Making Conservation a California Way of Life

Water Loss Control

California Water Code Section 10608.34 required the State Water Board to develop water loss performance standards for urban retail water suppliers. Executive Orders B-37-16 and B-40-17 direct the State Water Board and Department of Water Resources (DWR) to minimize water waste through system leaks.

Water loss performance standards were developed through a rulemaking that became effective in 2023. Details are below.

As part of a proposed water conservation regulation, urban retail water suppliers - not individual households or businesses - will be held to "urban water use objectives." An urban water use objective is the sum of standard-based budgets for a subset of water uses, such as residential outdoor use.

Read more about how urban retail water suppliers would calculate customized urban water use objectives.

Rulemaking to Make Conservation a California Way of Life

This year, California is expected to adopt regulations for Making Conservation a California Way of Life. The new regulation is expected to be finalized over the next few months and is intended to cultivate long-term practices that will help address California’s limited water supplies. The regulation will set new, permanent water use 
targets for Apple Valley Heights County Water District’s entire service area — not individual customers or businesses — that combine:

• How much water a person uses indoors per day;
• How much water residents and commercial customers use outside; and
• How much water is lost through leaks.

Once the regulation is finalized, Apple Valley Heights County Water District will know how much the state expects our customers to conserve and we will continue to work to meet these targets through infrastructure improvements, outdoor watering guidelines, and a new customer water portal. You can learn more on our website at https://avhcwd.specialdistrict.org/.  In California, we are continuing to see extreme weather swings. Apple Valley Heights County Water District is always preparing for the next dry year. We know our customers
continue to use less water and have made great strides over the few years and we look forward to continuing working with you as we implement the new regulation. These efforts will allow us to continue making a   difference for our communities and future generations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Making Conservation a California Way of Life regulation?

The State Water Resources Control Board’s proposed regulation is intended to achieve long-term water use efficiency by having urban retail water suppliers achieve the following:

• Meet an agency-specific objective in gallons per capita per day that will be calculated using indoor and outdoor water use, water loss and applicable variances and/or bonus incentives. Each agencies’ objective also considers unique local service characteristics (e.g. population, climate, etc.).
• Implement commercial, industrial, and institutional performance measures such as banning the irrigation of non-functional turf.
• Submit annual reporting.

How will the new regulation impact residents and business owners?

There are no immediate impacts. The water use targets will be set for our entire service area, not for individual houses or businesses. Once the regulation is finalized Apple Valley Heights County Water District will continue to work with our customers on water savings that may be needed to meet the new regulations. This may include water savings through rebates, turf replacement programs and more. 

Do I need to go back to saving water as if we were in a drought?

No, the regulation is meant to create long-term targets to increase water use efficiency not extreme short-term measures that may be implemented during a drought. 

Is it going to be illegal to shower and wash clothes at the same time? 

No, there are no laws that dictate how or when you shower and do laundry. There will be broad goals set for individual indoor water usage per day. However, that is applied to our overall water system and not individual households or people. 

Why is the state adopting a regulation?

The regulation is to better prepare California for its intense weather extremes that swing from wet weather to very dry periods. As the past few years have shown, these weather patterns have become normal. This regulation is one step towards ensuring that water suppliers throughout the state are always prepared to deliver safe water and may lessen the need to implement extreme emergency measures during droughts.