Department of Water Resources begins multi-year update to state water plan under 2025 law to address climate-driven extremes in drought and flood patterns.
California launched a major update to its statewide water plan, establishing for the first time a specific long-term supply target: 9 million additional acre-feet by 2040.
The California Water Plan 2028, overseen by the Department of Water Resources, responds to intensifying climate impacts that have produced prolonged droughts alternating with extreme storms. The 9-million-acre-foot goal — roughly equivalent to the storage capacity of two Shasta Reservoirs or enough annual supply for about 18 million homes — aims to offset projected losses from shrinking snowpack and more frequent dry periods.
The effort stems from Senate Bill 72, enacted last year, which requires modernizing the water plan with better data, measurable targets and greater coordination among state, regional and local agencies. It also mandates collaboration with the California Water Commission and formation of a diverse advisory committee that includes urban and agricultural water suppliers, tribes, environmental justice organizations, labor, business and other stakeholders.
The advisory committee will hold its first meeting in April, with public attendance encouraged. The commission will receive regular public briefings and provide input on the plan’s structure, milestones and engagement approach.
Work will focus on three core areas: collecting more detailed statewide and watershed-scale data using advanced technologies; developing credible, localized supply targets aligned with existing state policies such as the 2022 Water Supply Strategy and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act; and identifying specific adaptation strategies, including nature-based solutions, with cost-benefit analyses and progress tracking.
A new public website, CaliforniaWaterPlan.com, has been created to centralize information, timelines, meeting materials and opportunities for public input.
DWR Director Karla Nemeth noted the urgency, saying California’s hydrology has shifted to “extreme wet swings to intensely dry within the same season,” testing existing systems. The plan seeks to close widening supply-demand gaps through conservation, recharge, storage and other measures.
