1. GARY ARANT Urban Water Institute Palm Springs, February 8, 2018
the Not so “unintended” consequences of Long-term Water Use Efficiency regulationS
GARY ARANT
Urban Water Institute
Palm Springs, February 8, 2018

2. Consequences
Droughts have come and gone and we deal with the impacts as best we can;
In some cases the impacts are lingering as you have heard from my fellow panelists:
•Reduced Water Demand;
•Reduced Water Revenue;
•Increasing Water Rates;
•Reduced W/W Flows & Recycled Water; •Increased W/W System Maintenance.

3. Consequences What do we think about LTWUE Regulations which:
• Impose a perpetual, regulatory “Drought”?
through extreme use restrictions, irrespective of actual water supply conditions?
• Ignore and strand past investment, and
• Discourage future investment in water supply diversification and reliability ….

4. Consequences - What We Don’t Know…
We Need to Ask and Need to Know:
• How Much Water Needs to be Saved?….No one has quantified how much water needs to be saved – “We just have to do better”;
• How Much Water Will be Saved?….No one has estimated how much water will be saved; and
• At What Cost….No one has estimated the true implementation cost.
SWRCB admits that the Permanent Use Prohibitions will only save a “minor” amount of water; will the same be said for the LTWUE Regulations?

5. Consequences – What We Do Know…
The recent DWR, “Status of 2015 UWMP Report” (August 2017) shows that California water agencies /communities have gone way past 20% by 2020 at the half-way point, reaching 30% conservation.
Californians’ Get It, w/o Burdensome and Intrusive LTWUE.

6. Consequences – What We Do know…
A certain set of lifestyle values of a certain few will be intrusively imposed on all Californian’s without fore-knowledge or approval;
Limited financial resources will be misdirected and water costs needlessly driven;
This will happen while many are concerned about Human Access to Safe and Affordable Water.

7. Consequences – What We Do Know…
Revenues will decline as costs increase to comply with the new regulations;
Public support will decline impacting our long-term ability to safely and reliably meet our customers water supply needs;
Our viability as independent public water agencies will be diminished as we are forced to become the face of Sacramento’s efforts to wrest more and more local control.

8. “There are just too many water agencies…”
This comment was made by a SWRCB member at one of many public hearings over drought regulations after hearing from dozens of water folks;
In my view the not so “Unintended Consequences” of the LTWUE Regulations is to reduce the independence, financial strength, political viability and the overall effectiveness of local water agencies to fulfill their missions; and…
Maybe having fewer water agencies to control.

9. Consequences
Thank you…. Gary Arant