*(Postponed) Webinar on Drought and Water Shortage Risk Scoring Tool for Small Water Suppliers and Rural Communities

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released the beta version of a web-tool that provides risk scores of drought and water shortage vulnerability for small water suppliers and rural communities. The tool is intended to help small water suppliers and rural communities better understand the data that informed their ranking for potential vulnerability to drought and water shortage.

The tool will also help inform on steps that can be taken to prepare for future drought and water shortage conditions.

DWR is hosting a public webinar to showcase the tool, and address concerns and questions through a Q&A Session. This webinar was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 31 but has been postponed. More details about the webinar will be released soon. 

Background: To improve water conservation and water shortage planning, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 606 (Hertzberg) and Assembly Bill 1668 (Friedman) which then-Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law in May of 2018. Changes to existing law related to small water suppliers and rural community drought planning resulting from this legislation are in Section 8, Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 10609.40) and added to Part 2.55 of Division 6 of the California Water Code).

These changes include directing DWR to:

• Identify small suppliers and rural communities at risk of drought and water shortage vulnerability
• Develop recommendations to the Governor and Legislature for improving drought contingency planning for those area