BILL NUMBER: SB 555 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
(Coauthors: Senators Allen and Pavley)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chu and Rendon)
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 10608.34 to the Water Code, relating to
water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 555, Wolk. Urban retail water suppliers: water loss management.
Existing law requires the state to achieve a 20% reduction in
urban per capita water use in California by December 31, 2020, and
requires the state to make incremental progress towards this goal by
reducing per capita water use by at least 10% on or before December
31, 2015. Existing law requires each urban retail water supplier to
develop urban water use targets and an interim urban water use
target, in accordance with specified requirements.
This bill would require each urban retail water supplier, on or
before October 1, 2017, and on or before October 1 of each year
thereafter, to submit a completed and validated water loss audit
report for the previous calendar year or previous fiscal year as
prescribed by rules adopted by the Department of Water Resources on
or before January 1, 2017, and updated as provided. The bill would
require the department to post all validated water loss audit reports
on its Internet Web site in a manner that allows for comparisons
across water suppliers and to make these reports available for public
viewing. This bill would require the department to provide technical
assistance to guide urban retail water suppliers' water loss
detection programs. The bill would require the State Water Resources
Control Board, no earlier than January 1, 2019, and no later than
July 1, 2020, to adopt rules requiring urban retail water suppliers
to meet performance standards for the volume of water losses. This
bill would require the board to contribute up to $400,000 using funds
available for the 2016-17 fiscal year towards procuring water loss
audit report validation assistance for urban retail water suppliers.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 10608.34 is added to the Water Code, to read:
10608.34. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2017, the department
shall adopt rules for all of the following:
(A) The conduct of standardized water loss audits by urban retail
water suppliers in accordance with the method adopted by the American
Water Works Association in the third edition of Water Audits and
Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 and in the Free Water Audit
Software, version 5.0.
(B) The process for validating a water loss audit report prior to
submitting the report to the department. For the purposes of this
section, "validating" is a process whereby an urban retail water
supplier uses a technical expert to confirm the basis of all data
entries in the urban retail water supplier's water loss audit report
and to appropriately characterize the quality of the reported data.
The validation process shall follow the principles and terminology
laid out by the American Water Works Association in the third edition
of Water Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 and in the
Free Water Audit Software, version 5.0. A validated water loss audit
report shall include the name and technical qualifications of the
person engaged for validation.
(C) The technical qualifications required of a person to engage in
validation, as described in subparagraph (B).
(D) The certification requirements for a person selected by an
urban retail water supplier to provide validation of its own water
loss audit report.
(E) The method of submitting a water loss audit report to the
department.
(2) The department shall update rules adopted pursuant to
paragraph (1) no later than six months after the release of
subsequent editions of the American Water Works Association's Water
Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36. Except as provided by
the department, until the department adopts updated rules pursuant to
this paragraph, an urban retail water supplier may rely upon a
subsequent edition of the American Water Works Association's Water
Audits and Loss Control Programs, Manual M36 or the Free Water Audit
Software.
(b) On or before October 1, 2017, and on or before October 1 of
each year thereafter, each urban retail water supplier shall submit a
completed and validated water loss audit report for the previous
calendar year or the previous fiscal year as prescribed by the
department pursuant to subdivision (a). Water loss audit reports
submitted on or before October 1, 2017, may be completed and
validated with assistance as described in subdivision (c).
(c) Using funds available for the 2016-17 fiscal year, the board
shall contribute up to four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000)
towards procuring water loss audit report validation assistance for
urban retail water suppliers.
(d) Each water loss audit report submitted to the department shall
be accompanied by information, in a form specified by the
department, identifying steps taken in the preceding year to increase
the validity of data entered into the final audit, reduce the volume
of apparent losses, and reduce the volume of real losses.
(e) At least one of the following employees of an urban retail
water supplier shall attest to each water loss audit report submitted
to the department:
(1) The chief financial officer.
(2) The chief engineer.
(3) The general manager.
(f) The department shall deem incomplete and return to the urban
retail water supplier any final water loss audit report found by the
department to be incomplete, not validated, unattested, or
incongruent with known characteristics of water system operations. A
water supplier shall resubmit a completed water loss audit report
within 90 days of an audit being returned by the department.
(g) The department shall post all validated water loss audit
reports on its Internet Web site in a manner that allows for
comparisons across water suppliers. The department shall make the
validated water loss audit reports available for public viewing in a
timely manner after their receipt.
(h) Using available funds, the department shall provide technical
assistance to guide urban retail water suppliers' water loss
detection programs, including, but not limited to, metering
techniques, pressure management techniques, condition-based
assessment techniques for transmission and distribution pipelines,
and utilization of portable and permanent water loss detection
devices.
(i) No earlier than January 1, 2019, and no later than July 1,
2020, the board shall adopt rules requiring urban retail water
suppliers to meet performance standards for the volume of water
losses. In adopting these rules, the board shall employ full life
cycle cost accounting to evaluate the costs of meeting the
performance standards. The board may consider establishing a minimum
allowable water loss threshold that, if reached and maintained by an
urban water supplier, would exempt the urban water supplier from
further water loss reduction requirements.