To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Joy Eldredge, Utilities Director
Prepared By: Patrick Costello, Water Resources Analyst
TITLE:
Title
Urban Water Management Plan and Water Shortage Contingency Plan
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
1) Adopt a resolution adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, a summary of City policies and procedures addressing water supply, demand, and conservation required by the State Department of Water Resources, and determining that the actions authorized by this resolution are exempt from CEQA.
2) Adopt a resolution adopting the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, a strategic plan for preparing for and responding to water shortages required by the State Department of Water Resources, and determining that the actions authorized by this resolution are exempt from CEQA.
Body
DISCUSSION:
California’s Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act) requires all urban water suppliers serving more than 3,000 customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet (AF) annually to develop an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). The required contents of the UWMP are set forth in the Act. An UWMP describes the water service area, sources of water supply, future water demand, demand management measures (conservation), water shortage response strategies, and related information.
Under the Act, urban water suppliers are required to update their UWMP and submit a complete plan to the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) every five years. With its water system size well above the thresholds in the Act, the City of Napa has complied with UWMP provisions since the Act’s inception, submitting its most recent UWMP to DWR for 2020 compliance.
Key updates in the 2025 UWMP (Attachment 3) include the following:
• SB X7-7 (Water Conservation Act of 2009) Compliance
• Water Supply Reliability Assessment
• Drought Risk Assessment
• Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP)
In addition, the 2025 UWMP includes a summary report for the City’s system water loss for 2020 to 2024 and its progress toward compliance with the City’s Water Loss Standard established by the State Water Board.
SB X7-7 Compliance - A required component of the 2025 UWMP update is documentation of the City’s compliance with the Water Conservation Act of 2009, which sought a statewide 20% reduction in daily per capita water use by 2020 compared to a 1995-2004 baseline period. The City narrowly exceeded its SB X7-7 Urban Water Use Target of 132 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic impacts and the extremely hot, dry conditions that year. In 2025, the City easily met the target, with usage just 119 GPCD despite being more than two years clear of the 2021-2023 drought emergency. In fact, 2020 is the only year of the past eleven when the City missed this 132 GPCD target. This target continues to be important for the City as it is incorporated as the “no backsliding” provision in the more recent SB 606/AB 1668 (Making Conservation a California Way of Life) regulations.
Water Supply Reliability Assessment - To evaluate the reliability of our water supplies, demand in future years was projected based on population growth within the service area and new development projects described in the City’s General Plan and Water System 30-Year Capital Improvement Master Plan. Demand projections also account for water use efficiency improvements driven by behavioral trends and increasingly stringent state regulations. Available supplies were then calculated for a normal or average year, a critical single-dry year, and multiple-dry sequences of five years. For 2045 and beyond, supplies were assumed to be reduced due to climate change impacts based on analyses contained in DWR’s The State Water Project Draft Delivery Capability Report 2025.
Demands in normal years are easily met with robust supply surpluses, and the City is also positioned to withstand the effects of a single dry year and a five-year drought. No supply shortfalls are projected for single dry years through 2050. Shortfalls up to 16% to 18% are possible for the later years of multiple-dry periods beginning in 2045 and 2050; however, these shortfalls could be managed via demand reduction measures in Stage 2 of the City’s WSCP and/or dry year water supply purchases. Supply assumptions for the multiple-dry periods are based on the 1987-1992 drought, historically the most severe in Napa.
Drought Risk Assessment - Starting with actual conditions as of mid-2026, a required Drought Risk Assessment projects supply and demand for the 2026-2030 period. To create a severe stress test, 1987-1992 conditions are used to impact supplies while normal demands are projected. Results indicate that the City is projected to have adequate supplies to meet demands during a severe drought beginning this year and continuing through 2030.
Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) - The WSCP (Attachment 4) is contained in Appendix J of the 2025 UWMP, but it is also separately adopted as a stand-alone document to enable future changes outside the UWMP process. The WSCP no longer needs to be updated with future UWMPs and can simply be revised only when warranted. It describes the City’s strategic plan for preparing and responding to water shortages, including demand reduction actions and compliance/enforcement measures appropriate for the six shortage levels. Beginning with a public information campaign, standard water waste prohibitions, and conservation incentives, and progressing all the way to potential rate surcharges and customer water use allocations, the WSCP stages guide the City through supply shortfalls up to 50% or more.
An UWMP and WSCP must be made available for public inspection and a public hearing held prior to adoption. Pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code, a Notice of Plan Availability and Public Hearing was published in regional and local newspapers beginning May 28, 2026. Print copies of the draft 2025 UWMP and WSCP were made available for public inspection at the Utilities Department, the City Clerk, and the Napa County Library. Electronic versions were posted on the City web site for wider public access. The public was also made aware of the plans and hearing date via Farmers Market and First Thursday event displays, KVYN radio announcements, the City web site, City of Napa NEWS weekly emails, and social media.
The benefits of the UWMP are not simply to comply with State law and help ensure the efficient use of California water resources. The UWMP is compatible with the City’s General Plan update and helps facilitate the implementation of two other State water planning laws that address the impact of large developments on water supply, SB 610 and SB 221.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Projected revenue from all water sales is accounted for in the proposed FY27 water budget. Submitting a complete UWMP to DWR ensures the City remains eligible for numerous State grants and loans for water projects.
CEQA:
City staff recommends that the City Council determine that the Recommended Action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to California Water Code Section 10652, which exempts the preparation and adoption of urban water management plans from the requirements of CEQA.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution Adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan
ATCH 2 - Resolution Adopting the Water Shortage Contingency Plan
ATCH 3 - Draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan
ATCH 4 - Draft Water Shortage Contingency Plan
NOTIFICATION:
Legal notices of public hearing were published in The Press Democrat on May 28, 2026 and in the Napa Valley Register on June 4, 2026 and June 11, 2026.