California Water Plan
A drone view of the Bethany Reservoir, impounded by five dams in Alameda County, serves as a forebay for the South Bay Pumping Plant and afterbay for Banks Pumping Plant. DWR/2024.
A New Era for the California Water Plan
Climate-driven weather extremes, long-term water supply uncertainty, and aging infrastructure are stressing a system built for a different era. The modernized California Water Plan 2028 is the state’s opportunity to respond with a clear, actionable, and durable approach to statewide water planning.
A new California Water Plan is produced every five years by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The 2028 Water Plan will guide water resource decisions, support implementation, and help California plan for a hotter and more unpredictable future. It will be grounded in data, informed by regional realities, and shaped through meaningful public engagement. Get regular updates at CaliforniaWaterPlan.com.
Modernizing Water Policy
The modernization of the California Water Plan is driven by Senate Bill 72 (SB 72). This legislation sets a clear expectation: move statewide water planning from description to direction. The Water Plan will be modernized to:
- Identify and evaluate effective water management strategies, informed by economic considerations
- Quantify beneficial uses of water at a watershed scale throughout California
- Expand engagement across all sectors as DWR develops the Water Plan
- Establish clear water supply targets that help align state, regional, and local actions
What the 2028 Water Plan Will Do
DWR will produce a modernized Water Plan that:
- Builds a clear understanding of statewide water supply and demand gaps, now and into the future
- Identifies effective, local, regional, and statewide water management strategies
- Establishes an interim statewide planning goal to identify 9 million acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040
- Lays the groundwork for setting measurable, watershed-level and statewide targets in future Water Plan updates
- Carefully considers future water supply needs for beneficial uses of water
How You Can Get Involved
The 2028 Plan is being developed through an open, transparent process designed to reflect California’s diversity of regions, water systems, and perspectives.
DWR is convening an Advisory Committee with representation from urban, rural, and agricultural water suppliers, local government, business and labor, environmental and environmental justice interests, Tribes, and other interested parties. Advisory Committee meetings will be open to the public.
DWR will also host public forums and caucuses across the state and form a Tribal Advisory Committee and technical workgroup to broaden participation and ground statewide planning in real-world conditions. This engagement is not just a formality. Input from communities, practitioners, and leaders across California will directly inform data development, planning assumptions, targets and strategies in the Water Plan.
Learn more on the public engagement process at CaliforniaWaterPlan.com.
California Water Plan 2028 Fact Sheet
The development of the Water Plan dates back to the late 1800s. The first plan, which covered ideas for water distribution in the state, was put together in 1873. Subsequent reports (plans) were issued through the decades as DWR bulletins.
The initial Water Plan (known as Bulletin 3) was released in 1957 under the direction of our first director, Harvey Oren Banks, and was intended for “control, protection, conservation, distribution, and utilization of all the waters of California, to meet present and future needs for all beneficial uses and purposes in all areas of the state to the maximum feasible extent.”
Bulletin 3 and subsequent updates were mostly technical documents focused on water supply development. Over time, the plans were gradually expanded to reflect the growing conflicts over California’s limited water resources.
Since the 1998 update, the Water Plan has moved from a technical document focused on water supply development to an evaluation of options for addressing significant water issues in California.
Contact Us
For any questions or comments about the Water Plan, please contact us.
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Subscribe to Water Plan eNews to receive news and updates on upcoming meetings. To subscribe to California Water Plan eNews, visit the DWR email subscription page and select the “California Water Plan eNews” option.