DWR Marks First Year of ‘County Cafe’ Conversations on Drought Resiliency

California counties are sharing progress and results from the first year of a multi-year collaboration with DWR to implement a complex 2021 law intended to improve drought resilience.

SB 552 by Sen. Bob Hertzberg requires counties to have a standing drought task force to facilitate drought and water shortage preparedness for state small water systems (serving between five and 14 connections), domestic wells, and other privately supplied homes within the county’s jurisdiction. Each county must also develop a plan demonstrating the potential drought and water shortage risk and proposed interim and long-term solutions for state small water systems and domestic wells within the county. Both of these requirements may be implemented as part of other existing committees and/or planning processes.

To facilitate county drought planning, CSAC collaborated with the Department of Water Resources to create the County Café Series (C3). This C3 series strengthens the county network by promoting and making progress on drought resilience throughout the state — including economically and socially disadvantaged communities.

During the gatherings, counties are able to share experiences, best practices, and insights to advance the implementation of SB 552 and improve countywide drought resilience beginning with the immediate needs for developing County Drought Resilience Plan.

Counties focused their work on the following areas:

1. Risk Assessment
2. Water System Consolidation and Partnerships
3. Short Term Water Shortage Response Actions

Read the full report here including links to presentations shared during the monthly meetings. California County Café Series: Year One Summary. For more information, please contact Catherine Freeman at cfreeman@counties.org.