 Proclamation, early rains in October
and December 2021 gave way to the driest January and February in recorded
history for the watersheds that provide much of California's water supply; and
WHEREAS the ongoing drought will have significant, immediate impacts on
communities with vulnerable water supplies, farms that rely on irrigation to grow
food and fiber, and fish and wildlife that rely on stream flows and cool water;
and
WHEREAS the two largest reservoirs of the Central Valley Project, which
supplies water to farms and communities in the Central Valley and the Santa
Clara Valley and provides critical cold -water habitat for salmon and other
anadromous fish, have water storage levels that are approximately 1.1 million
acre-feet below last year's low levels on this date; and
WHEREAS the record -breaking dry period in January and February and the
absence of significant rains in March have required the Department of Water
Resources to reduce anticipated deliveries from the State Water Project to
5 percent of requested supplies; and
WHEREAS delivery of water by bottle or truck is necessary to protect
human safety and public health in those places where water supplies are
disrupted; and
WHEREAS groundwater use accounts for 41 percent of the State's total
water supply on an average annual basis but as much as 58 percent in a
critically dry year, and approximately 85 percent of public water systems rely on
groundwater as their primary supply; and
WHEREAS coordination between local entities that approve permits for
new groundwater wells and local groundwater sustainability agencies is
important to achieving sustainable levels of groundwater in critically
overdrafted basins; and
WHEREAS the duration of the drought, especially following a multiyear
drought that abated only five years ago, underscores the need for California to
redouble near-, medium-, and long-term efforts to adapt its water management
and delivery systems to a changing climate, shifting precipitation patterns, and
water scarcity; and
WHEREAS the most consequential, immediate action Californians can take
to extend available supplies is to voluntarily reduce their water use by
15 percent from their 2020 levels by implementing the commonsense measures
identified in operative paragraph 1 of Executive Order N-10-21 (July 8, 2021);
and
WHEREAS to protect public health and safety, it is critical the State take
certain immediate actions without undue delay to prepare for and mitigate the
effects of the drought conditions, and under Government Code section 8571,1
find that strict compliance with various statutes and regulations specified in this
Proclamation would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the
drought conditions.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California,
in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and
statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular,
Government Code sections 8567, 8571, and 8627, do hereby issue the following
Order to become effective immediately:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
The orders and provisions contained in my April 21, 2021, May 10, 2021,
July 8, 2021, and October 19, 2021 Proclamations remain in full force
and effect, except as modified by those Proclamations and herein.
State agencies shall continue to implement all directions from those
Proclamations and accelerate implementation where feasible.
2. To help the State achieve its conservation goals and ensure sufficient
water for essential indoor and outdoor use, I call on all Californians to
strive to limit summertime water use and to use water more efficiently
indoors and out. The statewide Save Our Water conservation
campaign at SaveOurWater.com provides simple ways for Californians
to reduce water use in their everyday lives. Furthermore, I encourage
Californians to understand and track the amount of water they use
and measure their progress toward their conservation goals.
3. By May 25, 2022, the State Water Resources Control Board (Water
Board) shall consider adopting emergency regulations that include all
of the following:
a. A requirement that each urban water supplier, as defined in
section 10617 of the Water Code, shall submit to the Department
of Water Resources a preliminary annual water supply and
demand assessment consistent with section 10632.1 of the Water
Code no later than June 1, 2022, and submit a final annual water
supply and demand assessment to the Department of Water
Resources no later than the deadline set by section 10632.1 of
the Water Code;
b. A requirement that each urban water supplier that has
submitted a water shortage contingency plan to the
Department of Water Resources implement, at a minimum, the
shortage response actions adopted under section 10632 of the
Water Code for a shortage level of up to twenty percent (Level
2), by a date to be set by the Water Board; and
c. A requirement that each urban water supplier that has not
submitted a water shortage contingency plan to the
Department of Water Resources implement, at a minimum,
shortage response actions established by the Water Board,
which shall take into consideration model actions that the
Department of Water Resources shall develop for urban water
supplier water shortage contingency planning for Level 2, by a
date to be set by the Water Board.
To further conserve water and improve drought resiliency if the drought
lasts beyond this year, I encourage urban water suppliers to conserve
more than required by the emergency regulations described in this
paragraph and to voluntarily activate more stringent local
requirements based on a shortage level of up to thirty percent (Level
3).
4. To promote water conservation, the Department of Water Resources
shall consult with leaders in the commercial, industrial, and institutional
sectors to develop strategies for improving water conservation,
including direct technical assistance, financial assistance, and other
approaches. By May 25, 2022, the Water Board shall consider adopting
emergency regulations defining "non-functional turf" (that is, a
definition of turf that is ornamental and not otherwise used for human
recreation purposes such as school fields, sports fields, and parks) and
banning irrigation of non-functional turf in the commercial, industrial,
and institutional sectors except as it may be required to ensure the
health of trees and other perennial non -turf plantings.
5. In order to maximize the efficient use of water and to preserve water
supplies critical to human health and safety and the environment,
Public Resources Code, Division 13 (commencing with section 21000)
and regulations adopted pursuant to that Division are hereby
suspended, with respect to the directives in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this
Order and any other projects and activities for the purpose of water
conservation to the extent necessary to address the impacts of the
drought, and any permits necessary to carry out such projects or
activities. Entities that desire to conduct activities under this suspension,
other than the directives in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Order, shall first
request that the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency make a
determination that the proposed activities are eligible to be
conducted under this suspension. The Secretary shall use sound
discretion in applying this Executive Order to ensure that the suspension
serves the purpose of accelerating conservation projects that are
necessary to address impacts of the drought, while at the same time
protecting public health and the environment. The entities
implementing these directives or conducting activities under this
suspension shall maintain on their websites a list of all activities or
approvals for which these provisions are suspended.
6. To support voluntary approaches to improve fish habitat that would
require change petitions under Water Code section 1707 and either
Water Code sections 1425 through 1432 or Water Code sections 1725
through 1732, and where the primary purpose is to improve conditions
for fish, the Water Board shall expeditiously consider petitions that add
a fish and wildlife beneficial use or point of diversion and place of
storage to improve conditions for anadromous fish. California Code of
Regulations, title 23, section 1064, subdivisions (a) (1) (A) (i)-(ii) are
suspended with respect to any petition that is subject to this
paragraph.
7. To facilitate the hauling of water for domestic use by local
communities and domestic water users threatened with the loss of
water supply or degraded water quality resulting from drought, any
ordinance, regulation, prohibition, policy, or requirement of any kind
adopted by a public agency that prohibits the hauling of water out of
the water's basin of origin or a public agency's jurisdiction is hereby
suspended. The suspension authorized pursuant to this paragraph shall
be limited to the hauling of water by truck or bottle to be used for
human consumption, cooking, or sanitation in communities or
residences threatened with the loss of affordable safe drinking water.
Nothing in this paragraph limits any public health or safety requirement
to ensure the safety of hauled water.
8. The Water Board shall expand inspections to determine whether illegal
diversions or wasteful or unreasonable use of water are occurring and
bring enforcement actions against illegal diverters and those engaging
in the wasteful and unreasonable use of water. When access is not
granted by a property owner, the Water Board may obtain an
inspection warrant pursuant to the procedures set forth in Title 13
(commencing with section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil
Procedure for the purposes of conducting an inspection pursuant to
this directive.
9. To protect health, safety, and the environment during this drought
emergency, a county, city, or other public agency shall not:
a. Approve a permit for a new groundwater well or for alteration of
an existing well in a basin subject to the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act and classified as medium- or
high -priority without first obtaining written verification from a
Groundwater Sustainability Agency managing the basin or area
of the basin where the well is proposed to be located that
groundwater extraction by the proposed well would not be
inconsistent with any sustainable groundwater management
program established in any applicable Groundwater
Sustainability Plan adopted by that Groundwater Sustainability
Agency and would not decrease the likelihood of achieving a
sustainability goal for the basin covered by such a plan; or
b. Issue a permit for a new groundwater well or for alteration of an
existing well without first determining that extraction of
groundwater from the proposed well is (1) not likely to interfere
with the production and functioning of existing nearby wells, and
(2) not likely to cause subsidence that would adversely impact or
damage nearby infrastructure.
This paragraph shall not apply to permits for wells that will provide less
than two acre-feet per year of groundwater for individual domestic
users, or that will exclusively provide groundwater to public water
supply systems as defined in section 116275 of the Health and Safety
Code.
10. To address household or small community drinking water shortages
dependent upon groundwater wells that have failed due to drought
conditions, the Department of Water Resources shall work with other
state agencies to investigate expedited regulatory pathways to
modify, repair, or reconstruct failed household or small community or
public supply wells, while recognizing the need to ensure the
sustainability of such wells as provided for in paragraph 9.
11. State agencies shall collaborate with tribes and federal, regional,
and local agencies on actions related to promoting groundwater
recharge and increasing storage.
12. To help advance groundwater recharge projects, and to
demonstrate the feasibility of projects that can use available high
water flows to recharge local groundwater while minimizing flood
risks, the Water Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards
shall prioritize water right permits, water quality certifications, waste
discharge requirements, and conditional waivers of waste discharge
requirements to accelerate approvals for projects that enhance the
ability of a local or state agency to capture high precipitation events
for local storage or recharge, consistent with water right priorities and
protections for fish and wildlife. For the purposes of carrying out this
paragraph, Division 13 (commencing with section 21000) of the
Public Resources Code and regulations adopted pursuant to that
Division, and Chapter 3 (commencing with section 85225) of Part 3 of
Division 35 of the Water Code and regulations adopted pursuant
thereto are hereby suspended to the extent necessary to address the
impacts of the drought. This suspension applies to (a) any actions
taken by state agencies, (b) any actions taken by local agencies
where the state agency with primary responsibility for the
implementation of the directives concurs that local action is required,
and (c) permits necessary to carry out actions under (a) or (b). The
entities implementing these directives shall maintain on their websites
a list of all activities or approvals for which these provisions are
suspended.
13. With respect to recharge projects under either Flood -Managed
Aquifer Recharge or the Department of Water Resources Sustainable
Groundwater Management Grant Program occurring on open and
working lands to replenish and store water in groundwater basins that
will help mitigate groundwater conditions impacted by drought, for
any (a) actions taken by state agencies, (b) actions taken by a local
agency where the Department of Water Resources concurs that
local action is required, and (c) permits necessary to carry out
actions under (a) or (b), Public Resources Code, Division 13
(commencing with section 21000) and regulations adopted pursuant
to that Division are hereby suspended to the extent necessary to
address the impacts of the drought. The entities implementing these
directives shall maintain on their websites a list of all activities or
approvals for which these provisions are suspended.
14. To increase resilience of state water supplies during prolonged
drought conditions, the Department of Water Resources shall prepare
for the potential creation and implementation of a multi -year transfer
program pilot project for the purpose of acquiring water from willing
partners and storing and conveying water to areas of need.
15. By April 15, 2022, state agencies shall submit to the Department of
Finance for my consideration proposals to mitigate the worsening
effects of severe drought, including emergency assistance to
communities and households and others facing water shortages as a
result of the drought, facilitation of groundwater recharge and
wastewater recycling, improvements in water use efficiency,
protection of fish and wildlife, mitigation of drought -related
economic or water -supply disruption, and other potential investments
to support short- and long-term drought response.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be
filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and
notice be given of this Order.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of
California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other
person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the Great Seal of the
State of California to be affixed this 28th
day of March 2022.
-4
GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California
ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, PH.D.
Secretary of State