County Drought Resilience Planning Assistance Program

This interactive dashboard contains data gathered through direct communication with counties and shows the type of assistance each county has requested or is considering as well as the start date of the assistance. Click on a county to learn more about the type of assistance DWR is providing. 

If you are county staff and would like to update your county’s information shown in the tool, please complete this form and email it to Zoe Kanavas at CountyDRP@water.ca.gov.

To assist counties to comply with SB 552 requirements, DWR offered each county a non-competitive planning grant up to $125,000 to reimburse eligible planning expenses. Counties were required to submit applications with the approval of the corresponding County Board of Supervisors or by the Chief County Administrative Officer. Applications for financial assistance were evaluated on a continuous basis until December 29, 2023. The application period for financial assistance has closed. 

Who is Eligible?

Each county could only submit one (1) application for funding consideration. Only California counties were eligible.

County Drought Resilience Plan Grant Application

For more information, contact CountyDRP@water.ca.gov.

In addition to the above financial assistance, DWR is offering direct technical assistance to help counties in their efforts to comply with SB 552 requirements.

Who is Eligible?

Counties who need technical assistance to develop their County DRP, including potential support for their corresponding Task Force during the County DRP development period. Only California counties are eligible.

Applications for direct technical assistance will be evaluated on a continuous basis.

Direct Technical Assistance Application

For more information or help starting an application, contact CountyDRP@water.ca.gov.    

DWR has resources and tools available for counties to meet SB 552 requirements. 

California County Café Series: The Department of Water Resources (DWR), in partnership with California State Association of Counties (CSAC), is convening a new series of virtual roundtable-style gatherings for county staff who are responsible for the planning and implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 552 of 2021 (Hertzberg). More details can be found in this one page summary. The presentation from the first gathering can be found here.  The presentation from the second gathering can be found here.  The presentation from the third gathering can be found here.

Water Shortage Vulnerability Explorer: The Water Shortage Vulnerability Explorer is an online mapping tool with relevant data and indicators relevant to conducting a county drought risk assessment for state small water systems and domestic wells, as required to be part of the County DRP. Data is also available for download.

County Drought Resilience Planning Guidebook: The County DRP Guidebook (Guidebook) helps counties develop their respective County DRP to meet the requirements of SB 552 and water resilience improvement for their residents. This Guidebook includes guidance and suggestions for counties to prepare the plan by leveraging statewide data and tools compiled by State agencies for their water shortage risk assessment including a range of short-term responses, long-term mitigation strategies and actions, and other supporting capacity building that counties can consider and adapt.

Sharing Portal: The sharing portal is offered for counties to submit their plans or elements of their plans or status of their plan development for public viewing. More information about the portal and how to access it will be released in Spring 2024.

The presentation from the first gathering can be found here.